The Crazy Witch Cooks: Chowder!

So I decided I wanted to make potato soup the other night, but never got the chance to. Then last night I decided I would make potato and corn chowder tonight. It turned into "Potato-corn-ham-and veggie-chowder" lol...

It turned out REALLY good so I thought I would share my recipe. Now I have to say, when I throw something together like this, I do not take exact measurements so bear with me.

Bella's Whatchamacallit Chowder
Serves about 6

6 medium potatoes, peel optional, cubed
1 large onion, diced
3 medium carrots, diced ( Next time I will dice mine finer than I did this time )
3 stalks celery, diced
16 oz of whole kernel corn, canned or frozen ( I used yellow, next time I will use white )
Diced Ham ( I used the last of the Thanksgiving leftover ham )
1 cup chicken broth
1  cup of Milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 Tbl. Butter
Salt
Pepper
Lemon Pepper
Garlic
Paprika
Basil

Wash and cube potatoes, cover with water in stock pot. Bring to a gentle boil, cook until tender but not mushy. Drain 3/4 of the water out of the pot. Return to medium heat.

While potatoes are cooking, dice your carrots, onion, celery and ham.

Add chicken broth to the potatoes, followed by the diced veggies,corn, and ham. Return to gentle boil until the carrots are tender but not mushy.

Finally add your milk, cream, butter,and spices, and simmer this for about 30 minutes or until ready to serve.

 If the chowder is a bit thinner than you like, you can add a little cornstarch and water, or mash a few of the potatoes in the pot, or add a few instant potato flakes until you get the constancy you prefer.

It may not look like much, but it was really hearty and totally nom worthy.

Serve topped with shredded cheese and crackers, and a few dashes of hot sauce for a little kick!

Just a quick hello...

Just wanted to pop in and say I hope everyone had a good weekend. It has been a busy yet good one for me...we spent some time today at my parents house, I was fixing one of their computers. Mom was in a mood but at least I got to spend a little time with the kids.

Tomorrow I have some things to do..one, catching up on cleaning after the weekend as usual, and I need to do a releasing and cleansing ritual...got some things to let go of and get it out of my system.

After that I should be back to a fairly regular schedule of posting, I have a few things to write about.

But tonight, it is back to vegetating for the rest of the evening and getting a jump start on stuff tomorrow.

More later!!

Why yes, it WAS a Happy Thanksgiving!

 Oh it was all that I hoped it would be, and even more!

First of all I want to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving, and I hope you all got to enjoy the day, no matter what you did.

Second of all, today was AWESOME!! I got woken up by the smell of cinnamon...under my nose. I opened my eyes to find Jack holding a plate of cinnamon rolls he made this morn...Hazelnut and brown sugar icing rolls to be exact and they were from scratch! I adore cinny rolls and he knows it, so he decided to try out a home made recipe and wow. I had three lol.

He had been cooking since he got up, and he had to run to the store after I got awake, and when he left I set to making an oreo cheese cake and started my eggs to boiling so I could make deviled eggs later. I also made the dressing.We had: Turkey Breast, Honey Ham, green beans and potatoes, dressing, sweet potatoes with marshmallow on top, Cajun rice, deviled eggs, jellied cranberries, and the oreo cheesecake, which we did not even eat yet lol.

Cajun Rice

                                                      

Deviled Eggs

                                                        

Sweet Potatoes

                                                        

Dressing

                                                         

Ham and Turkey

                                                          

                                                          

I did not take pics of the cranberries or cheesecake....and I had to add that Jack did not want me to post these pics because it was just us, so he did not make it "all pretty for presentation." But between the two of us, we literally washed dishes about 10 times, and we were starving, so I snapped pics and we dug in lol. So while it may not look like much, it was absolutely divine tasting. I just finished my turkey and cranberry sandwich so I am a happy camper right now.

It was just the best day. It was relaxing, and fun, we laughed and joked and talked, cooked together, watched a few movies, and relaxed. No fighting or being pissy or anyone yelling or stressed out like it would have been with the rest of the family...I am very pleased we got to do this today. We even got to have an hour of uninterrupted adult time, thanks to Alex taking an after dinner nap!

Jack even took a couple of pics, and a couple of them turned out ok. Here is my fav, of Alex and myself...

He caught me off guard here lol..

                                                

My Sassy Girl Alex

With the wind blown hair

                                                   

Remember me saying I burnt the old couch?

Here is the pic of it burning!

                                        

I think that about sums up the pics lol...

I also wanted to say thank you for the comments on my post yesterday...especially Ryan, what you said helped a lot. Sorry I scared the crap out of you lol..but I am glad to have helped. As it stands, one of the people I was referring to decided to just up and remove themselves from my life over it, but like Ryan said, sometimes you have to say what you have to say and walk away. On the other hand, sometimes you have to listen, and walk away, because that is what is best for you. I understand that, and wish those people well on their life's journey.

So now the evening is winding down, Jack's boss is on vacation this week, so usually he would use HIS vacation days and take a 4 day weekend, but as second in command, when his boss is away, he is the boss, so he has to be there, and Saturday as well..but the overtime will help a lot with Christmas coming up. He is in bed already, and so is Alex, and I am sitting here rocking out listening to the Paul McCartney concert on ABC...I am not a huge Beatles fan, but he was my fav out of the bunch, and he is singing all the songs I like!

If any of you go out in the commercialism war known as Black Friday, be safe. I would hate to hear of anyone getting trampled by the herd! I will be safe and warm here at home...eating cinny rolls and drinking coffee, and counting my blessings....

Love to you all!

*Music of the Moment: Hey Jude by Paul McCartney (Which is the song that reminds me of my Mom..Judy)*

When words fail me...

Sometimes my words fail me. I do not know what to say, or it is best if I do NOT say anything, because being as blunt as I am...what is on the tip of my tongue to say is NOT always a nice thing, especially if someone is feeling bad.

I am the first to admit I am not the best person to go to for comfort. I can only say so much without repeating myself, and after you say something a few times in the span of a conversation, it turns into something hollow and insincere. Being the type I am, I tend to just suck it up and go on...but not everyone is wired the same way I am, and need more. This is where I am running into problems.

Over the last year, 3 friends of mine have gone through life changing events...and yet all three just find themselves in the same situation over and over and over again...because while the partner, the job, or the geography might have changed, the person did not, and they are blind to that fact. Excuses ( or reasons as they call them, of course ) come one after the other, or it is always the other persons fault, or the system is out to get them, or the whole friggen UNIVERSE is stacked against them.

The answer is obvious to everyone around them, but as they are inside the situation, they do not see it. I have been on both ends of that spectrum so I understand sometimes you can not see the forest for the trees. But what do you do as a friend, ( two of those three friends I am very close too, the third is someone I USED to be close to, but am not anymore ) when if you tell them the truth about what you think, it is only going to hurt them, and they will not see it anyway. They are always going to go right on thinking they problem is something else, something outside of themselves...so I just keep my trap shut. However, sometimes this is not the right thing to do either it seems, because my lack of "support" is a bad thing as well. Even if the person does not tell me " I need comfort" I can see it...but how do I give comfort when half the time I want to smack them, let them see themselves from outsiders point of view and say " Would you LOOK and see that YOU need to change what is going on, change your ways and mindset, not THEM all the time???"

If I say what I really feel, chances are I am going to cause a huge fight, and possibly lose a friend because I am not understanding enough. Funny part is I understand perfectly...I understand that when you keep getting yourself into the same bad situations over and over and over again, then you need to stop and take a long hard look at yourself, at the choices ( or LACK of choices ) you are making, and figure out why you are in the same boat all over again. Just because it makes you feel better to think it is always other peoples fault, that does not make it true. My problem is, I am ALWAYS going to point out the truth, even if you do not like it, and in order not to cause more pain, I just refuse to comment about it other than the typical " I am sorry, I understand, that sucks etc" because they do not want to know what I really think.

What do I do when saying what I think is bad, but not saying anything is almost equally as bad? How do I tell people that I love them, but I think they need to get off their ass and live in the real world instead of waiting for someone to save them, to hold their hand and lead them through life? If you can not rely on yourself, then how in the hell can anyone else rely on you? How can you say you are such a great catch, or the hardest working person, or the smartest person, or the most loving, when you are such a freaking emotional and mental train wreck that you need to totally reprogram yourself almost before you can function in todays world? Just because you do not come from here, does not mean you are not here now, and your bullshit agendas for humanity do not amount to a thing when you can not even take care of yourself. Yeah, all three claim to have a higher purpose, they are meant to heal the world. That may be true, but how can you heal and help others when you can not even take care of yourself. It just does not work that way. You have to be stable and secure before you can start throwing yourself out there for others...

What do you do when no matter which course of action you choose, you end up being the bad guy?

One More time...

I changed my look AGAIN....to something that is just ME. The colors, the earthiness of it...it just feels like home, so ya'll are stuck with this for a while lol....until Yule time anyway, but after that I will be back to this one...it just fits and feels good.

Tell me what you think?

Sometimes wishes come true...

Well there have been a few developments since I posted last night. I talked to my mom this morning, and she told me she was finally being released today, and she was. She is now resting at home. She was nice on the phone, and totally understanding that we had been sick as well, and she said with everything going on, that we would just skip the family Thanksgiving this year, saying we would make up for it on Xmas. Her tone of voice said she was expecting me to be upset, but I could hardly contain myself to get off the phone and call Jack to tell him our wish had come true, we would get to spend turkey day at home!

Well when I called him, he told me that he had gotten off the phone with my Dad a few minutes before, and my Dad was very rude to him, and snapped that Thanksgiving was cancelled since no one would be able to cook or anything because no one felt like it. Jack said well that is fine, but I was calling to check on you and Judy ( my Mom ) and see how ya'll were feeling. Dad snapped " We are fine, Judy might be home today, I got to go" and hung up on Jack..who was ticked.

But we were happy that we get to spend Thanksgiving exactly the way we want to, in a relaxed and happy atmosphere. I am glad my Mom is home however, the longer she stays in the hospital the more worried I get, so it is a relief to have her home.

Jack came home with a big turkey breast and a ham to cook for T-Day, and we are going to have dressing and deviled eggs and mashed potatoes and he wants to make Cajun rice, and I will make my special green beans, and who knows what all else we will come up with.

I am so excited!

Jack also built more shelves in one of our pantries tonight, so tomorrow I get to rearrange all my cooking pots and pans, and the little bit of food I keep in that one. Things are just great. In a couple of weeks we are replacing the kitchen floor, which is coming up in some places and is all ewww, so I am stoked about that.

Things are moving right along, and before we know it, it will be the end of January and I will be taking a weekend vacation, just Jack and I ( hopefully ) and I can not wait.

So here is to a stress free Thanksgiving, and I hope you all have a great holiday!

*Music of the Moment: For Your Entertainment by Adam Lambert*

Hooray for Fairy GodChicks, and a long post about stuff...

I am very pleased to announce that I will not be without my Internet after all, thanks to a Fairy GodChick that I am most grateful for. She swooped in and rescued me in the 11th hour, and I can not thank her enough!

I know that I have not posted real stuff in forever, but it has been a crazy couple of weeks, with Alex and myself being sick, my mom is still in the hospital, and Thanksgiving is only a couple of days away, and my parents are probably pissed at me. I got VERY ill the very next day after bringing my mom's obviously germ infested Jeep home from the doctors office. ( I was fine that day, and after driving her vehicle, I wake up the very next morning dying from chest congestion, the very same thing she was in the hospital for.. Not a coincidence. ) But it hit me so hard and so fast, and I was coughing my lungs up, I lost my voice by the next day. I just started getting my voice back yesterday, but it is a very low whisper and if I try to talk louder, my voice cracks and it goes back out. This means I have not been able to call and check on my mom, or talk to dad. I have been talking to my eldest on the computer and getting updates. But I know my parents, and it does not matter that I was horribly ill, they will still end up being pissed that I did not do whatever they thought I should have been doing. They are just that way. My Dad even told Jack it was not their fault I was sick, I obviously must have gotten it from Jack, who was sick two weeks ago, and the fact I had my hands alllll over my moms germ infested steering wheel has nothing to do with it. So this means either Thanksgiving will not happen until later, if my mom even gets to come home tomorrow, or that my Dad will expect me to get there and help cook everything.....which I do not feel up for. My Dad is a tyrant in the kitchen and nothing you do is good enough and he yells and it is just not something I want to deal with. In fact, I honestly want to stay home.

I was just talking to Jack about this tonight. We were watching House tonight ( well he sort of was..he was making us Butterscotch and Chocolate Chip Cookies ) and a Thanksgiving commercial came on. I think it was Publix or something but anyway it was about several families about to sit down to dinner and the heads of the families were standing up and telling their family members how grateful they were to have them there and how happy they were to share the meal with friends...you know, the usual family blessings and stuff. Well I said that I might look forward to Holidays more if I had a family like that, instead of having one that freaked out about cooking, stressed out the entire time they cooked, and leading to dinner, then it was hurry up and scarf down what took two days to cook so we could start the massive job of cleaning it up and sending everyone home to get the hell out of their hair. Then I said that was not totally true, because when I was a kid, we ate with the neighbors on a couple of occasions, and my "Uncle Dick" ( I grew up with these people, they were my aunts and uncles of choice ) used to stand up and say a blessing, and how thankful he was that we all came together to share good food and company. At the time it was cheesy and I just wanted to dig into that awesome food, but looking back...I really miss it.

Now it is not a joyous occasion at all. My Dad is a grump who bitches about everything, and my mom stresses out about it all ( which my Dad just adds to ) and usually ends up in the hospital or laid out in bed, unable to breathe. If I had a house big enough to entertain, I would totally cook here for my parents and older kids, and start a new tradition, but I live in a tiny place. The kitchen table is my desk, we eat in the living room lol. But now I also want to just stay home with my little family unit and do it our way. Cooking together, happy, watching movies, listening to music. Being totally relaxed and happy. Not the neurotic mess it usually ends up being. But I have my elder two kids to think about, and spending it with them, is more important than what I want. I just hate that it will be yet another tense year. Don't even get me started on Christmas.

Jack feels the same way. When he was a kid, and his grandparents were alive, the holidays were a great time, family and food and fun...and then as he got older, family feuds and such after the grandparents passed away split the family into sectors, and it was never the same. Now he does not interact with his family and the only ones I talk to are my parents. It is just sad.

Anyway, enough about that. I want to show ya'll a bit of why two weekends ago was an AWESOME weekend. Some of you may know about the fact I hated the massive sectional couch I had. It was 2 years old, was a hand me down, and I just hated it. It took up half the living room, could not be cleaned, just bleh.  I have been begging for a new living room set forever but we had to pay the TV and washing machine and other stuff off first Jack said. Then a couple of months ago he told me I could have a new set at income tax time, which was great. Well three weeks ago he tells me that we only had one more week on the TV and it would be paid off ( we were discussing bills at the time ) and we paid the washer off a couple of months ago. I was thinking "Yay, some breathing room for bills!"

Well two weeks Friday's ago he finally gets home and I did not see him pull up. He came in and we get take out on Fridays so he brought the food in and some other stuff, and was talking to me and Alex was jumping up and down on the front steps freaking out and yelling for me to come here. So I get up and walk across the room and look outside...and see the brown leather living room set I have been wanting in the back of his truck!!!! I squeeeeed and bear hugged Jack and covered him with kisses and he smiled and said " There is your Yule present...but now you have to help me unload it lol"

Well before that we had to get the Couch of Evil out of the house, which meant we had to tear half the house apart to get it out the BACK door, it would not fit out the front door. Well even then, we had to take an ax to it, to bust the frame enough to get it out. ( Three big dudes got it IN the house, my weak arms were NOT much help, as it weighed a freaking ton, with Jack to get it OUT. ) We were going to trash it anyway so he went to town with an ax and I clapped and cheered. We finally got it outside and then got the new set in, which was pretty easy. I made good on my promise I posted about here a while back about if I ever got a new couch, I was going to burn the old one and do a dance around it, and by gods I DID!

Now I have a gorgeous set that I love, it is so soft and comfy. I actually have a coffee table and end tables now, and two neat lamps. I am so happy. Yes I took pics and I am going to share now. Please ignore the carpet and walls, they are next to be replaced. One thing at a time..so we never get overwhelmed...is how we work...

So here we go!

Does it not look so warm and cuddly? You just sink right into it when you sit down..I love it so much!

The other cool thing is that Jack has embraced his inner chef, and spends the weekends, and sometimes a night during the week, creating the most awesome dishes. He is quite the baker, and made two apple pies from scratch this past weekend, and he made the cookies tonight, and last weekend he made some divine yeast rolls that give mine a run for their money. I love his cooking so much I spent all day today rearranging my kitchen so it would be easier for HIM to cook lol. That is another reason I want to just stay home this year for Thanksgiving, because with both of us cooking it would be awesome, and fun.

I don't know...I just want to start my own family traditions...instead of trying to keep those that should be left in the past alive...

But enough for tonight, this is 9 miles long lol. Thanks again to my Fairy GodChick, and more from me later!

*Music of the Moment: Need You Now by Lady Antebellum*

Hard times...

It has been a rough couple of weeks here in Bellaville. As you all know, I have been horribly sick, and am STILL sick, and now my 5 year old has come down with it full throttle. My mom is STILL in the hospital, and every day she says she might be home the next day...but that has not happened so far, and it is a little scary, considering a bad chest cold is potentially fatal to her.

On top of that, it looks like my time here on the internet is short. For the last year I have had no bank account, yet my ISP only accepts credit and debit payment. For most of the year the woman I was webmaster for paid it, as part of our arrangement, but she decided to do away with her website and therefore our partnership came to an end. Since then, my best friend has paid it for me, which I am grateful for, but hard times have fallen upon her as well and we can no longer do that. It makes me mad at myself however, because the damn bill is only 11 dollars a month, but because we do not have bank accounts anymore I am stuck. I had a pay as you go debit card after that, but the monthly fees for that piled up and it ended up costing more to keep the card active and put money on it than it did for my internet per month. So it looks like I will be without for the next 3 months or so, until income tax time.

I am really bummed though...all of my friends are online, my blog, my entertainment, the 4000 things we find to look up or need to know more about every week...all depend on the net..and losing it has me more upset than I care to admit.

It is one of the reasons I have not blogged, other than feeling like death on a stick, was because I knew sooner or later I had to write this post and I was dreading it.

So after Thanksgiving, chances are I will not be around for a while. Unless the Pay Pal fairy visits, or some divine intervention, but I don't think that will happen lol....

In case I do not get to blog again, I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season. Stay warm, and safe, and be happy. I love you guys....

Still sick..

Just a brief update...

Mom is still in the hospital, and will be until at least tomorrow.

I am sick as all get out right now, and Alex has the start of it as well. Horrible chest cold, sinuses all blocked up..and I started sneezing today.

Sad part is we are out of adult meds and no money till Friday..Bleh.

So I am going to crawl back in my hole now and will poke my head back out in a day or so...

For the Silver Moon folks...I will post as soon as I feel like sitting here and typing a lot at one time lol..

I was, but now I am not...

Well I was going to post today about how awesome my weekend was...because it totally WAS, and about what I did and plan to do with my house and show some pics, but my mom is currently in the hospital, her blood pressure dropped drastically and she was having issues breathing. ( She had a double lung reduction 6 years ago, she only has the bottom half of each lung ) She and my Dad and my older kids have been sick and she went to the doc today and while she was there her blood pressure took a dive and did not elevate to comfortable levels so they called an ambulance from the docs office and took her to the hospital, where they are keeping her over night. I had to drive into town when Jack got home and go pick her Jeep up from the docs office and drive it home.

Now I am coughing my lungs out today for some reason and am just feeling a bit tired and bleh, so I will post about the weekend tomorrow maybe.

Hope everyone is well :)

Up and down that lonely road of faith...again.

Well I have changed my dress once more, and my blog button as well. The dress is not finished, but I kept going back to this one and decided I would use it for awhile...the different shades of purple kept drawing me in....


Moving on, I wonder if I am the only Witch who goes through so many spiritual identity crisis'? The fact that I am a Pagan never changes..just the particular branch I feel drawn to at the time does. At first it was Wicca when I started out, and boy THAT changed in a hurry. Then I went to being a Green Witch...and then a Kitchen Witch, and then an Eclectic Witch, and then on to Native American Spirituality, and  now I am on the move again. I am all of those things and none of those things, all at the same time.


I figured out a long time ago that I really did not adhere to any "religion", and it is one of the several reasons I went from being Wiccan to "Just a Witch". I used to worry about what God or Goddess I needed to call to for this or that, and stress over if I called the right one for the right reason, and was I talking to them the right way, was I formal enough, was I TOO formal...would my spell or prayer not come true because I did not put enough energy into it, blah blah blah. Then I stopped being such a ninny and realized that I was trying to hard, and that the different gods and goddesses to me were simply the personification of human personality aspects. That is where I stayed for many many years. My next branch on the path was towards the Native American Spirituality of my ancestors...and I threw myself into that...only to realize that I already encompassed half of that into my daily life as it was...so I stayed in that limbo for a while.


Now we come to the present day. Now I find myself drawing even farther away from the god and goddess aspect, and more towards nature as a whole. However I still hold Gaia close to me...and maybe that is because she represents Mother Nature as a whole herself.


Maybe it is because I am older and wiser, and have sifted a lot of the wheat from the chaff, and realize I do not have to run around and try to be the perfect Witch for every type of Witch there is. I go through these stages where I do not even want to hear about anything to do with the craft. Or anything else for that matter, and my tarot gets left behind, and all the things I normally like to read and do spiritually get pushed aside and I feel very apathetic about it all. Now that I have relaxed, and realized that all I have to be is me, and what I need and want to be will flow nice and easy, instead of me paddling frantically against the current, because I do not realize that downstream is the way I should be going in the first place...


Now I find myself working with my Tarot cards...and reading and studying again, because I am no longer fighting the current, which was really just fighting myself all along. We tend to over analyze things, take things so very literal, and strive so hard to do everything correctly..that we lose a lot of the lesson, lose a lot of the information, simply because we are not listening...


There are big changes happening in the Universe right now. A lot of us are feeling the same ways, and not knowing why. Eating more, when normally we are not the type to stuff our faces, but now we are ravenous every couple of hours. Sleeping more, being exhausted, no amount of sleep seems to be enough, brain fog, loss of clarity. Some of us even feel the need to start stockpiling supplies, such as long shelf life food, medical supplies, water, and other emergency type things. The need to prepare, the need to store up reserves, almost like a bear getting ready to hibernate is how some of us feel. Eat eat eat..store fat for the cold winter...sleep so we conserve energy so that food we ate and have will last us the winter....


Even here in blog land it is apparent. We are feeling the need for change. To de-clutter, to simplify, to organize. To get rid of the old to make way for the new, or to just give us some breathing room. I am no different. It has hit me hard. I am a NOTORIOUS pack rat. I mean bad. I have gutted half my house and tossed it, gave it away, or gave it to Goodwill over the last couple of months, and that is a HUGE deal for me. But it is a deep and driving need within me to get it gone. Not only the physical, but the mental and even the digital as well. I got rid of virtually everyone on my Myspace since I never use it, I have weeded friends lists brutally on my Facebook pages, and I have been getting rid of things that are duplicated. I just have no need or the patience for it anymore.


Something is coming...might be good, and it might be bad...but things will change either way.


So now, on the ever winding path that is my life, I have taken another turn around the wheel, another loop in the spiral, and have started around again in a slightly different place....I am all of those things, and yet I am none of those things.....I am simply...me.

Changes are coming...

Well we have not washed away yet...but it is still raining and windy, so anything could happen lol.


I am writing today to let everyone know I have been making some changes on the blog. I weeded my blog list out....because things were all cluttered up and a lot of the people I followed did not post anymore or post anything I wanted to read, or I follow on the Facebook Network blogs, so I got rid of those so my dashboard would be neat and tidy again. I hate repetition, so seeing it posted all over my Facebook and my Dashboard annoyed me lol. Sorry, I am just weird like that!


The other thing I wanted to talk about is that I will be changing my blog name if the title I want is available. I will post more about that after I do it, because it depends on if it is available, but if you notice me with a new name do not fret....it is still me lol...


If I get the name change, I will also be changing my button. Sorry for any pain in the ass this might cause for those of you who follow or have my button, but as we grow and change so does the things around us that represent us...and this blog is certainly no exception.


Thank you to all of you who do follow and read, I am glad your here!


So now I am off to see if I can land my new name...and if not, then we will continue to Wander as I Wonder for a while longer *winks*

Just in case....

I just wanted to let everyone know I might not be around for a couple of days. I intend to be, but as I live right on the coast of North Florida, Tropical Storm Ida is approaching fast...and will start hitting us in a couple of hours. As I literally live less than 10 minutes form the ocean, we are going to catch the worst of it and we might lose power. Hopefully not but I did want to warn everyone just in case I went missing lol.

Here is the storm creeping up on us, and the arrow shows where I am...

So we are gearing up for a late season storm here, and if we should lose power then I will be back when it is restored.

Have a great week everyone!

Focus: I Haz None....

Yes, I know I have been more quiet than usual these days. That goes for comments as well. I am having some focus issues. Plenty of things to write about, but I am lacking the drive, peace and quiet I need, and the focus to write them lol..and I have been needed elsewhere for other things. That is ok as well, it just means I have not had the things in place I need for me to write, especially when the posts will tend to be long, as always lol.

Things are good for me however. It is the weekend which is almost always a good thing for me, and this weekend had been fab so far. Jack cooked today, an all day process, and made something cute, which I will share when my camera decides to stop being a pain in the ass and actually download the pics to my pc lol.

Tomorrow is race day, the season is almost over until February of next year, so that is a bummer, but I can enjoy it while it lasts!

So stay tuned for some pretty in depth posts very soon...once I take care of everything else first so I can concentrate...

I changed my dress....

So now that October is OVER *Insert happy dance here* I decided to change my dress and added a new layout.

It is very earthy and suits me very well I think. So this will be what you all get to stare at until something else catches my eye lol.

Let me know what you think!

Happy November everyone!!!

Samhain Tarot Reading

Tonight after I saged the hell out of the house ( literally heh heh ) and burned an assortment of magical herbal goodies for their various properties, I sat down here with the intention of calling it a night, to just relax.

Of course the cat chose that moment to yowl at the back door to be let inside. So I trudge over there and open the door and feel the COLD air wash over me. Thats right. Cold air. Not two hours ago it was 76 degrees and now it is 58. * Chortles happily*

I was suddenly feeling very magical, and actually I was watching Practical Magic, which ALWAYS makes me feel Witchy, and I decided to do a tarot reading for myself for the coming year. I have not done a reading in a while, and not for myself in even longer. I was drawn to use a deck I have not used before, one that Maia sent me a few months ago. I can not remember the name of it...forever and a day ago I commented on a blog of Jupiter's but can not seem to find the post to share, and the name is not really on the box lol.

ANYWAY, I was drawn to use that deck, and I went and got a blanket and a pillow and spread it out on the floor and put the pillow behind me and spent a few minutes shuffling the deck and talking to it. When I felt ready I asked it to show me what was in store for the next year, and I used the Star spread which is shaped like a pentacle and a card is placed on each of the pentacle points.

My reading is as follows:

Center of Star is the 'Heart of the Question ' position and the card was the Five of Wands, which made me laugh because it is a card ( to me ) that points to arguments and petty annoyances, people trying to get in your way and arguing for the sake of arguing....and that is really what I had in mind when I asked the question...I was thinking " What crap am I going to have to deal with" and that card came up and make me chuckle. I love it when the Universe has a sense of humor *winks*

The next card was the 'Present" position, which was below the above card, and that card was the Eight of Swords, reversed. That usually means that the path ahead is clear, and calls you to follow it...which I take to mean that things will be easier, and I will once again continue my journey on my spiritual path. It also means that obstacles fall aside and allow freedom of movement, and that your goals usually will be achieved, which is awesome, as I have several I would like to accomplish over the next year or so.

The next card was in the 'Intellect' position, and this was the lower left point of the star. That card was the Ten of Cups, which is a pretty awesome card. It usually means that your goals are obtained, the relationships in your life are true, your dreams become reality, and there is glitter and rainbows all over the place and it is time to feel the creamy goodness of life with those close to you. This card means a LOT because I feel like Jack and I have never been better, and we have been through  some ROUGH times over the last year....well...two if you want to get technical. Things feel really good in my life, I have new friends, my relationships that mean something to me are solid, and I have felt very content for a while now, and that is a BIG deal for me.

The next card was the 'Known Desires' position, and that card was the Knight of Pentacles. This one is a bit confusing to me. The Knight of Pentacles is the most hardworking of all the Knights, and the most devoted, but it says he is too wrapped up in materialistic things. It confuses me because I am trying to get RID of my material possessions to a degree...I am wedding out half my house and getting rid of stuff that does not serve any purpose in my life anymore. When I see the word "materialistic" it brings someone who is greedy and constantly has to buy stuff to make them happy, and that is not me at all.

Next is the 'What is yet to unfold' position, and the card I got for that spot was the Moon, reversed. The Moon governs all dreams, and while the moon can inspire, it can also deceive. This card tells me I have to decipher if the dreams I am having ( and boy have I had a lot of odd ones as of late ) are prophetic or merely fantasy.

The next card was in the 'Emotions' spot, and I drew the Two of Cups. In the upright position it is a card of devotion, bonding, and the sharing of experiences. The coming together of two halves to make a stronger whole. Again, with the Jack thing, we are better and closer than ever, and we are much stronger as a whole. But aside from the romantic aspect, I have a couple of friendships that are solid, and we are closer than ever, and stronger than ever.

The final card, the 'Outcome' position, was the Ace of Swords. The Ace stands for clarity of mind, and represents a singularity of purpose and piercing intent. Focus and consciousness combine for decisive decisions. I am a very direct and logical minded person, and I usually do not have trouble making important decisions when the situation calls for it, so I take this card to mean as long as I hold on to that, and stay focused and level headed, that the coming year will turn out just fine.

So as you can see, all in all this was a pretty good reading. I have to add that right in the middle of this, my power went out and I had an interesting night. I am just now getting to finish, and be sure to head over to The Wandering Hearth and check out my guest post Spirits of the Night.

Have a good evening everyone!