Turning of the Wheel

The Autumnal Equinox is tomorrow, the astronomical start of fall in the northern hemisphere, Mabon if you're pagan, a balance between day and night. Labor Day and the start of school signal the end of summer for most, but the summer weather hangs on a few weeks longer, even as the leaves begin to change color and the overnight temps start to drop.

Geese have begun to gather together in preparation for migration, flying overhead morning & evening;
bright red autumn meadowhawks have supplanted the blue & green dragonflies of summer;
but the tropical hibiscus continues to bloom beside the marigolds, and the peppers ripen.

Here at Faerie Gardens, we celebrated the changing seasons with a seasonal feast (if there's no feast, is it even a celebration?) and bonfire, sitting in the dark, talking and laughing until the sun had long since set. It was a wonderful welcome to fall.

Happy Mother's Day

 

Mommy & Me, August 19, 2023

This is the woman who raised me. She did her best. I love her to the moon and back. ♥♥♥

Hoppy New Year 2024!

 

May your 2024 be blessed with love & health, happiness & prosperity!

Hoppy Halloween!

 

Garden Harvest

 Time for another garden update! Is this a gardening blog now? Maybe...

I started by planting radishes on May 31st, and although they should have germinated in 7-10 days (June 7-10), they didn't actually start germinating until the 13th. First with one one sprout then more and more until the 17th. The packet said to thin them when 1-2 inches tall and on the 18th, I thinned some. And again, although the packet claimed they would mature in 29 days none were big enough to pick until my birthday, July 22nd. I got about 5 or 6 radishes and they were HOT. So while as beautiful as they are, I might not grow them again.

Watermelon radishes, July 22, 2023

The Roma tomatoes were planted by a co-worker as part of an educational program and were leftover. I was surprised to get any tomatoes from them at all, but did get quite a few, albeit small, hard, and not too flavorful. I did purchase a beefsteak tomato plant from a nursery, but got only one tomato from the whole plant. There are just a few of the Roma tomatoes left to ripen, and several green ones that we'll pick before the first frost to make fried green tomatoes from.

September 11, 2023 - tomatoes ripening in the back

After the radishes were all picked, we decided to fill the empty space with some lettuce. So on August 13th we planted seeds which said they would germinate in 10-14 days. By the 17th (FOUR DAYS) many had germinated, but after another three days they started to disappear, and we never saw them even get to an inch tall. No idea where they went.

October 7, 2023

Now, we've put up the Halloween décor, and are just waiting for those last few tomatoes. All said, I think the garden placement was successful enough that I'll try some other things next year.

Photo Friday: Warm Light

My office is not only beautiful this morning, but it smells so lovely!

L'shanah tovah!

No, I am not Jewish, but they have some lovely traditions and rituals that fit well within my spiritual practice.

Rosh Hashanah, which is the Jewish New Year, began at sundown last night and it usually occurs with the New Moon in September or early October. They blow the Ram's Horn (shofar) eat apples & honey & sweet challah bread to symbolize the wish a sweet new year, and unlike our celebrations on December 31st, Rosh Hashanah is a holy time of self-reflection.

One of the rituals they have is called Tashlikh, which means to cast off, and it is traditionally a ritual to symbolically "cast off" one's sins of the past year by throwing breadcrumbs into a river. In the spirit of introspection, some Jews make lists of the sins they wish to cast off, but one anecdote I found really hit home for me.

The author & a friend had been bothered by the thought of listing out all the ways they "hadn't measured up to some standard set by this judgmental and punishing God." So they dug deeper and discovered the word shalechet which came from the same root and refers to the leaves that fall from the trees in autumn. They decided to use the Tashlikh ritual to see their growth in the past year, and to cast off the old, dried up pieces that no longer served them.

She said, "It is not about how I have sinned. Instead I imagine a large oak tree and visualize old and dried leaves being blown by the wind, carrying these pieces of me that no longer nourish me." (By Janice Rous, Personal Reflections on Teshuvah (Repentance) and Tashlich (Casting Away) at ritualwell)

I also found this prayer, that seems to sum up how I see the ritual....

A Prayer for Tashlich
Shared by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat at ritualwell

Here I am again
ready to let go of my mistakes.

Help me to release myself
from all the ways I've missed the mark.

Help me to stop carrying
the karmic baggage of my poor choices.

As I cast this bread upon the waters
Lift my troubles off my shoulders.

Help me to know that last year is over,
washed away like crumbs in the current.

Open my heart to blessing and gratitude
Renew my soul as the dew renews the grasses.

And we say together:
Amen.

My Word of the Year

Last year, my word was DO, and I did ok for a while, but by March I kinda got weighed down by my fears and insecurities, and let the DO-ing slip. This year, I've chosen a word, and given myself some actionable steps to make sure I stick with it!

My word is DARE.

Do it!
Assert yourself!
Risk failure!
Experience success!

Jacqueline has planned to do 5 special things with her word throughout the year, 5 each month, and I think 5 each day, but for me, 3 is the magic number, so I've chosen to do 3 big DAREs over the year, 3 DAREs each month, and 3 each day.

I've not yet chosen what all three of my big DAREs are for the year, but the first is to do Julie Hedlund's 12x12 Picture Book Writing Challenge. I can't afford to actually join, but I'm going to push myself to create 12 picture books this year; I've even got some ideas for the first few already! I'll likely choose the other 2 DAREs for the year before the month is out.

My daily DAREs are smaller, but somewhat challenging for me. The first and scariest for me is to call someone every day, my mom or dad, a friend, a potential employer... ANYONE. I just need to get over the anxiety I get whenever I think of making a phone call. Second is a challenge only because it's one of the first things I stop doing whenever problems arise and I think it's one the most important things I can do: CREATE something; draw a picture, paint, sculpt, whatever... just make sure I work on art EVERYDAY. And last is preparation for something I hope to do someday soon: Do one French lesson minimum on Duolingo. This way I hope to improve and expand my French speaking skills for a trip to Paris!

And then, each month I plan to choose 3 important things I need to DARE to do. This month I need to 1) contact a local school district I sub in to find out why they haven't been calling me, 2) call another district I used to sub in to see about getting calls from them again, and 3) by the end of the month send out subbing applications for more local districts. I am just not getting enough calls!

By the beginning of each month, I'll have listed the DAREs and the actions I need to take to call them done, and by the end of this week, I'll have more actionable steps for each of these DAREs. Have you got a Word of the Year or any resolutions at all? Feel free to share them with me in the comments! For now, I must go watch that ball drop! Hoppy 2013 Everyone!

Halloween

Last night we took the kids out in the car to trick or treat over the many miles that comprise our neighborhood, they had fun dressing up and collecting candy, but we got no photos. >.<  D'oh!

However on Saturday we attended a super awesome costume party at Jacqueline's sister's in honor of her neice's birthday!  And we got pics!  ^o^

First, check out my nails... I created my own version of the galaxy manicure!  (yes, i do still have my shiny sparkly snowflakes up from last Christmas!  I love them! :P)


Base coat topped with China Glaze (CG) Smoke & Ashes, then sponge on Blue Iguana, Glittering Garland, Senorita Bonita, Some like it Haute (all CG), and Orly's Rococo-a-Go-Go. Dab on some CG Techno, and use a dotting tool to make a few white dots.  Then the fun part: top the white dots, and Some Like it Haute with glow-in-the-dark nail polish!  It doesn't distort the colors and makes your fingers glow!  ^o^  Quick dry top coat a must - 2-3 layers!


Of course these represent All of Space & Time to go with my Rose costume!  ^-^  (I tried a TARDIS, but failed; my brushes are too big!)


The next regeneration of the Doctor returns to find an older and heavier Rose Tyler... XD ...and her sonic screwdriver has been replaced with a NORMAL screwdriver! I bet the Silence did it... (Get it? The Silence, *sonic* screwdriver... HA!)

I digress.

Antonio went as a Demo Man from Team Fortress 2...


We were kinda bummed that he didn't go as Black Iron Man as he had originally planned; he had made the coolest arc reactor!  It actually lit up!  :D

And Lia and JoAnn were SOOOOOO cute!


They did Pinkie Pie & Rarity cosplays!  (You better go look at that awesome photo on black!)  Lia made her complete outfit, and JoAnn's ears... Are they not totally adorbz!?  ^o^

Anyhooo, there are a few more shots on my flickr, check them out if you want!

New from Faerie Gardens!

There's a ton of new pendants and more at Faerie Garden Fancies!

And there's still time to get these great Halloween pendants in time for the holiday!

AND they're $2 less than usual!  \^o^/


Visit Faerie Garden Fancies now and find *your* magic!

Fairy Day

Today is Fairy Day!

We're still unpacking and settling back into our usual routines here, after a week away from home at an unschooling camping-conference in the Catskills (*bliss*); so we won't be doing anything special, but I thought I'd share a bit of Faerie Gardens' magic with you all...



Spring Fairy, 8" x 8" Print of Original Watercolor Painting

FairyDay.com isn't up anymore (online casino troll have stolen the site! D: ), but you can find out more on facebook and these other sites:

• Fairy Day Facebook Page
• Fairy Day Squidoo Page
• Fairy Day Punchbowl Page

Are you celebrating?  What are you doing?  Tell me about it!

Memorial Day Manicure

I thought I'd try something new on my nails this time...


Click to embiggen!
Some red, white, and blue wavy ribbons and one with just a bit of star showing...

What I did:

1. Base Coat of Nail Magic Nail Hardener
2. Background of Artmatic Silver Dust
3. Wavy stripes made using a thin brush with China Glaze Ruby Pumps & Blue Iguana and Sally Girl Pure (812000) topped with Wet 'n' Wild #438 (I apparently need some kind of super sparkly white, eh?)
4. Top Coat of China Glaze Fairy Dust (very hard for me to leave this out of any manicure! XD )
5. Top-top Coat of Out The Door

Click to embiggen!
And on the other hand, I did a red, white, and blue comet on my thumb, adding a single silver star glitter, and since we always cook-out on Memorial Day, a burger!  Complete with lettuce, tomato, cheese, and a sesame seed bun!  ^-^

For the burger:

1. Paint the bottom bun first with a mix of my unknown brown color, Sally Girl Pure (812000), DuraGloss Sea Shell, and China Glaze Lemon Fizz.  (Still not 100% happy with the color, as I feel it's a bit too grey, but what're ya gonna do?)
2. Lettuce next!  I used China Glaze's Cha Cha Cha with a stippling of Lemon Fizz.
3. Then the burger, which I used my unknown brown stippled with black and a tiny bit of the bun-mix.
4. Nina Ultra Pro Like Butta made an excellent cheese,
5. and Revlon Dragon Red made wonderful tomatoes.  However, this one ALWAYS smears when I add the top coat.
6. Finally I added the top bun & dotted it with Lemon Fizz sesame seeds.
7. Topped it all with Hard Candy's Matte-ly in Love, and then went over the tomatoes, cheese, burger, and lettuce with my usual Out The Door topcoat.

I'd love to see yours!

A Bevy of Holiday Beverages

Each holiday season I like to treat myself with fancy beverages, that I don't usually have, in the evening before bed.  This year I decided to take some pictures...

This morning I added Marshmallow Madness to my coffee; I love these things...

A few nights ago I had a handful of peppermint marshmallows in my cocoa...

And a few days before that I had a delicious chocolate-dipped peppermint peep in cocoa...

What are some of your favorite holiday beverages?

In Memory

Many thanks to the soldiers who died in service to our country.



May their families be forever blessed.



Click for Images Best View

Cinco de Mayo

Happy Cinco de Mayo! Today Mexicans celebrated their victory over the French army at the Battle of Puebla on this date in 1862. It is *not* their Fourth of July, as I once believed; their Independence Day is on September 16th. Cinco de Mayo is more like our Veteran's Day, with military parades, speeches by political leaders, and not many people really observing the holiday, and those that do, celebrate in a more subdued manner than we do here in the US. In fact, Cinco de Mayo is only an official holiday in the state of Puebla, although in other parts of the country there is some recognition.

Here in the US, however, Cinco de Mayo has taken on the same significance of other holidays like St. Patrick's Day, Oktoberfest, and Chinese New Year, which are celebrated to honor the Irish, German, and Chinese cultures. We immerse ourselves in their music, their food, their games, their way of life... and maybe learn a little bit about their history. It's a reason for a party! And here at Faerie Gardens, we'll take any little reason to celebrate, and Cinco de Mayo usually means a big Mexican feast for dinner. Tonight we had one of my favorite Mexican dishes:

Taco Salad!

Now I know, it's not *really* a Mexican dish, but it's got great Mexican flavor, and that's enough for me. So how did I make it? It's easy. I started by making this awesome dressing:

• 2 parts bottled ranch dressing
• 1 part lime juice
• cumin to taste
• just enough sour cream to thicken it back up some

Then I set that aside and tore some iceberg lettuce into a bowl to which I added a few spoonfuls each of:

• fresh diced tomato
• avocado (tossed in lime juice for flavor and to keep the green color)
• black olives (halved)
• black beans
• seasoned ground beef (you can use a taco seasoning packet or add spices like chili powder, cumin, black powder... Or if you're vegan you can use meatless crumbles or leave this out altogether...)
• you might want to add some chopped onions, but I didn't want any tonight...

After adding all that to a bowl big enough for mixing in, I added my special dressing and mixed thoroughly. But WAIT! There's more!

We were having some Mexican seasoned chicken breast (same seasonings as the ground beef) on top of our salads and I love BBQ flavor with my chicken, so I created a BBQ salsa! OMG YUM!

• 1/4 c salsa
• 1/4 c Memphis- or Texas-style (thin, tomato-based, not too sweet) BBQ sauce (we used the legendary sauce from our local Dinosaur Barbecue)
• 1 T Kansas City-style (thick, tomato-based, sweet) BBQ sauce

I finished my salad by adding 3 dollops of this delicious BBQ salsa, 1 dollop of sour cream, a small handful of crushed corn chips, the chicken (still steaming hot from the frying pan), and some shredded Mexican blend cheese. On the side, I had a small dish of my favorite Lime flavored tortillia chips! (And yes, I know I spelled it wrong, but that's how we say it here in the Gardens: tor-TILL-ee-ah. We like to play with language! It's more funner! ~_^)

I even had a bottle of Lime-melon wine cooler to wash it all down. Not as fun as a margarita maybe, but pretty tasty! ^-^ So, feliz Cinco de Mayo to you! Did you celebrate at all? Have you ever? Any favorite recipes you prepare?

Many thanks to Google and to Wikipedia for helping find out more about Cinco de Mayo!

Mosaic Monday Bunday

It's time for another Mosaic Monday Bunday! This week we're doing the Easter version...

Every Spring, people buy cute fluffy baby rabbits for Easter presents, and before the end of summer many of them have been left at shelters or abandoned in the wild. Rabbits are not low-maintenance pets, and are often more work than a dog or cat. If you're considering giving a rabbit this Easter, please visit the sites below and make sure you are prepared for the commitment. If you decide you really do want a rabbit, wait a few weeks to be sure, then contact your local shelter or HRS chapter to find a nice match. If you decide you're not ready for the commitment, or you're not sure the receiver of your gift is, then try one of these lovely guilt-free substitutions:

Click any pic to see its Etsy listing!

Is a rabbit right for you? Get the facts before you bring one home...

• Nine Rabbit Myths (pdf)
• The Interactive Bun
• Rabbits & Children
• Care of Rabbits
• Rabbit FAQs

For other Mosaic Monday posts, click here!

April Fools

Jacqueline & I love to celebrate this holiday and this year was no exception to our fun! When I woke up, I put on my most foolish outfit and we headed out to the store to get some things we forgot... They were pretty busy for midmorning, and I got more than a few strange looks; I even caught 2 employees talking and laughing about it! YAY! (Making people smile is a good thing!)

When Lia got up, she joined me in the crazy outfit department:

Then we got busy with the dinner prep! First up was our fancy berry soda beverage... Jacqueline put them in the fridge to set chill.

Then she made some silly "dirt" cookies...

And finished up with a fabulous choco-berry pie!

When it was time to eat, we played a little game - since the kids are pretty much on to us anyway with the faux-food. First, Jacqueline made a list of all the things to be on our table; plates were the only exclusion. She listed silverware, each course of the meal, napkins, condiments... then we all picked 6 numbers without knowing what we'd be getting. (Jacqueline even used random.com to generate her own numbers!) She got "pie", garlic bread, BBQ sauce, Brussels sprouts, bean blend, and a napkin.

I think I got the worst place of all: Brussels sprouts, tomatoes, BBQ sauce, a napkin, a spoon, and the "soda" drink.

Ant fared better, but he's a fussy eater; so he might disagree: "pie", Brussels sprouts (oh yes, we all got those, but none of us got a fork!!!), bean blend, BBQ sauce (which he doesn't use), garlic bread, and a cookie! (No utensils!)

Esme made good choices too: "pie", garlic bread, tomato, Brussels sprouts, bean blend, and a spoon.

Poor Josie felt she was on some kind of diet! Garlic bread, "soda", Brussels sprouts, bean blend, a knife and a napkin...

Lia was the most upset about not getting a "soda" but her meal was balanced well: "pie", bean blend, Brussels sprouts, tomato, BBQ sauce, and a knife to eat it all!

You can see their reactions here.... Not really digging the fact that they got what they chose - and nothing else!

But it was all in fun... We let them rearrange their food, get more from the kitchen, or whatever they wanted to eat... Of course they all loved the soda... Esme was trying to prank us by putting an ice cube in hers (she knew it wasn't really "soda"), and they ALL attempted to "drink" it for real through the straws. (Lia was actually successful!)

So how did you celebrate *YOUR* April Fools Day?

Photo Friday: Elaborate

♥ April Fool ♥

Click for BEST view...
Elaborate outfit, elaborate editing...

April Fool, Duckface!

2010 Photo Review

Click for full size...

30 Days of Me: Day 9, 10, and 11

Yes, I flaked again! Things have been crazy busy here... let's see if I can catch up a little at a time...

Day 01 – Introduce Yourself
Day 02 – Your first love
Day 03 – Your parents
Day 04 – What you ate today
Day 05 – Your definition of love
Day 06 – Your day
Day 07 – Your best friend
Day 08 – A precious item
Day 09 – Your beliefs

My beliefs about what? Santa Claus? I believe he was a real person - that much has been proven true - but I think more important is the spirit of Santa Claus. Not that strangely dressed fat man who creeps into houses at night and watches us sleep; the other spirit of Santa Claus: the sense of magic & wonder, joyfulness & generosity, peace & good will to all... I believe that *that* Santa Claus is up to us to carry in our hearts all year long, not just during the winter holidays.

My beliefs about other things? Well, I talk enough about them elsewhere...

Day 10 – What you wore today

Clothes. Like I usually do except in the middle of summer... :P Here's a sketch:


Jeans, layered over long undies, white ankle socks, Happy Bunny rainbow slipper socks, and rainbow leg warmers. On top, black t-shirt, fleece sweatshirt. When I went shopping, I wore my grey bunnyhug, black driving gloves, and sooper long rainbow scarf. Oh, and my boots. Inside when wandering I wore my green faux-crocs.

Day 11 – Your siblings

I has none! I am a spoiled rotten only child.

Day 12 – What’s in your bag
Day 13 – This week
Day 14 – Your childhood
Day 15 – Your dreams
Day 16 – Your first kiss
Day 17 – Your favorite memory
Day 18 – Your favorite birthday
Day 19 – Something you regret
Day 20 – Your morning routine
Day 21 – Your job and/or schooling
Day 22 – Something that upsets you
Day 23 – Something that makes you feel better
Day 24 – Something that makes you cry
Day 25 – Your sleeping habits
Day 26 – Your fears
Day 27 – Your favorite place
Day 28 – Something that you miss
Day 29 – Your favorite foods/drinks
Day 30 – Your aspirations