Tag, You're It!

Remember how much fun the game of tag was when you were young? Well, here's your chance to travel back to the nostalgic time when tag was cool! Over at Moontides,  mxtodis123 was tagged and in turn tagged me and a few others, so now is my turn! There are of course a few rules that go along with this little game and they are as follows:

~Copy and paste the questions to your blog


~Then Tag 5 or more of your favorite blogs and leave them a comment telling them they have been tagged.

~When you post your blog, please spread some Holiday Cheer, and leave a link back to Heather's Blog as well as the one to the blog of the person who tagged you.

The Questions:


1.) Have you started your christmas shopping?  Oh my, I'd have to answer no to that! I'm a fantastic procrastinator and I simply must get going... tomorrow.


2.) Tell me one of your special traditions. That would have to be "the cookies."  The other day I posted a cookie recipe that my grandmother used every Christmas. I try to keep that little part of her  memory alive by making them every year.


3.) Are you a "Black Friday" shopper? Good grief, no. I really hate crowded places and do my shopping at a time when stores are almost empty. Other things like presents can be ordered online...I lubs de interwebs!


4.) When do you put up your tree? Well, if I didn't have to consider "sweetie" it would be up right after  Halloween (Samhain)! Sweetie hates being rushed so I wait until the first week in December.


5.) Do you travel for Christmas or just stay home? I like to stay home but on occasion I will travel to my daughter's for the holiday. She lives close so it's all good!


6.) What is your funniest Christmas memory? That would be the time I was around ten and my mom was trying to be sneaky with filling the stockings and tripped  over the area rug in the living room spilling all the goodies all over the floor. It woke me up and "Santa" was exposed.


7.) What is my most favorite christmas show of all time? Hands down the animated version of The Grinch by Dr. Seuss.


8.) Do you do your own baking? I like to be in charge of the turkey and the cookies, otherwise someone else can have all the fun.


9.) Fake or real tree? Fake, I'm absolutely positively a tree hugging dirt worshiper.


10. What day (as a mom) does the actual panic set in to get it all done? Right around Thanksgiving...because I'm a procrastinator and I just know I'll be rushed in the end!



11.) Are you still wrapping presents on Christmas eve? Heck yes! I usually get to bed just before the sun comes up!


12.) What is your favorite family fun time at Christmas? Definitely the opening of presents on christmas day! ( Yule is an occasion for just me and I do christmas with family and friends) 


13.) What is my favorite christmas craft? Getting one of those gingerbread houses to stay up and in one piece...I  usually end up saying "Well, there's always next year." Then we all eat the house.


14.) Christmas music? Yes or No? If so, whats your favorite song? Yes, I usually try to get a mix of pagan and traditional. My favorite song is Carol of the Bells by Trans Siberian Orchestra


15.) When do you hope to finish all your christmas shopping? I hope every year to be done by Christmas eve...I'm bad!


And my tag-ees are:


Eliza over at Just Twaddle


Peggy at Laila and Minchie


Suzie over at Cat In The Moon


One Pink Fish


Angela at The Pagan Mom Blog


Fire Lyte at Inciting A Riot

Happy Holidays everyone!

"What Is...?" Wednesday

What is the  origin of the phrase 

 "Going to hell in a handbasket"  

By definition, this phrase simply means to be deteriorating or on a course for disaster.

There are a couple of popular theories as to why a "handbasket" was chosen as the preferred mode of transportation to be carried to hell in... Handbaskets are simply baskets that are portable and easily carried by hand and when an item is put in a handbasket it is moved or taken away with little or no resistance. It is also  speculated that the imagery of someone being taken off directly and without choice, was in the mind of whoever coined the phrase. 


Another popular theory is that it derives from the use of the French guillotine and the imagery of decipitated heads being caught in baskets, the victim presumably going straight to hell without passing go. The first use of this particular phrase "In a handbasket" does in fact relate to head rather than hell.


The very idea of sinners being literally taken to hell in carts is surely very old. The medieval stained glass windows of Fairford Church in Gloucestershire contain an image of a woman being taken off to purgatory in a wheelbarrow being pushed by a blue devil. The phrase itself isn't that old though and "going to hell in a handbasket" and its alternative form "going to hell in a handcart" originated in America around the start of the 20th century. The "handbasket" version is now the more common here, although neither version is widely used in other English-speaking countries.

Tarot Tuesday

The Lovers

In the original Italian tarot tradition, this card was always called Love and never "The Lovers."  In the Cary Yale Visconti deck, the picture on this card shows a couple with Cupid above them, possibly portraying a royal wedding.  Love implies there is a pattern of growth and maturity. Love can be an emotion that causes you to make choices that you often can't understand...This is what the Lovers signify...  something or someone who is very much like yourself, so perfect for you , that resistance is nearly impossible.


In a reading, the Lovers indicates that you have come across or soon will come across a person, job, or something that you will fall in love with. It will feel like you know instinctively that you must have this, to the point that you take a different direction than the one you had been on, even if there appears to be obstacles to surmount.


This card represents perfection, harmony and mutual attractiveness. The couple we see on the Lovers card trust in one another and this gives them the strength as well as the confidence they will need to overcome any obstacles that may emerge. 


Also, the Lovers can symbolize a problem to solve or hard choice to make and requires an action or decision.  Something is going to change your present plans or direction, and although it may appear negative at first, you will later discover it to be a blessing in disguise.

Memory Lane Monday

Every year, way before the holidays, my grandmother would start baking cookies and one of my favorites  types were called Pepparkakor cookies made from from a recipe going way back. Although my father's family was English and Irish, my maternal grandparents were Swedish.


It was holiday tradition, right up until grandma became too ill to continue, that she baked 
Pepparkakor Cookies. I can still remember as a very young girl, going to the Vasa Lodge every Christmas  for the Swedish festivities...How I wish I could have introduced my children to my grandparents! I miss them very much during this time of year.

Pepparkakor Cookies


Ingredients


3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour


2 teaspoons baking soda


1 teaspoon cinnamon


1 teaspoon ground cloves


1 teaspoon ground ginger


1 teaspoon ground cardamom


1 cup butter


1 cup white sugar


1/2 cup brown sugar, packed


1 egg, beaten


2 tablespoons dark corn syrup


Directions


*Sift the flour together with the baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and cardamom in a mixing bowl.


*Beat the butter together with the white and brown sugars in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy. 


*Mix in the egg and corn syrup until smooth. 


*Gradually stir in the flour mixture until evenly blended. 


*Divide the dough into 4 equal portions and wrap tightly each with plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 1 hour, or overnight


Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). 


*Lightly grease baking sheets.
Using 1 portion at a time, work on a floured surface and roll out dough to 1/8 inch thick. 


*Cut into shapes with cookie cutter, and place 1 inch apart on prepared baking sheets.


*Bake in oven until set, about 5 minutes. Cool completely. Store in tightly covered tins.




* Blogger is giving me quite a bit of grief today, so please excuse the format if it publishes a little oddly!

Serenity Sunday

This coming week is going to seem very long...weather forecasters are predicting an arctic front to come down out of Canada and remain for several days. Usually if we get that chilly Canadian air, snow is not too far behind but as of now, it looks like the precipitation required for a "major snow event" (don't you just love that phrase) is going to be a hit and miss proposition. Of course all the weatherman use the word "IF" quite liberally. Gotta love those meteorologists!

For all those who's thermometer may be falling like a rock, I'd like to again remind pet owners to make sure your pets have ample water to drink  so the can stay hydrated and a way to stay out of the winter-like weather to avoid frozen or frostbitten parts. 

There are several stray cats wandering my neighborhood and my heart just aches that they have nowhere to call home, food to eat or warm places to sleep. I often like to set a dish of food out for them at night so they can have at least a full tummy, if nothing else. I ask that when you can, please donate your time or resources to the local animal charities in your area, they can get overwhelmed and run short of resources during cold spells and would be very grateful for any assistance you can give .

 On to my list....

("aka" Things I am grateful for)

My List:

1.) My kids

2.) Mittens (I love the Dollar Store!)

3.) Hot coffee

4.) Yule music

5.) Great friends

6.) Funny looking hats

7.) My favorite pagan podcasters (you folks are the best!)

8.) Anyone who is inspired by this blog

9.) My green thumbs (thank you grandma!)

10.) Warm childhood memories of winter fun

Pagan Super Powers And The Theory Of Gravity

 Over the years, I've noticed  two reactions that I get from people when they first learn that I am pagan.  There are those folks that think  because I use the term witch, that I perform ritual sacrifice in my backyard and lead wayward christians astray ... The second is a weird romanticized view of witches where some folks think I wiggle my nose and  *POOF*  we're all on a tropical beach somewhere drinking a fruity alcoholic beverage with a little umbrella in it and they fail to take into account that there's a little thing called physics. I know it sounds strange but people have the oddest ideas of what exactly a witch is. 

To illustrate this, I was in the local grocery store a few years ago, just standing in the express checkout line with twelve items or less in my basket when I got this overwhelming feeling that I was being watched. I turned my gaze from the tabloid magazine rack to the gentleman (and I use that term loosely) behind me...I can't even begin to describe the look on his face...(it was somewhere between horror and repulsion) and out of his mouth comes "Are you A good witch or a bad witch?"  as he's staring directly at my double pentacle necklace with the flower border.

 Needless to say, I was truly at a loss for words. Who did I look like, Margaret Hamilton from the Wizard of Oz? So I  just looked at him and raised an eyebrow and turned around to face forward as the line began moving and then from behind me I hear.."So, do you put spells on people ?" and  "I hear you people dance around naked in the moonlight.."  I knew he was trying to make me look foolish, but I had enough of it at that point so I turned back around and quickly replied, "Why yes,  and If you ask me one more silly question, I'll put a real good whammy on you!"  The audible gasp and resulting silence was almost too much and I dearly wanted to start laughing  but I stifled my giggle and payed for my groceries and left.

The other type of folks look at witchcraft as a novelty. These are the people that like to hang around and be your friend because they feel it's cool to say my friend "so and so" is a witch. Which comes with it's own set of grief when these people take it upon themselves to shove you right out of the broom closet and onto center stage. I hate when this happens, it's almost like that dream we all have about showing up to high school naked...talk about mortifying! 

Not too long ago, one of these types dropped by to visit one day. I had recruited my kids to help me sweep the pine needles out of the driveway so we were all standing there, having just finished, when she pulled in. Looking at the brooms resting against the garage door  she looks at me and asks..."Which one is yours?" Of course trying to be a smart ass I replied, "Oh, mine is actually in the house," and went inside grab my besom. When I came back out with broom in hand to show her she remarked "Oh, do you really fly that?" 

 All I could do is shake my head. "No..." I said, "Gravity doesn't work that way." The look on her face was priceless because it suddenly dawned on her just how ludicrous her question was. She didn't hang out too long to talk. I would like to think that people are more informed in this world, I mean it's 2009 for crying out loud!  But every now and then, another person comes along and I realize just how deep the myths and misunderstandings go.

* Thank you Fire Lyte for giving me the idea for this post's title!*

Frosty Friday

The nights are getting rather chilly around here and the past few mornings have found me scraping ice off of my windshield, (and every other glass surface on my car) grumbling and mumbling the whole time because my mittens have decided to part ways and only one can be found.

Sorry, I digress...Today I thought I'd talk a little about the plants in our yards and gardens and how to care for them during the winter months so in the spring they can pop their little heads up and dazzle us with yet another season of beauty and function.

Roses

Many people have roses in their landscaping and in my yard my roses are my pride and joy each blooming season. Caring for them over the winter is very easy and it only takes a few minutes to have them all ready for winter slumber.Start winterizing hybrid teas just before the ground freezes, which usually occurs about a month or two after the first frost.

If in your area, temperatures remain above 20° F Hybrid Teas need few special measures beyond adequate mulching. If roses are growing in sites exposed to drying winter winds, wrap the plants or build a windbreak with natural burlap or white polyspun floating row cover.


If your temperatures fall as low as 10° to 15° F for 2 weeks or more at a time, begin winterizing roses after the first hard frost. Mound fresh, loose soil or compost 6 to 8 inches high around the base of each plant. Prune canes back only enough to prevent them from whipping about in the wind and to allow them to fit under a protective covering. 

Detach climbing roses from their supports and bend them down to the ground. Carefully bunch the canes together ands peg them to the soil with wood or wire hoops of some kind. Finally, cover them completely with 4 to 6 inches of well-draining soil, compost or organic mulch such as wood chips.


Perennials and Bulbs

Let perennial plants die down to the ground naturally to allow them to store energy and nutrients in their roots for the winter. Cut back and discard the dead aboveground parts to reduce the risk of disease and deny winter shelter to insect pests. Mulch the soil to moderate the effects of freezing and thawing, and/or cover tender perennials and bulb beds with boughs cut from evergreens to trap snow for additional cover.


Protect bulbs that are located in the open from small animals by stretching plastic bird netting over the ground during the winter. Alternatively, line planting trenches with chicken wire or put individual bulbs in hardware cloth cages when planting bulbs in the fall.


Well, with all that said, we can now take care of all those other winterizing tasks such as wrapping outside pipes and making sure that the nasty draft under the front door is taken care of!


Bright Blessings

We Interrupt The Normal Programming....

Normally I would be posting my Tarot Shadow Work today but I'm going to put that on the back burner for awhile. My favorite time of year since I can remember has always been Autumn but as the days grow dark earlier and the mornings frostier, I find it getting more difficult to do all that inner searching that can lead to serious seasonal blah's for me. I tend to become more of a hermit, I tend to just wanna sit and watch the boob tube while I crochet and I never really could stand the cold...the older I get the stiffer my joints are! 

Anyway, I'm not too sure what I will replace it with but today I think I'll just leave you with this little update and if you have any subjects, comments or questions you would like to see explored a bit more, by all means drop me a line. I apologize for the interruption in  routine (and  goddess knows I do like my routine!) and I wish all of you a very blessed Thursday!

p.s.- It's my  oldest daughter Nikki's 23rd birthday today, time has just flown!

"Who were...?" Wednesday

The Picts

(possibly meaning "painted" or "tattooed")

I have always been fascinated by history and for sometime, this group has held my interest. A cousin of mine has been researching our family tree for several years and has traced one branch all the way back to the 1590's in the Scottish region Aberdeenshire.  Now, I'm by no means making the leap that somehow my family tree may stretch back to the time of the Pict's but in a random flight of fancy I thought I would research this group a little further, just because.  Please feel free to comment if you can add to the sketchy information that I've been able to dig up...

The first ever written record of the people known as the Picts came from Roman sources. In 297 A.D. the orator Eumenius referred to the Britons as "...already being accustomed to the Picti and Hiberni as enemies."... meaning that they had probably been present in society for some time and some linguistic evidence suggests they spoke a type of Celtic language. All accounts that I have read indicate the Pict's as a warrior people and historians do know that they were mighty sailors as there are some texts mentioning that the Romans feared the Pictish Navy.

It is unknown what the Picts called themselves and all historians haveis a name which may have been derived from the Latin picti, which means ‘painted’. Other pieces of evidence, like the Irish name for the Picts, ‘Cruithne’, which also means ‘painted’ leads us to believe that the Picts practiced body painting, if not actual tattooing. The Picts had a distinct artistic style that remains in carvings and metalwork. 

Strangely, Pictish symbols usually occur in pairs and around fifty pairs are known. Of these are animals such as the salmon, deer and bull... birds like the eagle and goose... “monsters” such as the infamous Pictish Beast and more enigmatic designs such as the crescent and V rod, comb and mirror and double disk. The Pictish symbol stones are generally found in the north-east of Scotland, with clusters found along the eastern coasts and into the Highlands.


Sadly,there is little else left of the Picts besides their carvings, save a text left  called the  king-list, which gives the names and the lengths of the reigns of 60 or more Pictish kings. The list ends with Causantin mac Cinaeda, who died in 876.

Tarot Tuesday

The Five of Wands


Among the keywords for the Five of Wands are: problems and possibly upheaval that simply cannot be avoided, minor irritations, trouble, strife, petty squabbles. The Five of Wands usually shows up in readings at times when the world seems to be working against you.... nothing flows smoothly and everyone is working at odds with each other. 


The figures in this card are all batting with each other and it appears there is no coordinated effort whatsoever, let alone any agreement. When this card shows up, be prepared for a lumpy and very bumpy ride because you're going to need extra patience and determination just to get to where you can accomplish something. Thankfully, the Five of Wands does not represent major blockages... just many small and irritating ones.


All in all, just remember that you should view the Five of Wands as a sign of progress that has been slowed or stalled due to stubbornness and a "My way or No way" attitude but not totally thwarted... consider whether or not the personal conflicts are really worth the battle because emotional and spiritual development may very well be hindered by an unwillingness to see beyond petty conflicts.