I saw these two a few weeks back and will be my next project.

After the Yule tide presents are done, of course and my faerie lamps are finished. The one would make a great necklace or talsman for the feminine aspect of life
and the other a beautiful reminder of the wilder side of us all (a creative steampunk piece). All I need now is the old watch.

Cheesy Broccoli Potato Soup

2 cups broccoli flowerettes
1 medium to large potato (al purpose)
1 small onion, diced
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
water
 salt and pepper

In a sauce pan put the broccoli, 1/2 teaspoon oil, and water and bring to a boil. Turn off oven and allow to sit 25-30 minutes. take out and refrigerate. Reserve the water.

In the same water add the potato (diced or chopped) and the onion. Just use enough water to cook the potato and not a lot extra. Cook until Both are done. add the cheddar cheese a little milk and the broccoli and heat through. you can add corn starch if you used to much water. Serve hot.

Mabon Incense by Pamela Jean De'Sherlia II

As the Wheel of the Year turns with each season, you may wish to use different types and scents of incense for your ceremonies and rituals. While incense isn't mandatory for a good ritual, it certainly can help to set the mood. To make your a blend of incense for Mabon, the autumn equinox, we'll be using scents that remind us of the fall season, and the second harvest of the year.
You can make incense with sticks and in cones, but the easiest kind uses loose ingredients, which are then burned on top of a charcoal disc or tossed into a fire. This recipe is for loose incense, but you can adapt it for stick or cone recipes if you wish.

As you mix and blend your incense, focus on the intent of your work. In this particular recipe, we’re creating an incense to use during Mabon. It’s a time to celebrate the season of balance and harmony, as well as the gratitude and thanksgiving of the harvest season.

You’ll need:
2 parts sandalwood
2 parts pine
1 part rosemary
1 part cinnamon
1 part dried apple
1 part dried oak leaf

Magical and Personal essential oils

Create these by using 5 parts alcohol and 1 part essential oil and allow it sit for a month shaking daily before using

Sun - Frankincense Oil
Moon - Jasmine oil
Mercury - Lavender oil
Venus - Rose oil
Mars - Benzoin oil
Jupiter - Sandlewood oil
Saturn - Musk oil

Use these for perfume to invoke magical things into your life, to anoint candles, talismans, athame, and for healing.

To bring someone or something into your life anoint the wick part.
To banish someone anoint the bottom of the candle

From Candle Magic by Phillip Cooper

Zucchini Augratin

Just in time for Mabon harvest.

2 zucchini sliced thin
1 small onion, chopped
1 teaspoon garlic minced (jar)
1/2 cup milk
sprinkle of Italian seasoning
1 cup cheese (I used both Mozzarella and mild cheddar)
1 tablespoon butter

In a saucepan sauté both the garlic and onion with the Italian seasoning until onion is opaque. The add the milk and zucchini and simmer 10 minutes until the zucchini is almost cooked.

Transfer into a baking dish and mix 1/2 the cheese into the zucchini mixture and top with the rest. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20-30 minutes until it is hot and bubbling and cheese is a golden brown.

Serve hot. makes 4 servings

Breakfast Crescent Loaf.

My husband made me this for breakfast today. It was like going out to a fancy restaurant.


2 tubes crescent dough
1/2 package frozen spinach, defrosted and drained and squeezed to get out all the extra liquid
1 - 8 oz - package shredded mozzarella cheese
3 eggs scrambled
1 ham slice cubed (3/4 cup)
2-3 cooked sausages or cooked crumbled bacon

Spray a cookie sheet. Sauté ham add the other meat to get warm.

Lay out and press together the crescent dough. fill with the spinach, eggs, ham and sausages. cover with cheese and fold over the loaf.

Bake in a low (300 - 325) degree oven until the outside is brown and cooked.

Slice and serve.

serves 4-6 people

Crochet or knitting lovers take note

A decent day is when no one gets hurt or sick a great day is when I have encountered enough to learn something new.

Today I discovered  a new way to join ends of yarn. My usual tying the ends and hiding the result within the afghan is now over.

Check out this great way of doing it

http://blog.lionbrand.com/2012/06/19/how-to-russian-join-yarn-in-7-easy-steps/

Samhain Spider Chip Cookies

Great Grandma's Pasta Sauce

I have to try this recipe

1 lb. 80/20 ground beef OR 90/10 ground beef
1 6 oz. can tomato paste
6 oz. water
1 24 oz. jar tomato puree
5-6 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp. granulated sugar
Pinch of dried oregano
Pinch of onion powder
Pinch of garlic powder
Handful of fresh basil, chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste

In a large stockpot, saute garlic until soft and fragrant in 2 tbsp. of olive oil, about 2 minutes.
Throw your meat in with the garlic and brown until meat has been thoroughly cooked through, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Pour in the tomato paste, tomato puree, and seasoning, including the fresh basil. Stir to mix well. With the 6 oz. can from the tomato paste, fill that with water and pour it in the stockpot as well.
Let mixture simmer, uncovered, for 2 or more hours (the longer the better, but minimum 2 hours), stirring occasionally.
Serve hot over fresh pasta

Delicious Recipes photo.

Best times for each spell

Update: Things I have learned through my loss of my companion Raptor

It is with great sadness that I write the following. My Raptor died a few days ago. WE had to put her down because of renal failure due to acute diabetes. My vet wasn't very clear in what that meant until after her death. My heart goes out to anyone with animals because what I found during her last few months.

1st: if your animal shows signs of diabetes like frequent urination or urination while sleeping accompanied with extreme thirst or an increase in water intake. Your animal is a diabetic and diet will not help at this point. Your decisions are either to start shots and hope or make the decision to put them out of the pain of what will follow. Their liver and kidneys will fail and it is a slow very painful death. This was not conveyed tp me when it was going on with my dog.

2nd: Diet will help and even prevent this if you start now before any signs are there.

Diet is such a tricky thing. They can't take sugar. Not in any form. The sad part is it is everywhere. In most dog foods, almost all snacks and even in things you might give them a bit of while you are doing things like making a sandwich as it is in all lunch meat we eat and in jerky. Remember the food and drug administration are one unit. Food insures they sell drugs and drugs require food.

My best advice is read your labels all of them. Both canned and dry foods most likely will have sugar. If so put them back on the shelf and try another until there is no sugar, corn syrup, honey, or any other form of sugar in their ingredients. These are a few of the ones that are okay.

http://bluebuffalo.com/ingredients/

http://www.tasteofthewildpetfood.com/products/ingredients/

http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/canidae-dog-food-grain-free-dry/

There are others also. If you know of any please include in the comments so others will have a choice. Also shoot for grain free because we all know what GMO's are doing to our bodies.

Last night I lost my baby girl (My husky)

This is what I posted on FB to pay a tribute to her. This is my girl in happier times.

 This is her hours before she passed.

The last weeks I have had dreams of the passing of my loving and trusted companion Raptor Lil-Lady. Although we both spoke different languages, she being a Siberian husky, we had long ago crossed over into an inter-knowing. Many days, not a word was said and yet, each felt the ties that instinctively conveyed as they washed away any fears the other might have. Where I went, she was following right behind me. If I was gone very long she would show signs of depression. It was the same for me. I was always worried about her when I was gone.

Today I had to put my best friend to rest. They called it “end stage renal failure” but they might as well of called it limbo, for that is where I have been ever since hearing those deafening words. Renal failure! I would rather they had taken my life than having to hear those words but what I wanted didn't matter. If it had, she would have been given a miracle drug and she would be chasing butterflies as we speak but, instead, I am crying and she is gone.

I saw her deteriorate throughout the day until finally she couldn't even hold down water. I held out hope because she was still urinating. When she couldn't keep from vomiting water, I knew there was nothing I could do. She would die unless I got her help. Help is what I went for. Help is what I wanted. What I got was a kick in the face. She was dieing and it was up to me how she went. Calmly or in great pain. I wanted time - only years I told myself -but there were only minutes to make the decision.

I couldn't see through my tears, nor could I catch my breath. My head was swimming through a sea of what ifs. Now there was no time left for what ifs, only that decision to take her life or watch her suffer. A painful death. Contemplating such a decision would take me years and yet my time was up, so I leaped, without a safety net into a large dark crevasse. You might say I took the cowards way out but I pray it was the right decision for her. I was there when she took her last breath, with my loving husband close by. They might not of always gotten along but in the end she welcomed his gentle touch as we both worried over her.

In the final moments of her ten year life, she was quiet and seemed at peace. When the shaved her arm, my whispers started in her ear. “I am so sorry. I love you. It will be alright.” They rang through her ears for the next few moments and until it was over. My final words were, “I am so sorry. You will be alright now.” She went hard. It wasn't a peaceful passing and my heart ached for her.

On the way home Eric tried so hard to comfort me and show me there was still a future, but I am ashamed to say I really do not remember a thing he said. Still he seemed comforted by my crying tapering off into sobs and finally into deep exhales that felt as if each were my last. The car ride had given me time to close off the world and shut down inside.

As I walked back in the house wanting nothing more than to see her face peer around the kitchen table, but she didn't. I walked into the den, where she would spend her time with me, and all that was left was the last of what she had thrown up as we were leaving to take her to the vet. Being the next thing to do, and all I could think was do the next thing so, I wiped up the mess as I broke out once again into a full fledged cry. Then I sprayed some rug cleaner and with each scrub, those cries came a deep exhales, reminding me of her dieing breaths. As I scrubbed in a now almost robotic motion, sobs filling the air. I swear I could see me from slightly above, watching, sharing the pain of loosing my little girl. At that second, I think I could of taken my last breath and let go happily, but I didn't. I must of made a decision because suddenly I was pushed back into my body as I scrubbed away,

To me, Raptor was the child that never left home. The old woman I could tell anything to, knowing my secrets were safe. My best friend and my biggest worry. She had filled my life every day for as long as I care to remember. We had always worried about each other, cared for each other and in her final hour I venture to say she was as worried about me as I was about her. Rest in peace Raptor Lil-Lady. She died at approximately 4:45 on the 12th day of August, in the year 2014. You will be missed.

In happier times she left me with these pictures

 This last one is of her famous snub that she did when she was up set with me.

Magick and the hours of the day

DAY OF MISFORTUNE SPELL

Voice

Use this to cast misfortune over somebody for a day.

Go to the person. Whisper, but not that they can hear,

"Misfortune all day, Misfortune all night. Bring bad luck to [person's name], but only for a mite. Mote it be."

The person affected will probably have bad luck for the rest of the day.

THIS WILL NOT AFFECT:
Life (Anyone dying)
Injuries


By  Sam Fallecker

Home Made Maraschino Cherries by Jen Smallwood

Maraschino Cherries that taste like cherries with out food coloring and all of the other nasty things that are in those store bought jars!
Plus they are so much more affordable.
Servings: 1 quart

1 Sweet Cherries, washed & pitted (reserve the pits)
1¼ cup Sugar
2¼ cups Water
1 tsp Ascorbic Acid or Fruit Fresh
¼ tsp Salt
1 Tbsp Almond Extract
½ Vanilla Bean, split & seeds scraped
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice, fresh works best
¼ cup Maraschino Liqueur, preferably luxardo**
Directions:
1) Sprinkle the ascorbic acid over the cherries and place them in a 1 quart container with a tight fitting lid.
2) Place pits in a plastic ziploc type bag, cover the bag with a kitchen towel, and smash the pits with a hammer.
3) In a small saucepan place the smashed pits, vanilla bean pod & seeds, sugar, salt, water & lemon juice. Bring to a boil over medium heat.. boil until the sugar & salt have melted. Remove from heat and let steep for 40 minutes, until it cools to room temperature.
3) Use a fine mesh strainer over a medium container with a spout to strain the syrup. Reserve the vanilla pod. Be careful to strain out all of the cherry pits, discard the remaining solids. Stir the almond extract & and maraschino liqueur into syrup. Syrup should be fairly thick & sticky.
4) Tuck the vanilla pod into the center of the container and pour the syrup over the cherries. Cover tightly and refrigerate for at least 5 days before using.
5) Cherries can be stored in the fridge, tightly covered, for up to 3 weeks.
** If you prefer non-alcoholic cherries use 1/4 cup water in place of the cherry liqueur.
Plus, Leave The Stems On If You Want To Use Them In Drinks &, for garnishing.

Warm Baked Cherries with Havarti-Granola Streusel By Jen Smallwood

Servings: 6

1 1/2 cups oat/nut granola (such as Quaker natural granola with oats, honey and almonds)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves
2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cubed
1 cup Wisconsin Havarti cheese, shredded and divided
5-6 cups (1 3/4 to 2 pounds) sweet cherries*, pitted
2/3 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Place granola, cinnamon, cloves and butter in bowl of food processor. Pulse until small crumbles form. Place in bowl and add 1/2 cup Havarti. Reserve remaining 1/2 cup.

Spread cherries in 8”x8” baking dish. Add sugar and toss to coat cherries. Sprinkle granola mixture evenly over cherries. Bake 25-30 minutes, until cherry liquid bubbles. (If granola browns too quickly, lower oven to to 350°F.) Remove from oven and sprinkle remaining Havarti over. Bake an additional 5 minutes, until cheese melts. Serve warm.

Blueberry bake variation: Use 5 cups blueberries and 2/3 cup sugar, or to taste, depending on sweetness of fruit.

Oatmeal Chip Cookies.

A light and chewy oatmeal cookie with just the right amount of chips so as not to over power them

1 stick butter softened
1 large egg
2/3 c brown sugar, firmly packed
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c oatmeal (i used rolled oats non instant)
1 1/4 c flour (more if needed to make a firm batter)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 c assorted chips (i used milk chocolate and peanut butter)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Mix egg, butter, baking powder, vanilla, salt, and sugar together until fluffy. Mix in the oatmeal and flour then fold in the chips.

Drop by spoon fulls onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes until edges start to brown. Do not over bake.

CANDLE PROTECTION SPELL TO STOP HARASSMENT

Timing: During the waning moon. Use a brown candle (an image candle, if you can) to represent the person who is harassing you.
 
Write the person's name on the front and back of the candle.
 
On a small piece of parchment paper, write:
 
'From now on, (name) will say nothing but sweet words about me and to me.
By the power of Aradia, so mote it be!'
 
Put a drop of honey in the middle of the paper and roll it into a ball.
 
Heat a knife, pin or your athame, make a gash in the candle (in its mouth, if it's an image candle) and stuff the paper ball into it.
 
Let the candle burn a little while every night for an odd number of nights, to a maximum of nine nights. Throw the remnants into flowing water, but save some candle drippings or ash to sprinkle in the path of your oppressor.

By Fortune Teller

Michigan Fizz

Michigan cherries give this drink a tangy twist....
Servings: 1

3 Tbsp Frozen Cherry Juice Concentrate
1 cup Vernor's Ginger Ale Soda
2-3 Michigan Cherries
Directions:
Measure concentrated cherry juice into a tall glass. Fill glass with ginger ale and stir gently. Drop in cherries and enjoy!
**note**
for an interesting adult version -you can add 1oz vodka.

Found on Mixing bowl exchange  on FB. Recipe and photo by Jen Smallwood

Moist Strawberry Snackin Cake

This wonderfully moist cake can be ate alone, with ice cream, or with whip cream as frosting. Reminiscent of a jello poke cake but with real fruit and lots more flavor.

1 cake mix (I used Duncan Hines French vanilla)
3 eggs
1/3 cup oil
2 (10 oz) jars Polar Strawberry in light syrup (Glass jars on shelf at walmart)

Beat all together and put into a sprayed 9x11 baking dish. Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 28-30 minutes.

Cool and cut.