Heat Wave

Hi and Merry Meet,
Today was so hot! It has been so rainy that the heat was unexpected. In fact, I heard that this May was the wettest on record! We had the most rainfall ever here!! To me, that news is wild.

Since it was so hot, Husband and I put in our bedroom a/c unit. Poor rabbits don't have a/c upstairs where they live. I put ice cubes in their water bottles, gave them ice to play with and gave them frozen tiles to lay on. The pict below is Tira sitting near her tile. I just put a freshly frozen ones up there and right now they are too cold to lay on. Once it warms up a little she'll sleep on it.

Hope you are also enjoying some nice weather!
Blessed be,
Autumn

The Big City

Hi and Merry Meet,
This long weekend my mom and I ventured down to New York City to visit my brother and sister-in-law. I love going to visit them however, the lack of green opem spaces really gets to me.

This time they took us to Central Park. It was great! Every time we come here we try to see something different. Sitting eating ice cream and people watching was so fun. I also climbed on the rocks and did one geocache. My brother might start caching because he was really interested in it. My sister-in-law thinks it looks like a fun adventure!

Of course, we had to do some shopping. Mom also got dinner from us as a belated mother's day gift.

Today Mom and I will drive back home. Then I will drive back to my home from my parents house.

I hope you had a great Memorial weekend too!
Blessed be,
Autumn

Land Blessings

Hi and Merry Meet,
Yesterday after I made dinner I went outside to do a land blessed. I did one for our house and property two years ago. So, needless to say it was way overdue!

I took four raw eggs and drew silver pentacles on each one. I held them and infused them with loving energy. Then I went to dig holes at the four coners of our property. As I placed each egg in their hole I said a small blessing and covered them up with dirt. I then went in the backyard and called to the four elements to watch over my land and enjoy the gifts of eggs at each coner.

It felt so good to reconnect with the land on which I live. The picture shows the eggs, my sliver sharpie, and my BOS.
Blessed be,
Autumn

Tools of The Trade

Hi and Merry Meet,
I was thinking about the tools that I use in my practice or the lack there of.

My main tool is a large quartz crystal that is my wand and my athame. I've never used anything else. I started with this quartz chunk and I thought I'd get the "right" tools later on. I don't know that I ever will at this point. My quartz and I work pretty well together. I mentioned this at a workshop I was at and you'd think I had said something rude.

Tools are personal. My quartz and I are pretty well tuned to each other at this point. Plus, I like using just the one and not having to worry about more tools around my small space. For me having less to worry about is a good thing. I'm sure there are people out there who think more is better but I'm trying to decluter my life and learn to have a great circle with only a few items.

Most of the tools I use are crystals or stones. I love the different vibrations and energies that they bring to my circle.

What are your favorite tools?
Blessed be,
Autumn

Unhappiness

Hi and Merry Meet,
The past few weeks I have been giving serious thoughts to summer vacation plans. We are going camping for 10 days, and so I want to plan as much as I can before we go.

At least that was the plan until this past weekend. My husband's company is a good company 99% of the time. However, they just pulled a stunt that made me see red and him to become very depressed. For all supervisors, summer vacations have been cancelled until some new computer thing is installed and running. Being that Husband is a supervisor...  yup, camping has been called off! I asked if Company owner gets to still take his vacation. Answer: only supervisors have to give up vacation. Crock of **** in my opinion. Husband also thinks so, just he is not as vocal about it as I am. Although, he did make the comment that without his paycheck we'd be ok. His thinking is pretty unhappy right now.

Husband is the kind of guy who wants to earn his paycheck. He works crazy hours. He works hard. When I joking around said stay home with me tonight the look that crossed his face is one that I am unfamiliar with. It was a look that said he was considering just that. Since he started with Company, he has only taken off 2 days in 10 years for sick/mental health. My boy works for that paycheck. I even took the summer off this year so we could enjoy camping weekends and the big 10 day camping trip. Yes, as a teacher, I do get summers off, but last year I worked both my jobs all year so no vacation for me. It sucks. Both of us are pretty sad about it.

I've meditated at my altar about Husband's unhappiness. I still have the summer off so I can enjoy the time in my garden or knitting, or any other hobby that strikes my fancy, so on his days off we can do whatever it is that he's like to do. The answer for now is to just be as supportive of him as I can . Also making our home a happy place (and cleaner...) will help him too. I've been also scouting out hiking around our area so that at least we can still enjoy a day of nature together even if we aren't out camping in it.

Maybe, tomorrow will be brighter news.
Blessed be,
Autumn

Weekend Readings

Hi and Merry Meet,
I posted the other day about my daily readings, so today I thought I should post about my weekend readings.

Weekends are my time to relax and reset for the week to come so my tarot readings do the same. I try to do bigger readings to get a feel for the week to come. Once a month or so I do a full person reading. This helps me focus on tne areas of my life that I need work in. The picture below is a whole perdon spread dome with 38 cards. I had to do it im stages since tne whole reading wouldn't fit on my altar. Afterwards I spread it out on the floor of my witchy room.

Today I just did a five card spread. Tomorrow I will do my big weekly one.

Today Husband and I are off to the Lilac Festival! Have a great Saturday!
Blessed be,
Autumn

Spinning Away

Hi and Merry Meet,
On Friday I am taking my spinning wheel to school to talk with kids about what life in colonial times was like. For me spinning is another form of what I call "moving meditation".  My hands are busy while my mind is free to wander. Today I was asked if I weave since I spin and knit. No, I don't but I thought about the story of the Goddess Athena and the girl weaver who claimed she wove better than the Goddess. My skills are not that amazing. I do try to honor the gods with my crafts, not challenge the fact that they are more skilled that I can ever hope to be. Little gifts of fiber are ready to take outside as offerings for this demo to go well. I spent time today getting everything ready for Friday.
Blessed be,
Autumn

Daily Reading

Hi and Merry Meet,
Every morning after I get my cup of tea I come up to my altar for a daily tarot reading. My favorite quick spread is a 5 card overview of the day. It is also were I do my morning prayers. This five card spread looks at work, home, unexpected, my role and the overall outlook for the day. Below is my reading for today. I used my Shadowscapes Tarot Deck.
Blessed be,
Autumn

Full Bloom

Hi and Merry Meet,
Last week one night after work I had to go out and take some photos of my cherry tree. It was finally in full bloom and was the star of our backyard last week. I also took some other pictuers of flowers in my garden, which I'll upload another time.
Here is my cherry tree in full bloom:

I also took a close up of the flowers:

Since they only last for a few days, I love to get out and see them!! It was a beautiful to be out in my garden. I hope this year to really honor the Goddess and make my garden a place that is peaceful and relaxing to all who visit it. This weekend's rain has  ended the flowers' splendor. I'll have to wait until next year to see them again!!
Blessed be,
Autumn

Craft Show Fun

Hi and Merry Meet,
Yesterday my husband and I were selling jewelry and my mini socks at a craft show. We've done these shows before and always find it fun just spending the day together. This show was part of a tulip festival and the flowers were beautiful!!! Here is a photo of my mini sock display.
Blessed be,
Autumn

Happy Mother's Day

Hi and Merry Meet,
Happy Mother's Day! Since I couldn't be with my mom today, I went out to celebrate Mother Nature! I took a long walk in the woods and enjoyed listening to the sounds of the forest. I also startled two white tailed deer, who took off bounding down the path right in front of me! It was just awesome! Here is a cool tree that was in front of a creek:

Here is a tree that's roots were beautiful and in the creek:

I might have also found a few caches while I was out there... :^)

Next weekend, my husband and I are making a trip to our hometown so we will celebrate with our moms then. We will also be selling our jewelry at a craft show. I've been making these mini socks like crazy to sell, and he makes all the other stuff. Here are my mini socks:

It has been just beautiful this weekend here so I was able to get out and get in my garden. Last year due to having way too many things to do my garden was left to run wild. SO, yesterday I attacked the weeds with vigor. I also planted three new plants and called a friend to help me get back on track. When we moved in here there was nothing but grass out back. Two years ago I started to dig out the grass around the fence and make a small garden area. Over the course of that first summer gardening, I managed to dig out and make small gardens around the yard. Last year with no one to tame it, it got out of hand. This year I am taking the summer off, and I will get my garden back! I wanted to start small and then each year add to it so it became a sanctuary. However, looks like I went backwards. Luckily, it's a summer project that I am looking forward to!

Happy Mother's Day!
Blessed be,
Autumn