Bridghid's Crown

I found this while surfing. I'm going to make this with my little man, since I have to use his construction paper & crayons for this. I think we'll use it as a centerpiece on the dining table instead of trying to wear it. I found this over at Free Pagan Crafts

Construction paper in 4 colours, two of which are red and yellow
Crayons
Scissors
Glue

Cut a two inch strip of paper, long enough to wrap around your child's head, plus two inches. Your child can decide what colour to make his/her crown.

Cut out 6-10 thin rectangles for the candles. 8 works well but it depends upon the size of the candles.

Using yellow construction paper, cut out as many flames as you need to top the candles. We then use the red construction paper and cut out a smaller flame to fit inside of the yellow. This is a matter of choice. Glue the flames to the candles and then glue the candles around the headband.

I'll try to post pix, if I remember to, to show you how it turned out. ☺

My Yule Altar

Well, I've been a little busy this Yule season, with making sure my son has something from Santa under the tree, I managed to get my altar set up for the Sabbat. I'm going to be busy this weekend, I have a group ritual I am attending on Saturday evening. It is my first group ritual in a very long time & I'm looking forward to going. I'll be posting about it for you all. I'm also going to be wrapping gifts...I've been putting it off too long.

On this upcoming Wednesday, I will be heading off to my family's for the holidays. As you all know, I am still in the "closet" about my spirituality, so I know that I will be going to church on Christmas Eve with them. I will do as I did last year & see the Pagan symbolism in the decorations in the church, in the Christmas hymns & in the nativity. I know it's really the Goddess giving birth the to Sun King. While I'm away at the family's, I will not be posting any blogs.

I've been inspired today, it snowed last night. In addition to setting up my altar, I made a pomander to place on the altar, as well as I made a Sun Wheel out of my son's popsicle sticks & painted it gold. I made my own homemade simmering Yule pot-pourri. All I did for that was use orange peel (dried in the oven at 200F for 2 hrs), cloves, juniper berries, cinnamon & lavender. I did cheat, I didn't have any cinnamon sticks on hand, so I used ground cinnamon. I placed all the ingredients (except the dried orange peel) into a bowl and crushed them together with the handle of a screwdriver. A very good substitute if you don't have a mortar & pestle. I placed water in a pot on the stove on low heat and plaed the pot-pourri in a small collander (ok, I don't have a double broiler, either) to simmer over the water. My place just smells divine!!!

Yule Decorations

My Lovely Tree



My son in front of the tree, before going to a concert



My livingroom, all aglow



Another pic of my livingroom



My diningroom, looking into the kitchen



The front hallway entrance



Another view of the front hallway



The storage closet door

My Yule Cookies I made Yesterday

Ingredients

1 cup Butter (room temp)
½ cup Brown sugar
1 Egg yolk
1 tsp Vanilla
2 cups Flour
1 tsp Baking soda

Pre-heat oven to 300F. Cream together in a bowl butter & brown sugar. Add the egg yolk & vanilla and beat until fluffy. Blend in another bowl the flour, baking soda. Add to cream mixture & combine well. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface. Roll to ¼” thickness. Cut into shapes with lightly floured cookie cutters. Bake at 300F for 8-10 minutes. Cool before adding icing.

Holiday Gingerbread Cookies

Gingerbread Cookies

• 1/2 cup butter (no substitutes), softened
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1 egg
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 tablespoon cold water

1. In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar. Beat in molasses and egg. Combine the flour, baking soda, ginger, salt, cinnamon and cloves; add to the creamed mixture alternately with water. Mix well. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or until easy to handle.

2. On a well-floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut with a rocking horse cookie cutter or cutter of your choice dipped in flour. Place 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees F for 9-11 minutes or until edges are firm. Remove to wire racks to cool.

My So-Called Life

Well, I haven't been blogging that much this week. There's been a lot of things going on. At work, I got my notice yesterday that I will be getting laid-off. Saturday will be last day at the salon. It hasn't been busy, so I haven't been making commission, so they're letting me go. I should be upset, losing at job this time of the year when I have a little boy to think about for Christmas, but I feel confident in whatever the Goddess has in store for me. I know what I learned from this job and I take that knowledge with me when I move onto my next job. Mark's all boughten for Christmas, so he's covered in terms of gifts...I'm one of those anal-retentive people who hates shopping during the holidays, so I do it throughout the year.

In other news, I had a stressful weekend. My 2nd set of house keys went missing. I suspected my neighbour's roommate, Jeff, of taking them. He came by on Saturday for a chat. He smokes, so he went out on the patio but kept the door open so we could still talk. He asked for a glass of water, so I went into the kitchen & got him one. That was the perfect time for him to take them.
Back Story: his roommate has been selling drugs out of his townhouse next door, as well as pimping out prostitutes. All this came to light to me on Sunday when I reported my missing keys to the Super. I knew about the drugs, but not the girls. He's being evicted at the end of the month, he hasn't paid rent for 3 months.
So, I had thought that the roommate who came by, took my keys so they could break into my place & make off with my stuff. I told the Super about what happened, he called a locksmith to come by 1st thing Monday morning. When I came home from work on Monday at suppertime, the Super came by with my lost keys. He found them on the way to the laundry room. I had done laundry on Sunday, forgot my keys, got Mark to get them for me. He got them, but he also got the 2nd set and dropped them, not knowingly, on the way to the laundry room. I was so relieved!! So Jeff didn't take my keys at all.

On a positive note, I have my tix to go see the Twilight Saga: New Moon on Thursday night at the midnight showing of it. I can't wait!! I've been waiting since March for this movie when they started filming it (Mar 23). I pre-bought them, so I will get to the movie theatre really early to wait in line with everybody else. It's going to be a mad-house with a bunch of excited teenage girls (& their mothers, probably) They are also screening the 1st Twilight movie before New Moon, I may see that, as I didn't see it last year when it was in theatres, but sitting for 4 hours will be rough on my butt, not to mention my bladder.

Anyway, that's what's been going on this past weekend with me. Oh, I almost forgot...I'm now a member of the Black Hat Society. Thanks for accepting me into your online hearth. I'm still getting my page together, adding photos, joining groups, adding new friends. I think I will have a great time with them.

Blessings to you all,
Rowan
)O(

Happy November!!!

Happy November to you all!! I hoped that all you Samhain festivities were awesome. I know that here in my house it was. I'm a little exhausted with the trick or treating we did last night, my Samhain ritual and the time change.

November in my house is a time to rest after a busy last 2 months with Mabon & Samhain. This is when I take down all the decorations, tidy up and prepare for the upcoming Yule season. It is also the time when, here in Canada, we remember our fallen heroes on the 11th.

November is also when I start my holiday baking. This year, I'll be making my favorite shortbread recipe, which I may post on here...not sure, it's my "secret" family recipe, I'll be making my mom's chocolate chip cookies, chocolate macaroon cookies, molasses cookies, etc. I also pull out the slow cooker to make boiled dinners, a family tradition in my house since I was a kid. I usually make chicken stews, beef stews, corned beef & cabbage. I may even be making my homemade chilli. Comfort food to warm up our bones when the temperature drops.

As much as most of you out there hate this...snow will soon be falling. I, personally, love the snow in winter. From the howling of a Nor'easter to the gentle falling of snow at night time, I love it!! To see the snow on the branches first thing in the morning is a sight to behold.

Wanna know what else I love about this month?? The Twilight Saga: New Moon is out on the 20th!! Yes, I love me some Edward Cullen. I have 3 weeks to wait til I get to see this movie. I've been following it on other blogs since they started filming it back in March. You can say I'm a little obsessed.

So, this ends my into to November. May you all be rested up this month for the soon-to-be-here Solstice/Yule/Christmas season. Remember, it's only 51 days 'til Solstice.

)O( Blessed Be,
Rowan

Blessed Samhain!!!!!

Are You Ready??

I love this time of year!! The autumn chill is in the air, leaves have turned into wonderful shades of golds, reds & oranges. The chestnuts are falling from their limbs. And...can you feel it?? I can. The Veil is getting thinner as the days go by. It feels thinner this year, over last year. The Goddess is showing us those who have gone on before us.

Samahin is a very special Sabbat for me. It was the very first ritual I ever got to participate in when I was in college. It was with a group of eclectic witches. I can still feel the magick it had that night. That was when I first saw one of my Patron Deities, Cernunnos. I didn't know who he was at that time, as I was was still very fresh to the Pagan ways.

I have a "To Do: list that I have been working on this past week. To prepare of the Samhain Sabbat, I have been getting things in order. I cleaned up my Facebook, by deleting those who I really don't talk to, or do not want to talk to anymore.

I've been cleaning house, as well. As this is the Pagan New Year, I wanted to make sure things are fresh & clean. I changed all the bedding in my house, caught up on my laundry, I cleaned my patio outside by sweeping all the dead leaves away, brought in all the summer things (patio chairs, etc) I refreshed my protection barriers around the outside of my place, including the main doors to the building. I swept & mopped all my floors, vacuumed what needed to be. Everything got a good dusting and now I feel I'm ready to proceed with the Sabbat.

My altar cloth is ironed and I've set up my altar for Samhain. I'll be using my copper cauldron, in honor of Hecate, this year. My meal is planned for the Dumb Supper, hopefully my son will be as quiet as he can be (he has Autism). After we return from "Trick or Treating" I will be doing my ritual, honoring those who have gone on before me. I will listen to what the Great Mother has to say to me. And what would a New Year's be without a resolution?? I will be making one, but it won't be the usual things that muggles do on the 1st of January. mine will be a special resolution.

Anyway, I have some folding of laundry to do. May the Goddess bless you this special time of the year. May you behold visions & wonders this Samhain.

)O( Blessed Be,
Rowan

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend!!

Well, it's another Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada. The autumn chill is in full swing, the leaves are changing into their autumn looks, shades of reds, oranges and golds are everywhere. Looking in the grocery stores are all the gourds, fall vegetables and turkeys for sale. Bakeries are baking & selling pumpkin pies, apple pies, all sorts of fall treats.

This year, however, I will not be taking part in the whole Turkey-day festivities. Why, you ask?? Well, for a few reasons. It's my son's weekend to spend with his father, so the idea of me cooking a Thanksgiving dinner is a little pointless when it's just me home alone with 2 cats. I also had to work this weekend, so I couldn't go home to my family's for dinner (I don't even think Mom's cooking anything special) and I have a bunch of housework to keep me busy for the long weekend (laundry, dishes, changing the litter box, garbage, etc).

I do like this holiday, not just because I get a paid day off from work, either. I love being with my family & friends back at home. I love my mom's roast turkey dinner, that I help cook with her. It's just us 2 in the kitchen, bonding over boiling carrots & potatoes. Since I don't like pumpkin pie (hearing gasps from all you readers), Mom usually makes me my favourite pie, lemon meringue. I will be taking Mark home next weekend where we'll have a belated Thanksgiving dinner. I will also be taking him to a corn maze, where we can pick a pumpkin for Samhain, go on a hayride and play in those bouncy castes thingies. It will be a lot of fun. We'll also go walking through the park, look at the waterfalls, hike through the trails in the woods and then go play in the playground.

I am looking forward to next weekend, my Thanksgiving with my family, eating the wonderful food, sharing laughs across the dinner table and being thankful for all that we have in this life. The Gods have blessed us with many things and even though this is a secular holiday, based on our Harvest Sabbats, giving thanks is always appreciated.

Blessed Be )O(