What do you Love, Love, Love?

Inspired by the Valentine vibe in the air, I have been thinking about Love. Not LOVE as in "I LOVE my husband" (which of course I do, he is a sweetie!), but of all the things I love: ideas and books, animals, gardens, collections, memories, hobbies.....all those things that help make you, You and me, Me!

I like to think that I am a well-adjusted, happy Wiccan. I love being Wiccan, truly! Wicca has made me feel complete and truly part of Nature. Someday very very soon, I am going to blog more about being Wiccan, why I am Wiccan and what I Love about being Wiccan!

Today, though, I am feeling nostalgic, sentimental, perhaps a little sad, because I think about my mom who just passed away two weeks ago. Not sad in a horrible way, with sobbing and hand-wringing and all that. Just wistful for the days gone by, and how a lot of the things I have are gentle reminders of happy times, or are comforting things. I enjoy my little collections and some have no reason at all for living with me, other than I love 'em!!

I know a lot of you are collectors; gatherers of "stuff" and "good junk". After all, part of being a responsible member of society is to do our part to reduce what goes into the landfills. (you know, Reduce, ReUse, Recycle, Repurpose).

Now we don't have a very big house. There is not a lot of storage. My husband and I share a closet about the size of a mouse hole. But we have lots (lots and lots) of Books. Wow, dontcha just love books!!! And yes, we do re-read a lot of them. Some of them are parts of series or by favorite authors. We have a lot of sci-fi/horror. Fantasy. Mysteries. Historical Fiction.  And I have a ton of non-fiction books, including a large Wiccan/Pagan collection, gardening, crafting, birding and other nature subjects,  and, oddly enough, books on collecting! (lol). The books are all over the place, on shelves, tops of chests, in baskets and there is an unfortunate group of books in an old laundry basket waiting for a shelf to go up somewhere. But I love these books, and can't imagine living without them.

A basket of my books

I love my pottery collection, including very old things from my mom's family in France and Switzerland. I love the birdhouse collection, the stones, dishes, blue and white "anything" collection.  I love my husband's beer steins and all his Navy memorabilia. There are many collections, some maybe only consisting of 2 or 3 items. I collect magazine articles: these help me collect ideas for all kinds of projects around the house, for planning gardens, for daydreaming, for inspiration.

China Hutch #1

China Hutch #2

 A few of my collections.

Blue and White and Copper

Clutter? Dust catchers? Taking up space? Perhaps. Love them anyway. Could I live without them? Yes, of course, because after all, they are just material things. For now, I love living with these things. And love is a many-splendored thing!

Do you love to collect? I'd love to hear about it.



Valentine Images Source
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What a Shine!

Last night, beautiful moon-shine, large and lovely, in the eastern sky. This morning before sunrise, there was the moon again, full and round and yellow in the west. Took me by surprise. And now a couple of hours later, the sun is shining brilliantly. It has to fill you with energy and exhuberance, doesn't it?  It is going to be a beautiful day! Enjoy it to the fullest!

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Four Fotos For February (finally)

What with one thing and another, I have spent very little time with my new camera (received for Yule). The Canon Power Shot ELPH 300 HS (referred to from this day forward as "Elphie") has been patiently sitting on my desk wondering when the heck we were going to go out and play. So without further ado, I present my first photos ever from Elphie. (I am sure they will improve with time and practice)

First victim (I mean subject) Lexie-Girl

My wonderful new drum

Mushroom-shaped ice formation in our yard

February 7, 2012 Full Moon, as seen from my back deck

This is as close to Wordless Wednesday as I can get. Looking forward to learning more about Elphie. Thanks for your patience as I "fiddle around" with photography.

Tuesday Miscellany

There will be a beautiful full moon tonight, and Goddess willing, there will be clear skies for viewing. Charging up gems and crystals, water and a few other things is definitely the plan. We don't have wide window sills in this house, so it is a challenge when the weather is cold to place items in view of the Full Moon. Still, where there is a witch, there is a way. 

A giveaway is going on at my good friend, Kim's blog. She is a lovely lady, a Wiccan high priestess and lover of cats. I have enjoyed her blog, The Wiccan Life for quite some time now. She shares poetry, rituals, shopping excursions and animal stories. Always a pleasure to visit her. Go take a look, and enter her giveaway. Books, a hand-made wreath and a very coveted Fairy wand is in the offing. Here's the link:
The Wiccan Life Spring Giveaway

Have you seen the new show about the Fae on Sci-Fi channel? It is called Lost Girl and I have to admit I like it. At least so far. Sci-Fi channel shows can sometimes be a bit "cheesy". Give it a look. It comes on Monday nights.  Here is a link where you can learn more about this nifty show.  Lost Girl on Sci-Fi Channel

Time to water the house plants, clean the canary cage, fill up the outside bird feeders and maybe go to my favorite book store for some perusing and a cafe mocha. I wonder if they still have pumpkin cheesecake?.....................

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Dreams

For the last four nights, I have been having the most wonderful dreams. Bright, sunshiney, warm, happy, loving dreams. I am with my mother and she is smiling, healthy, younger. We are sitting together in old familiar places, chatting and laughing. These dreams are beautiful. I wake up assured that my mom is fine, and that my sadness will decrease day by day.

A mom's hug lasts long after she lets go.  ~Author Unknown

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Imbolc Blessings

Though spring weather and new growth is still some time away, Imbolc is a welcomed sabbat that helps us remember that winter does not last forever, and this side of the planet will once again be filled with days of long light, birdsong and green-leafed trees. (now that was a long sentence!).

These days, instead of observing the birth of lambs and calves, most urban Wiccans are using symbols of new life and the return of light on their altars. Beautiful candles, cauldrons filled with herbs, fresh flowers and incense, paintings or figures of those things that represent the return of Spring. For those of us who live in northern climes, we are not likely to see crocuses popping up or the groundhogs scurrying around. But truly we know it is coming soon, with Ostara, the Spring Equinox sabbat occurring in March.

So far, for most of us all over the US, this winter has not been very harsh (as of yet). Still it gets dark early, and there is frost in the mornings, and frankly I am so tired of the heavy coats, hats, gloves, scarves, and waiting for the car to warm up. It is encouraging to take a moment at the beginning of February to think ahead to the warmer days.

In the meantime, there is lots going on to fill the days between now and Ostara. I try not to wish the time away, as each and every day is just as important as a day sometime in the future. Live in the "now", I like to say.

Blessed Imbolc to everyone.

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Welcome February

It is with utmost relief I bid farewell to January. Glad to be done with it. February will be a very good month, of that I am certain. Despite dealing with grief, my Wiccan witchy ways won't let me sink down into too deep of a burrow. And my mom would not be pleased. Her loss is still very new, just a week has gone by. The hands of the clock move very slowly. But come, pour a cup of tea and sit with me, can you?

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 February has always been one of my favorite months, starting way back in the long ago of elementary school. Ground Hog's Day (which I now know is actually the Wiccan sabbat, Imbolc!!); did the nutty little groundhog  come out of his hidey-hole and see his shadow? 6 more weeks of winter? or, just six more weeks till Spring? Then along comes Mr Lincoln's birthday, our 16th president. Cutting out the silhouettes of his bearded profile and writing little history stories: "Abraham Lincoln was very honest and did his school work by candle light." And of course just a week or so later, we did the same for Mr Washington, the axe-yielding cherry tree killer of legend and "Father of our Country". (totally false, you know, about ole G.W. cutting down the cherry tree...but still my mom made cherry pie every February 22nd for years, lol!)

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But the ultimate February event of course was Valentine's Day. Handcrafted "mailboxes", or crisp white bakery bags, covered in millions of red and pink hearts, lots of lacy doilies, cupcakes iced in pink frosting, tons of candy, the ubiquitous Hawaiian Punch! Ah, the good old days!!

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Enough of strolling down memory lane! It is pouring down rain, about 46 degrees F, weird, wacky weather for February in the North. Not complaining though.

Looking forward to all kinds of good things this month. And thank you Linda, for the adorable Valentine card you sent.

See you soon!!