Hello again!

I have been a terrible blogger lately but life, well, life is just that. :) I have been busy, busy, busy and in between taking a few classes at the local college, work, friends and family I have been pulling my hair out trying to keep sane! There is a light at the end of the tunnel though. I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween, Samhain. I will update you a little more as the days go by but I spent my Halloween weekend on an investigation at The Old Wheeler Hotel (in coastal Oregon) with our paranormal investigation group. It was an overnighter and on top of the investigation, just staying in this adorable quaint hotel was like a vacation! However, down in the basement, the morgue was a bit creepy. More later!

Quincy boy showing off with the pumpkin. :)

The pumpkins that I carved with my boyfriend's kids.

Still getting in a few rides in between the craziness in my life! Me and Clyde. :)

My best friend and I in our footsie jammies! I am SO glad I got these for this winter. I've already worn them almost every night since I bought them.

ALSO! In my next post I will be showing you what I won in a giveaway from Merlin's Magickal Mistress! I've been trying to get a good picture of it but I lost my camera for awhile and since finding it realized I had no batteries. Typical me. Stay tuned! Miss you all! I will be around to visit as much as I can.

Blessings to all!

My magical cat.....

A rare moment caught of my boy Quincy. He was calm. Lol! So I took advantage of the moment and shot these pictures. Doesn't he look like an angel? On the contrary...he's a little brat and little devil but I love him!

He will hear my call a mile away....

No true love spell goes without a petal from the perfect rose. My very first rose has bloomed. She's called Tahitian Sunset...and she smells wonderful!

Practical Magic Blog Party! Let The Magic Begin!

Practical Magic has always been and always will be my favorite movie of all time. The character I most resonate with is Sally Owens. I love her style, love her personality but most of all I love her botanical shop aka Verbena Botanicals! I dream of having a shop like she had in the movie.

"We were going to open a botanical shop. Where Mike would get all the ingredients and I'd make the stuff. He really loved my mint-oatmeal shaving cream. He couldn't stop eating it."

And I bet you all didn't know that I have one of her recipes on hand. ;)

Try this stimulating body scrub with sea salt to soothe your dry hands this Fall. Who's to say Sally didn't have this recipe in one of those beautiful bottles that lined her shop. :)

Grapefruit Exfoliating Paste

4-ounce glass jar

1 1/2 ounches almond oil

25 drops grapefruit essential oil

6 drops lavender essential oil

10 drops lime essential oil

14 drops tangerine essential oil

3 ounces coarse sea salt

Combine almond oil and essential oils in a glass jar and shake vigorously to disperse the oils. pour mixture into a glass bowl and add the sea salts a little at a time, stirring until you have a thick paste. Of course, always stir clockwise when making your potions. Let it sit for 1 hour. Pour into glass jar. This will last for 6 months if covered and stored in a dark glass container.

And always remember....

"Always throw salt over your left shoulder; keep rosemary by your garden gate; plant lavender for luck; and fall in love whenever you can."

Lavender and Sage Smudge Stick

Yesterday I was working on my small deck garden and noticed how beautiful my sage and lavender were. Then an idea popped in my head. I had never made my own smudge stick before so I stopped pruning my plants, dropped everything and began to make it. :) See how ADD I can be?

Cut as close to the base as possible so you have a long stem...

Cut a little lavender, long sprigs...

Gather them in a bunch...

Get a little twine....

Start wrapping from the base...

Keep wrapping until you reach the top and go back the other direction making sure you bind as many leaves as possible. If there are any sticking out I just trim them.

Get some newspaper...

Wrap it up....

Bind with rubberband, I used some hair ties.

Then let it dry for a few weeks and your smudge stick will be ready for use!

Drying mint leaves for tea!

"As for the garden of mint, the very smell of it alone recovers and refreshes our spirits, as the taste stirs up our appetite for meat." ~ Pliny

Drinking Healthy

So I was in Whole Foods yesterday trying to be good and I came across this great drink. If any of you out there like Chai, like I do, you've got to give this a try! This is a protein drink by Bolthouse Farms, but seriously, it doesn't have that funky protein taste. It has 40 grams of protein along with tons of vitamins and green tea. Now I haven't tried all of their products yet but you can checkout their website here. They also have a section for recipes that sound delicious!

I'm ashamed to say I drank their largest bottle in one sitting. It's one of those drinks that you can't stop drinking once you start (and I mean in one sitting). It's especially good REALLY cold. I actually froze mine a little (even better). You can still see a solid chunk up towards the top. That chunk tasted icy good! :)

Giveaway!

There's a wonderful giveaway going on over at Lost in Astral Space blog. She's giving away these wonderful self-made gifts. Aren't they gorgeous? If you haven't heard of Lost in Astral Space you've got to swing over to her blog and follow her. She's wise, a lost traveler like most of us and weaves magic into her everyday life!

Aren't these prayers beads beautiful?

Whoever wins this giveaway will be so lucky because these were obviously made with a little magic and alot of love! :) Good luck all!

The Magical Hydrangea

Not many people talk about the magical properties of the hydrangea. According to folklore, if a (bad) witch put a curse on an unlucky man or woman the hydrangea could be used to break the curse.

In general the hydrangea stands for friendship, devotion, and understanding.

Hydrangea is also used medicinally. Native Americans used the root as a diuretic and detoxifier. The bark of the hydrangea was used to ease muscle sprains and burns. It is still used today in alternative medicine as a tonic herb.

I cut these from my girlfriend's garden yesterday. The colors are magnificent...or should I say magical? :) I'm going to dry the petals to use later.

I am going to bundle some of my sage today to make a smudge stick. I'll let you guys see when I'm done. :)

A Magical Party!

Did you hear? La Boheme Magique and Frosted Petunias are having a Practical Magic blog party! Now you all know that Practical Magic is my FAVORITE movie of all time. I mean come on...love spells, margaritas, bad boys, good boys, romance, two old eclectic and whimsical aunts. What's not to love? Well, I'm gonna be there. How about you? Click on the link above and it will take you right over!

Ahhhh...the scent of lavender is in the air!

I've dried my lavender...and today I stored it in a jar for future spell use. Just smelling the aroma gave me a "happy" high!

What have you dried lately? :)

Mayhaps She Came from Hogwarts?

I recently stumbled upon new blog and I am so happy I did. It's enchantingly called I Hope They Have Pudding. This delightful and whimsical blog is charmingly written by Miss Cellar Door. In reading her new blog and the way she writes, she reminds me of a student that has just left Hogwarts in pursuit of discovering the magic of life! I urge you to swing on over and check her out! She is a true delight!

An Investigation Saturday Evening...

With our paranormal research group gave birth to this interesting photo. The investigation (at a private residence) was by far the most active investigation we have had yet! What an incredible experience! I have sent it on to a professional photographer for a valid explanation, if there is one. Still.....what if?


BOO!

A fruitful deck garden!

I have been so lucky with my deck garden this year and last night, I was fortunate enough to have harvested enough sugar snap peas to make myself a wonderful vegetarian dish!

Sugar snap peas, fresh picked!

Into the saucepan they go with a little butter, olive oil, diced onions and peas...

Served over jasmine rice...

Makes the perfect vegetarian meal for summer!

Here's my baby eggplant. Isn't it just adorable? :)

Some rosemary...

And hyssop...

Not bad for a deck garden huh?

The Time is NOW!

This video was uploaded by one of my favorite YouTube channels. Her name is Helen Demetriou, Angel Worker, and if you haven't seen her channel, please check them out! This is a video she put out today and I think it would be awesome if we could all join in on this day of healing for our Earth!



Also! Here is the link to the rest of Helen's videos. You will truly enjoy them and she has such wonderful energy. Enjoy and blessings to all!!

Mother Moon Giveaway!

One of my favorite blogs is having a giveaway for her one year anniversary! Mother Moon has been on my blog roll for quite some time and for good reason. She has an awesome blog! Oh and she is awesome as well! She is so full of magical wisdom, recipes, personal stories and so much more in between. If you have not introduced yourself to her blog, I urge you to find your way over here and become one of her many followers!

Thank you Mother Moon for having this great giveaway and congratulations on one magical year!

Happy Summer Solstice and a Gift from a Lovely Friend :)

Happy Summer Solstice everyone! I am finding it hard to believe it's summer though. As of yesterday we still had rain and cool weather. I am trying so hard to respect what Mother Nature is bringing us here in the Northwest but I am pleading for more sun from Her! Today we had a glimpse of brighter weather and Quincy and Emma decided to sun bathe with what little sun we had. :)

Uh oh, he discovered the fresh catnip.

Also, I received a beautiful gift from Jen over at Rue and Hyssop. Jen sent me this book when she discovered my new found interest, crystals! It was so thoughtful of her to send this book to me and I am getting so much out of it. Thank you, Jen!! I am going to be making some bath salts to put in a jar and infuse with oils and a crystal to empower it. I will post about it once I'm finished!

She included this beautiful card!

Inside was a wealth of information on crystals and uses and it was simple to read and lots of colorful pictures. My kind of book, lol!

Thank you again, Jen!! I will cherish this book and it will stay put in my magickal library. :)