This 'n That

This little witch and her cat are one of my favorite Halloween decorations. She's actually fairly large; 16" in diameter. I think I might paint her hair a lovely shade of red, though. She's far too young to have grey hair!

This is a spice cake with cream cheese frosting that my husband made for my birthday, which was several days ago. How sweet was that? And what a wise man; he used just a few candles. If he had used the number that matches my age, the house probably would have caught fire!

A cup of tea in a Halloween mug was the perfect complement to a slice of the cake...which I was so eager to eat that I didn't take a picture of it. Ah well, just trust me when I say it was delicious!

The Cattwell Family

This was actually posted on October 29, 11:16 p.m. This is Inky, Midnight, and Meowra Cattwell, of the famous Cattwell family from Halloween Hollow. Every October, they graciously consent to live on top of the living room armoire. But, as you can tell from the looks on their faces, they don't like having their picture taken! I'd like to tell you more about them as they have a really fascinating history, but so far they haven't been too keen on having their story told. Maybe someday...

Sunday Sunsets

Taken in November, 2009, from Hwy. 18 near Running Springs.

An October Moon

I was unable to get a picture of this month's full moon last night as it was overcast. But this is an October Moon if ever there was one! I have a collection of these moon faces (a Harvest Moon, a blue moon, an opalescent moon, etc.), which are made by Kirks Folly. They're sold on QVC and

http://www.kirksfolly.com/

and they're a good size, usually measuring between 4" and 6" across. Kirks Folly also makes beautiful jewelry with moon faces. All of their moons are hand made from glass and are just magical! If you love La Luna as I do, check out the websites. They also make other kinds of great jewelry and stuff for the home, like goblets (I'm trying to get a decent picture of my 'Season of the Witch' one to post on here) and windchimes.

Of course, my favorite part of this moon's decorations is the little black cat wearing her witch hat!

Faeries Friday - Rowan

Rowan is one of the many Faeries who live in my studio. She was a gift from my husband, and I named her Rowan because the leaves on her bodice and tights sort of remind me of the leaves of a Rowan tree.

Almost Here...

Only ten days away! And this makes me both happy and sad.

Pantries and Rambles

This little Acorn Woodpecker is sitting in front of her pantry. See all the holes behind her? She excavated those, and many more, so she can shove acorns into them. I took this photo back in the spring. Today, when I was carrying out dry blankets to the feral cats' houses, I noticed every storage hole in her pantry has an acorn in it, and she's all set for winter.

I didn't take any pictures today because a gentle rain has been pattering down all day. We also had some thunder and lightening. The air smells delicious, full of the scents that mean Autumn to me. Rain, wet earth and leaves, wood burning in fireplaces, the cold, sharp perfume of the creek and pines...they all combine in the chilly, wet air to produce a marvelous fragrance. Breathing this kind of air is a powerful tonic.

After I finished with the cats' beds, I went for a walk through the woods. (The picture below was taken earlier this month, and the one of the wet cedar was taken through a window).

I walked through the wet leaves and trees, snug and dry in my wellies and rain coat. The dogs refused to come with me, preferring to stay in by the fire, but I had the pitter-pat of the rain and the quiet voice of the creek to keep me company, along with the occasional remark from a bird and the friendly brush of a cedar frond across my cheek.
The cedars are my favorite tree in the forest. The tip of every frond has its own tiny jewel when it rains. They're especially magical when it rains, then freezes. As the breeze moves through them, the branches shimmer with millions of tiny sun-sparked diamonds. Look too long and I think you might find yourself under a Faerie enchantment.

After a good ramble, and some interesting conversations with the birds, my stomach informed me it was time for tea so I returned to my warm little cottage. My husband was home today, and he had fires burning cheerily in every fireplace. He even had a mug of tea and a plate of scones, slathered with some of the apple butter from our own pantry, waiting for me...bliss.

Sunday Sunsets

Taken 7-27-08.

Sunday Sunsets

Taken this past July at Lake Gregory, Crestline.

Rain, Blessed Rain

Gorgeous thunderheads on Sunday had banded together by Sunday night...and draped themselves gently over our rain starved mountains, entwining themselves around the trees, adding soft layer upon soft layer of cloud on the trees' branches, leaves and needles...
until they could hold no more and begin to let tiny pieces of cloud in the form of water drops fall to the parched earth below. Very early in the morning hours of Monday more clouds came to join the ones already here, and they enthusiastically set about the task of washing everything clean, giving all living things a good drink, and refreshing a land that has not seen real rain since last May.

It rained most of Monday and Tuesday, and temperatures dropped to nearly freezing. Outside, the feral kitties curled up in their little houses that my husband made for them (insulated, double wall construction, waterproof), each with plenty of regular blankets plus a special small blanket on the top that acts like a heating pad, but without any cords. They work by reflecting the cat's body heat back to the cat. I've put my hand inside a house just after a kitty has left and it's surprisingly warm. They look like this (they also come in black and grey) they measure 18" by 22" and the item number is 9B - 13563

and I get them at

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/

Inside, all was cozy, too. My husband made a pot of beef stew for himself...

and the cats and dogs (they each get a few spoonfuls of gravy). I made a pot of vegetarian rip-your-lips-off-hot chili for myself. Yes, I am the only vegetarian in a houseful of carnivores. I've given up on trying to convert my husband. And the animals...well, they were created to be carnivores and I think it would be bad for their health to feed them a vegetarian diet.

And, of course, George was hogging the hearth!

Our Newest Family Member

This is Miss Rita Mae Moonsparkle. She's five months old and hates having her picture taken. I managed to slide the cardboard in behind her while she was asleep; there's no way I could have lowered the blinds without waking her, and the glare from the window would have ruined the photo. She took off like a shot right after I got this photo.

She came to be our newest kitty daughter in this manner: Several weeks ago, I heard someone calling "Hello? Hello?" Thinking someone was lost, my husband went out to see what was going on. A teenager was holding a scared little black and white kitten and asked my husband if he wanted her. She explained that the people next door to where she lives had moved away and abandoned the poor little kitten. Her mom wouldn't let her keep her, so she was trying to find the kitten a home. Well, she did!

She is not at all intimated by our much bigger, much older cats. George, who out weighs her by 18 pounds, swaggered up to her the first day we let her out to meet her new siblings, under our close supervision, and gave her his best "I'm gonna chew you up and spit you out" glare and growl. She wasn't scared by him at all. She calmly looked at him like she was saying, "Yeah? Well, take your best shot, buddy, because that's ALL you're gonna get!" George backed up, sat down and considered this little toughie, then suddenly remembered he had pressing business with a bowl of cat food. Our dogs, Bonnie and Fiona, adore her and she adores them right back. In fact, she gets along with everyone, which is very unusual for a new family member. It usually takes several weeks of fussing before everyone settles down.

I was hoping to name her Francesca or Isabella, but she wasn't responding to either of them. After two days of this, my husband was getting ready to go to the bookstore to see if some books I had ordered were in. I called to him, "See if the new book by Rita Mae Brown is out yet, please?" He replied, "Brown who?" I said, "Rita Mae." As soon as I said that, Miss-no-name-as-yet popped out from under the couch and walked over to me. She sat down by my feet and I said, "Rita Mae?" She jumped up into my lap, meowing and purring. She doesn't seem to care about 'Moonsparkle' one way or another, but I just liked the way it sounded with 'Mae.' Every time we say "Rita Mae" she either comes to us or meows at us so, even though I'm not really all that fond of the name, Rita Mae she is!

Faeries Friday - Citrine, The Queen of Autumn

Kind of scary looking, isn't she? But very beautiful!

Happy October, everyone!

Autumn Equinox Full Moon

These were taken tonight at 8:09, the exact time of the Autumn Equinox. They're both a bit blurry, but I was taking them from my studio porch.  I could see Jupiter through the Cedar and Dogwood branches, but couldn't get a clear shot.

It felt so magical to see a full moon on Equinozio di Autunno, which is what my maternal grandmother from northern Italy always called the Autumn Equinox. I always feel her near me; it's such a comfort.

Mabon/Autumn Equinox

The Autumn Equinox will officially arrive here on the west coast of the northern Americas tomorrow night at 8:09 p.m. Meanwhile, the dogwoods are beginning to dress in their Autumn finery, coloring their leaves and turning their berries to brilliant red.

Some of the hydrangea blossoms are beginning to fade to muted Autumn colors, which I think are even more beautiful than the blues of Summer.

A few are stubbornly trying to hang on to the blue of their youth but, as with all of us, age will have its way. It feels like Autumn here tonight. It's chilly enough to have a small fire in the living room fireplace, and there is the welcome scent of dampness in the air. If it actually rained here I'm sure people all over these mountains would be as thrilled and relieved as I would be because we haven't had any measurable rain since May 18th. I try not to think about that too much; it's just too frightening.

Today I took a dozen jars of apple butter, just made yesterday, down to my sister. It's still horribly hot down where she lives in the San Bernardino valley. Well, hot to me; after the above 100 degree temperatures they've had down there, she said 80 degrees felt wonderful. Not to me! While I was helping her pick the last of the late tomatoes from her garden I felt like I was going to get heat stroke! I'm going to make tomato sauce tomorrow with the tomatoes she sent home with me. The pumpkins in the little pumpkin patch she has are almost ready to be picked (hopefully, next time I go to visit her I'll remember to take my camera) and we'll use the large variety for decorating and the sugar pumpkins for pies and pumpkin butter at Thanksgiving.

Listen. Hear that, under the murmur of the breeze in the trees, under the slowing song of the crickets, under the soft, quiet crackling of the fire? That's the sound of the turning wheel of the year...

Autumn blessings to you all!

Sunday Sunsets

Taken July 13, 2007, at Lake Gregory in Crestline, CA.

Faeries Friday - Glorinda

Glorinda came to live with me several years ago, when I found her at a little shop in Big Bear, California. (That's Big Bear Lake above in my header photo). She's holding a Morning Glory (I think), so Glorinda seemed like a good name for her.

First and Last

The first apples of this year, and very early. Usually these little Lady apples don't ripen until around the middle of October. They're small, but they make delicious apple butter.


When I looked at the date of my last post I could not believe that a month had passed! Life has been hammering me with both good and bad for the past month. Good, in that I received a lot of commissions for portraits, bad in that I had some health issues that put me in the hospital for a couple of weeks, so now I'm behind on those commissions. Everything seems to be OK now though (knock on wood). I'm going to have to hustle to get those portraits done by Christmas, but I'm so grateful to have the work, especially in this economy.



This is the last rose of the summer, and what a beauty! I don't know what kind it is; I bought it on sale last year at the grocery store. It didn't bloom last season, but it certainly made up for it this season. Maybe it's some sort of floribunda? It has more than one bloom per stem, so that's why I'm guessing floribunda instead of tea rose. It also has a nice strong rose scent, but don't ask me to break it down into categories like 'lemony' or 'cinnamon.' My sister is always saying, "sniff this rose, it's gorgeous! Peach with a touch of vanilla!" I always answer, "Really? Peach and vanilla? 'Cause all I smell is, uh...rose!"

Sunday Sunsets

Taken May 30, 2009.

Faeries Friday - Nerida

This is Nerida, who perches on a shelf outside my studio's largest window. I found Nerida waiting to be adopted by me in a little shop in Coos Bay, Oregon. I spotted her in the shop window and immediately went inside and asked her if she wanted to live in the mountains of California with me. She said "Sure, as long as I can take my book with me!" I assured her she could, and I told her I even had many more books that she could borrow. She lives inside my studio in the winter, as do all my garden faeries. None of them are dressed for winter weather!
If you look closely, you can see the Cape Arago lighthouse in the distance. People in Oregon are supposed to be notoriously hateful of Californians, but we didn't encounter any of that attitude at all.


Anyway, Nerida has been happily reading in my garden for years now. I have several other Faeries that also like to read (they will make their appearance in later posts). I think they've formed a book club! I'm always finding books left in the garden (they seem to be partial to murder mysteries, gardening books and, of course, Faerie tales), and the Faeries never seem to be exactly where I left them...

Hollyhocks

These Hollyhocks are still flowering along the path to my studio, although they're almost done. I didn't plant them; they're volunteers who just liked that spot, I guess. I just love volunteers!

I used to love to make 'ballerinas' from the flowers of the Hollyhocks when I was a little girl, but I never knew they could be used for more than that until I read an interesting article about Hollyhocks, or Alcea Rocea, written by Marcia Enos. It seems they have medicinal uses because they contain Glycans. Glycans, very large sugars, make up our cell walls and mucus. The plant mucus found in Hollyhocks is used as an anti-oxidant and an anti-inflamatory. It's a good treatment for cystitis, and it boosts antibody response. Hollyhock is good for lubricating the lungs, throat and digestive tract because it increases mucous secretions.

The leaves, flowers and roots of the plants can be used, but if the plant smells of vinegar or is over three years old, don't use the root. The article stated that, after the plant starts to seed, you can place the flowers, leaves and/or the root in cold water (but, the author didn't say how much of these to use) and, keeping the liquid in the refrigerator, drink several ounces a day for NO LONGER THAN TWO WEEKS. Don't use it any longer because it could deplete Potassium.

And, of course:

Don't try any of this without checking with a doctor or a qualified, certified herbalist first!!

Sunday Sunsets

Taken at Big Bear Lake last June.

Things That Go Bump in the Day

These are Mrs. Slimtail's children. I call her that because she somehow lost almost all the fur on her tail. I had been painting in my studio this morning and had been hearing very strange bumps and thumps coming from underneath the studio. I was just about to go and investigate when I heard a cat fight starting down in the cottage (I have a baby monitor for just this reason) so I hurried down to stop the argument before anyone got hurt. Eeeek! She's going to look at us with that big one-eyed thing!

When I came back, I first saw these two in the Dogwood next to my porch. (I'm so glad I had my camera with me!) After I took some pictures of them, I looked down...

Uh-oh. She's looking at us! Oh, we should have followed Mama...

And there were these two little guys on my porch. They may be little, but they already have plenty of Raccoon attitude...

I'll stand up, you give her your best stare. That will scare her away!

Already acting like they weigh 20 pounds or more. The males can weigh up to 40 pounds when they're fully grown. I think these little guys would probably weigh in at around 7 to 9 pounds; that's less than most of my cats!

It's not working! Come on, we better climb up the tree, too. Oh, where did Mama go?

But their bravado didn't last long and they scampered up the tree after their siblings. I turned to see their mother regarding me calmly from about 5 feet behind me. I'm sure she knew I wouldn't hurt any of them, since she's figured out that I put out the food for them.

I stepped back out of her way and watched. She went to the foot of the studio stairs and said something that I'm guessing went like this:

You children get down here right this instant! Maybe this will teach you to mind me. When I say 'follow me' I mean RIGHT NOW! Or the lady will let go of the one-eyed thing and IT WILL EAT YOU UP!"

Then she turned and looked at me. I could swear she was smiling. Her children hurried down the tree and steps and formed an obedient line behind her. I raised my camera to get a picture of this charming scene, only to find that the battery had died! (I should pay more attention to the warning light).

Anyway, they hurried on up the path by my studio. When they got to the crawl space opening on the bottom of the studio, Mrs. Slimtail reached her paw out and raised up the crawl space cover so her babies could go in then, with another glance at me, she followed them. I'm sure it was a smug glance, because I had nailed down that crawl space cover top and bottom after having the studio and cottage repainted last year. Raccoons can be very strong, but I was sure I had put enough nails in to hold it firm. Obviously not.

Well, that explains the thumping and bumping noises I had heard; they're living under my studio! I'd like to be able to let them stay year round, but I know that eventually my studio will smell like a Raccoon Porta Potty. So I'll wait several weeks until the babies are teenagers and, when I'm sure they're all out foraging, I'll nail it shut again. Only this time I'll use bigger nails!

Sunday Sunsets

Taken last week at Lake Gregory in Crestline, CA.