Merry meet all,
The colourful leaves trickle down to the earth. The overcast sky hangs low. But the fiery leaves brighten the afternoon sky. I see a haze like a misty translucent curtains that has fallen over the backyard and nature trail. I like to think that is the elusive and famous veil between the worlds. Samhain is here, at least to me. I ventured out in my garden today to remove the frost blanket as I do everyday. The frost blanket shields the still growing plants from the cold. A pumpkin has begun growing in the garden – yes, in October. I found flowers on my haskap plant and the pumpkin regularly shows off flowers. I mean I don’t get it. It has not been too cold this month which could explain a lot. Even my cucumber vine is showing a new flower. I don’t get it. I do feel duty bound to protect the plants. Everything else has withered and died back. Everything except for the nasturtiums, lemon balm, thyme, and oregano and what I mentioned above.
This is the time when pumpkins are harvested not grown. Ok if my plants choose to do so, fine. I shall do my best to protect and nurture it. I may get a small pumpkin before the killing frost hits. Who knows?
Last night I brewed mulled cider. Yum! I also harvested mullein root for a tincture. I brought my cellphone with which has an app called Seek. The Seek app aids me by identifying which plant is which. Seek did identify the plant as great mullein. I dug up the roots of the plants, brought them home, scrubbed them clean and chopped it into smaller pieces. I bought a small bottle of vodka. I’ll let the roots dry out for a week to draw out any moisture in the roots and then mix it together. It will steep for 4 to 6 weeks after which I strain it out. I found and saved a LOT of nasturtium seeds and my Mom gave me a huge puppy of poppy seeds. I truly look forward to next spring. !!! The poppy seeds and the nasturtium seeds are stored in clean ziplock baggies. I love poppies. Next to purple coneflower and nasturtiums and pansies, they are the prettiest flowers.
For all you horror fans in Canada hankering for a spooky The Haunted Museum episodes, Discovery Plus is now available in Canada! I am excited about this good news too. You can subscribe now and then never miss a single episode.
I tried to do a seance last night. But no spirits came through. I was a little disappointed but I made a true effort to commune with spirits regardless. I performed a spirit guide meditation, burned candles and incense and did a few divinations. I used a pendulum to tell me if spirits were close. Nope. I used my ouija board. Nope. I asked the spirits if they were present. Nope. Ok or at least as far as I know, the spirits weren’t there. They could have been hiding. I don’t control them. I wonder if the black salt I sprinkled around the doorways kept them from entering. Hmmm.
Black salt, my own concoction, is intended to protect a home. Yet this is the time when spirits are reputed to haunt the realm of the living. The ancient Celts believed that. I blended white table salt with cauldron ash, crushed charcoal bits, black pepper and incense ash together in a jar. I labeled and stored the jar.
A cat that mewed constantly and sought affection from me the other night has been found! The poor little kitty. It gets cold out at night here. I felt so bad leaving the furry mewing little wonder. The cat’s name is Gilbert. He is not feral as he did wear a collar. I wanted to hand him over to anyone who did own the cat but had no idea who they were. I tried carrying the kitty and considered knocking on every door till I got him back to his home. But Gilbert wouldn’t let me. Thankfully, since the owner is out of town, the owner’s friend returned the mewing little wonder home safe and sound. I am so happy the kitty is safe. If he got in my apartment, fang, fur and bone would be flying! Penny would have been pissed. It ended well, which is good.
I would love, I mean love, to have another cat. Penny is having none of it. Ah well, she didn’t have an easy time of it. The home she lived in before she took over mine had a dog that was mean to her. Here, Penny feels like the big one and that is fine with her.
This Samhain, please keep your feline furries inside. Some shelters don’t even adopt out black cats during this time of year. The cats face terrible threats such as being returned to the shelter, or killed by a car or another animal or abandoned. Abandoning a cat only hurts and confuses the poor thing. They will never know what they did wrong. If you do adopt, it is a commitment. So let’s show our pets extra love this season. !!
Blessed Be, Spiderwitch
