A Wish...

I hope everyone has an 'all treats, no tricks' Halloween!

May the ones you loved who have passed beyond be near you tonight and may you be able to feel the warmth and comfort of their love.

Blessings to all,

Victoria

A Witches Tea Party Under a Halloween Moon 2011

Welcome!  It's just a bit of a walk to the party...but, be mindful of things along the side of the path, ok? They get sort of restless this time of year in the mountain forest where I live.

Take your time...

We're here!  Oh, I see some of the Halloween decorations have gotten out onto the window sill. I didn't set them there...I wonder who was so helpful? And the Dogwood trees have put out their pumpkin fruit. I just love magic trees!

The dancing witches say it wasn't them.

I guess whoever it was wanted me to know that I'm at home! Hmmm. 

Miss Tabitha Twitchitt says she's the one who set up the decorations on the window sill. I should have known, she's such a thoughtful witch kitty!

Well, that's odd! I had everything set up out on the table but now everything has disappeared! Let me snap my fingers three times and see if I can undo this trick that a naughty someone has played.

I think I see something... 

That's better! I just wonder who made everything disappear? Wait a minute...I bet I know who it was!

Luna Moon Faerie, you tricksy little faerie, you!

It's all right, I know you can't help yourself when it comes to playing little jokes. Of course you're still invited to the party!

Oh dear. Look at the green and purple little light flashes. Luna Moon Faerie has invited some of her friends.

I hope her friends behave themselves...Faeries are so unpredictable!

Well, there's plenty for all. I have more tables just like this one set up all over the terrace.

Oh, look! The moon has put on her witch hat and is honoring us with her presence. (She shrinks, you know, when she does things like this, so she won't squash us!)

There's a special brand of tea...

and some Champagne in magic goblets that...

were made especially for witches!

There is chocolate fudge cake...

and even special 'witchy' forks with which to eat it.

I hope the special forks will make the cake taste magical!

And there are caramel apples and cookies, too. Of course, since this is a witch's tea party, we'll never run out of anything!  And, all the calories have been removed...

This shy little witch will join us soon, I'm sure. In the meantime...

Enjoy yourselves, and thank you so much for coming to my Witches Tea Party Under a Halloween Moon! Also, many thanks to Anna of Frosted Petunias who is hosting this blog party. To get to the other parties, just click on the badge at the top right hand corner of this page.

Autumn Abundance

My apple trees have been generous to me this year and I will have plenty to give to family and friends, and more than enough to make many jars of apple butter and bottles of apple cider.

The air has been full of bright yellow leaves from the Ash Leaf Maples or, as they're also known, Box Elder trees, sometimes drifting sedately like golden snowflakes past my windows, other times whirling and twirling madly through the air when the wind gusts especially strong. It's such a beautiful sight to see the bright gold leaves against the deep blue of a California mountain sky.

The pines have been dropping lots of cones filled with seeds and the oaks are covering the ground beneath them with acorns, so the squirrels and birds should have plenty to put by for the winter. One has to be careful of the falling pine cones though; I nearly got hit by one when I was out walking earlier. Sometimes, it seems as though the pines are actually hurling them, instead of just letting them drop. I speak from experience when I say that getting hit by one of those can really hurt. I often wonder how the birds, squirrels and other animals that live in this forest avoid getting hit by them. Maybe the pine trees like the animals better than humans. Makes sense to me...

Celebrating a Little Early

Miss La Fleur had a fine time pulling the slices of sweet potatoes and pecan pieces out of the plastic pumpkin I gave her. I always leave out raw peanuts for them at night, but I gave her this pumpkin with an ulterior motive; I thought I would get some pictures of her pulling the goodies out of it. It was too dark, though, for my camera to capture motion and I didn't want to use the flash because it would disrupt her night vision. So, I'll just have to be content with this blurry photo. That, and knowing that she really enjoyed her treat!

A Vision of Color

Let us bless
The imagination of the Earth
That knew early the patience
To harness the mind of time,
Waited for the seas to warm,
Ready to welcome the emergence
Of things dreaming of voyaging
Among the stillness of the land.
And how light knew to nurse
The growth until the face of the Earth
Brightened beneath a vision of color.

John O'Donohue, excerpted from 'To Bless the Space Between Us'

Sunday Sunlight

Faeries Friday

This is not a Faerie that lives in my studio, cottage or woods; I don't know where she lives. But the Faeries that do live here just wanted me to post this as a gentle reminder. I wouldn't dare say "no" to a Faerie request...would you? (I guess they've never looked at my sidebar...)

Wordless Wednesday - Transition

October

I can't believe it's already October 17. Why does this month always go by so, so fast? As fast as a golden October leaf blown by on a gust of Autumn wind, that's how fast this month seems to fly.

We're having warm days, but the nights are cool enough for small fires in the living room and studio fireplaces. That's Georgie in the photo above enjoying the fire. Until we've had more rain, I'll only use the logs that are made of - well, I'm not sure what they're made of, but they don't send sparks spiraling out of the chimneys like real wood does.

Oh, October... with your sapphire blue sky filled with the orange, red and gold confetti of flying leaves, the scent of apples, pine trees and tang of wood smoke, your cool nights with firelight flickering on the hearth while, out in the October scented dark, the breeze whispers of magic passing by and magic yet to come...won't you stay?

Sunday Sunlight

Faeries Friday? Not Exactly...

It's more like 'Frazzled Friday.' These four kittens, five weeks old, are wearing me out! I had to bring them inside because their mother, Mrs. Anna Murphy, one of the ferals I've been feeding for about 2 years, brought them right to the door and left them there. I kept waiting and waiting to see if she would come back, but she didn't. She knows I brought them inside; she watched me do it. She hasn't called for her kittens like mothers who have lost kittens, and she watches me feed them by sitting in the branch of the tree outside the kitchen window. It's very strange, and I wish I could catch her to have her checked to make sure she's all right, but she has never let me near her. I can only guess that, for some reason, she is unable to feed them and, somehow, knew that I would take good care of them.

This is little Chet, the smallest boy.

This is little Sophia, the smallest girl.

Here's Max, the largest boy. Doesn't he look sweet and innocent? Don't be fooled!

Sophia on the left and Stella, the largest girl, on the right.

I feed them every three hours, round the clock, and it's exhausting. They're doing very well (knock on wood) after a bit of a rocky start. As you can see, Max likes to climb...

On me! And, eeeeeowww, he likes to bite!

Oh no, now he's encouraging Stella, Chet and Sophia to join him..

Eeeeeyowwww! Stella, pull those claws in! Sophia, don't climb mommie's leg, it hurts. At least Chet is being good.

But not Max. OWWWW! I think he's going for my jugular. I keep telling them, "I am NOT a cat toy, I am NOT a cat toy," ......... but I don't think they're listening!

(I apologize for the terrible quality of the photos. I think my camera is dying, it's losing one function after another).

One

"All forests are one. They are all echoes of the first forest that gave birth to Mystery when the world began. There are two forests for every one you enter; the physical one you walk in and its echo, the one that is connected to all the other forests, with no consideration of distance or time." Charles de Lint

Wordless Wednesday - Reflections

October's Full Moon

"That orbed maiden, with white fire laden,
Whom mortals call the moon." Percy Bysshe Shelley

Columbus Day?

Sorry, Mr. Columbus. My ancestors got here before you...by about 30,000 years. The Vikings got here before you did. Heck, even some Irish monks got here before you did.

Which is why it really ticks me off that I can't pick up a package that I've been waiting for from the Post Office today. It's closed in your honor. Hmmm...'honor' and 'Christopher Columbus.' Now, there are words that really don't belong in the same sentence.

I'm part Italian (Northern Italy) and I'm proud of that. Italians have contributed a great deal to the richness of the cultural heritage of this country. But you? Pah. Believe me, my Italian Nonna would really have some things to say to you that you wouldn't like, and, I imagine, so would her husband, an Oglala Sioux.

A Fashionable Bee

This little bee was out enjoying the sunshine today, even though it wasn't very warm; our highest temperature only reached 49 F. We got 1 and 1/4 inches of rain on Wednesday, which was so welcome! But by next Wednesday our high is supposed to be 80 degrees F up here and 100 F down in Redlands where my sister lives, with no rain at all.

No wonder the insects and flowers are confused. And...are those sunglasses she's wearing!? What a fashionable little bee!