I'm breaking out!

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In just a couple of days I will be out of here! I am breaking out of this clam shell and heading to the big city. The trees are starting to turn around me, fall is here and suddenly my gypsy spirit will be free to roam Toronto with the women in my family. I am overwhelmed, unprepared and already exhausted but totally looking forward to it.

I can't help it, Halloween is on my mind. I look forward to this time of year every year, super excited when the spooky toys and decorations start showing up in the stores. This is my Christmas. For the first time since my husband and I have been together, we are seriously reconsidering going all out for Halloween. Last year we got maybe 15 kids, most of them not even in costume. I spent the entire day decorating our front yard, watching over the fog machine, making the jack-o-lantern and brewing up apple cider with handmade apple skulls floating in it:

Since the only people who seem to really care for our Halloween efforts are our friends who come over to hang out and help out with the candy-giving, I think I will focus on the tradition of food instead. There is a darker and more ominous feeling here, as though jack-o-lanterns are truly protective of the black energy swirling outside. I will still keep that energy back with pumpkin protection but will focus on the new year's celebration instead. Long gone are the days when we would have two hundred kids at our door in British Columbia, handing out candy outside our home because there was no point staying inside with the doorbell ringing all night.

This year I will still celebrate the spooky joys of Halloween but in my home it will all be about the food and connecting with friends, on this side and on the other.

Paranormal Subject #4: Phone Calls from the Dead

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Although this year I did not receive any signs from the other side from my dear friend Kathy, just over a year after her passing and before I moved to Nova Scotia from British Columbia I got a message on my phone. The interference was intense and weird, nothing like I have ever heard before. It was so loud and strange that I almost just fast forwarded to the end to hit delete but a part of me said, "Wait." Out of the static and noise I heard a voice.

She said, "I made it Suzie."

I nearly fell off my feet. I listened to it over and over again, my heart pounding. More and more was I convinced that is what I in fact heard. I could not bring myself to delete it. It remained on my messages until we moved and I had to let it go.

The first time I heard of this paranormal phenomenon was many years ago, I had never expected to have it happen to me. If you think about it, it is like a concentrated EVP specifically sent to you to let you know that your loved one made it to the other side. It is also usually a one-time occurrence.

Perhaps it was just a one-time weird technical difficulty with the phone and not paranormal but I trust my instincts and my instincts tell me, Kathy was speaking to me. That is something she would have done, she was totally dedicated to contacting the other side. Now she was doing the same thing from the other side of existence.

I wish Kathy had sent me another sign this year. When I did a candlelighting ceremony for her I also asked her to help me on a particular subject and we are starting to see some signs of improvement that is giving us a little hope. Maybe she is working more behind the scenes on my behalf instead of doing ghostly parlor tricks?

Either way, Kathy's call from the other side was one of the coolest paranormal events that has ever happened to me. I would love to hear if anyone else has received a phone call from the dead!

A tourist in my new province

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Bay of Fundy at Port Royal

My dad left yesterday. We did so much in just a couple of days! Always one for an adventure, he wanted to drive out to Port-Royal on the Bay of Fundy which had the first European settlement in Canada. To get there we drove through the valley and past many small towns along the north eastern part of the province. The reconstructed fort was very cool and from there we drove right across the province of Nova Scotia to Lunenburg. We got there at dusk:

My dad did not get to see all the brightly coloured buildings but we did go for dinner, we were starving by the time we made it to the restaurant. We went to the Rum Runner Restaurant which had a great Caesar salad but the rest of the meal including the service was very disappointing.

On the last day we drove downtown to go to the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. I was in a corner looking at some nautical instruments when I sensed somebody beside me so I moved out of the way so they could see what I was looking at. I turned and there was nobody there! I mean nobody! According to the novascotia.com web site the building is haunted, but most of the activity happens downstairs near the light from the Sambro lighthouse. I know there was someone beside me...???!!! And I was not looking for anything paranormal to happen and it did! Very cool.

I forgot to ask my dad if I could post pictures of him which is why you do not see any here, unfortunately! We had a great time adventuring around Nova Scotia together and catching up, it has been a year since I saw him so there was much to talk about. Now I will go into recovery mode from all the excitement and wait for my next adventure to begin next week with the women in my family! All of a sudden my life has gone from no activity to being filled with fun and family. Lucky me.

Wishcasting: What luxury do you wish for?

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I took this picture on my birthday last year. My husband took me to a store where I stocked up on cheap but warm clothing. It gets so cold here and I do not have a lot of warm clothes after living in BC for eight years and I was freezing here all of the time.

My wish is for luxurious clothing in my wardrobe. Not just functional but gorgeous that looks pretty damn fantastic on me. That fits me right, that looks good with my colouring and doesn't have to be on sale so I am not just making do with what's cheap. I want a beautiful wardrobe of clothing with high quality fabrics that makes me feel like a million dollars. Clothing that is functional and gorgeous!

I love this wish Jamie! You have inspired my inner diva to want to ask the universe for fabulous clothing.

Paranormal Subject #3: Telekinesis & Poltergeist Activity

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I know, cheesy pic but it's hard to find a photo for the topic of telekinesis and poltergeist activity!

Telekinesis and poltergeist activity are sometimes one in the same thing. It does not seem like it, one is about moving things with your mind and the other happens when you live on a sacred gravesite in the movies.

When people go through rough times in their life, especially at a younger age, they can become telekinetic. If you are an adolescent girl in particular, your electric field is going crazy with all the stresses and alchemical changes occurring within you. Many time ghost hunters will go to a house where things have been flown around, taps going off and lights turning on and off only to find out that it is a result of a very unhappy teenager!

This is of course, not their fault. My family went through extreme turmoil from when I was 11 onward and things went a little kooky for a while. I do not want to go into specifics because it involves more than just me but I often wonder if it was the collective stressful energy in our home that caused a lot of the paranormal activity to happen?

I am Aquarius and we are very electric people. Literally. When I am stressed, I absolutely have to stay away from computers and anything electronic. Even when I am doing spiritual work, I have to turn off everything in the room. I forgot once and after a candle lighting ceremony I walked to my laptop which was wheezing away and when my hands reached out to it, it died.

There was one day in particular while I was working at a bookstore while going to school that I had to go and pick up my cheque but I was livid about something. Distraught and furious, I entered the store and all the electricity went out. Everything went black. I picked up my cheque and as I was leaving I said, "Sorry about that!" As soon as I left, everything came back on.

As I age, the adrenaline and electricity begin to calm down. This type of energy rush is actually very bad for the body, it releases all sorts of toxins into the system so it is not something I recommend trying to conjure. Cortisol hurts us all. Stress keeps us alive and safe but you do not want to live in a heightened sense of fear just to flicker the lights on and off.

Of course there are evil ghosts out there that can be the cause of such paranormal activity but most of the time, it is isn't. Is it not comforting to know that perhaps the weird stuff going on around you is actually because of you or a loved one? It is done completely unconsciously, just as a result of the severity of emotions we are living through. It is nothing malevolent, outside of us trying to scare us. We are doing it to ourselves. Now take a chill pill, relax and know that everything is OK, LOL.

Over time, this activity will wane and life will return to normal, for most of us. It is probably best that we keep the magick and power inside to keep our life force flowing through us, not out of us. It is precious, don't waste it.

Talk Like a Pirate Day!

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Aye my fellow female pirate mateys! It is International Talk Like a Pirate Day! Here's a lovely cut-throat lass that I spotted down by the water when the grand ol' tall ships sailed in this summer to the scallywag harbour of Halifax. Don't be fooled by the frilly flowers on her fancy pantaloons, this gal is a killer!

Arg...it makes a tear come to my seaspray eyes to think of this special day where all people embrace their inner pirate. To think of me husband on the cold waters and I be landlocked and far away. Me thinks I can still be a pirate in me own home as he celebrates one of his favourite days on distant shores.

May we all have a canonball booming blast this here International Talk Like a Pirate Day together!

This is not what I meant...

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When I asked for more things to photograph in my wish yesterday, this is not what I meant. At all! Yes, that is a broken upside down toilet at the side of the road. It was compost day, not garbage day, they obviously got the two mixed up and now it's going to stay out there until next week. I will try to avoid this street as much as possible.

Thought I would lighten up the blog a bit with a little neighbourhood absurdity. The nice lady next door moved away last week and as I was putting gardening tools in my shed (yes, I gardened) making a lot of noise I was sure the new neighbours on their deck would turn their heads to wave or say hello. Nope. The husband just continued to yell at his wife. Great.

While going to the health clinic on my anniversary at some point I lost my iPod and cried. Sometimes I really believe I do not deserve expensive things because I either lose them or break them.

There is good news though. The nightmares have stopped so I am getting fewer migraines. I have not heard about the blood work yet but I made my ultimate comfort food spaghetti last night and in just a few hours got some energy and felt better than I have in weeks. I think that I have not been getting enough iron and now can remedy the super-low energy problem I have been fighting for a while now.

This Sunday my dad is visiting for a few days which rocks. Of course I have to clean like a mad woman until then but now I feel I can do that. And then in just over a week I go to Toronto and hang out with the women in my family, what joy! Then when I come home, my husband comes back from being away.

Things are looking good. Much better than they were! Yes, winter is still coming and I am still stuck in a neighbourhood that baffles me but I am escaping for a while. I can hardly wait.

Wishcasting: How do you wish to stretch?

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I have become Harriet the Spy of my neighbourhood. Truly searching for SOMETHING to take pictures of. No one has ever stopped me and asked me about my picture taking ever and I'm pretty good at doing so invisibly. But then most people don't notice me anyway.

I am trying to find the beauty in the cracks. The weird amongst the mundane. I have no mountains or ocean to photograph here. As a photographer, I am so bored with my surroundings. I don't go anywhere. I am stuck here in my suburban wasteland. I walk the same streets over and over.

One of the reasons I turned to food photography is I can make something to photograph. One of the biggest frustrations of living here is how dark it always seems to be. Here is a picture of my French Onion Soup taken on a bright day in my house. Everything feels so dark and impossible here and yet I still try. My camera is always with me.

As the challenges mount, the more photography means to me. I was so spoiled out west, beauty was everywhere waiting to be found. And I saw and drank it all up! Here it is so much harder but yet I still yearn to find the treasures among the ordinary.

My wish this week is I wish to stretch out of my comfort zone and find those treasures with my camera even though I have lost all hope at seeing something new through the lens.

Happy Anniversary to me...

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In honour of my nine-year wedding anniversary I am going to be a little hobbit-like and offer these adorable autumn-inspired cookie cutters as a free gift, for details go to my foodie blog. Feel free to spread the world! The more the merrier. Contest is open until Friday September 25, 2009.

Because I have been feeling really crappy the last couple of weeks my doctor recommended I go in for some blood work to make sure I am OK. So this morning at 6:40 am I took a cab to the local clinic and waited outside in the cold in a long lineup for the clinic to open. I considered waiting until after my wedding anniversary to do this but I was up all night worrying about my health and thought what the heck, let's just get this over with. So that is how I spent my anniversary morning.

My husband and I have spent the last three wedding anniversaries apart. In fact in the last year we have not been together on our birthdays, New Year's Eve or Valentine's Day. I told him that if we were apart for our 10-year-anniversary next year I would fly and be wherever he is. Let's hope that it's some place romantic and not volatile!

We have been together for 14 years and to hell and back and to hell again. My life is just not right without him. He doesn't have to talk or hold me or anything, I just like being with him. Near him. It's hard when I only get half an hour a week to speak with him.

When I was in BC and we were apart I had a community to depend on and lots of friends right around the corner. If any little thing went wrong I knew that help was right there. I am super lucky to have friends here too but they are not right around the corner and I have no community where I live. The one lady I made friends with on my street moved last week. Here, I am alone when he is away.

Happy Anniversary Sweetheart, wherever you are right now, I am there with you. Always.

Paranormal Subject #2: Signs from the other side

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As the veil continues to thin as we move into the dark part of the year and away from the light, the chances to hear from our loved ones on the other side continues to grow. Usually there is not a particular message they want to send, they just want you to know that they are still there, just on a different plane of existence. They will send birds or butterflies, they will show up in dreams, you may smell a faint hint of their cologne or perfume and if you are lucky enough, maybe you will see or hear them.

As much as I want to believe in an afterlife, I am always skeptical. I can not always think positively and when it comes to death, I am terrified of the topic. As most of us are. That is probably why I am always trying to find out if there really is a chance we do not pass into the great darkness forever one day.

My online friend Kathy died three years ago this coming Thursday. Kathy was a big ghost hunter enthusiast like me and had a wild and wicked personality I just adored. On the first anniversary of her passing our online friends collectively said good-bye. I did so in the dark and asked her for a sign that was not going to scare me. When I turned on the light I had a ribbon wrapped around my leg which had deep significance to me, as though she had spoken to my grandmother on the other side for an idea that would hold personal meaning for me. Well done!

The second year I had moved here and sadly forgotten all about the anniversary. Well that would not do for Kathy. I woke up that night to what felt like a skeletal hand grab at my hands from underneath my husband's pillow scaring the CRAP out of me.

Oh how that must have made her laugh! Leave it to Kathy to give me the kinds of signs from the other side that defy all other signs-from-the-other-side traditions.

The three year anniversary of her death looms this week, how powerful for her to have passed during the thinning of the veil. I wonder what surprise is in store for me this year? Should I ask her not to scare me again or should I just wait and see what creative antics she will get up to this year?

A plea unanswered

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A crow in an oak tree. It was funny. I went out on my walk with this picture in mind. By the time I reached the oak trees, I had forgotten. Thankfully this crow freaked out at my approach and reminded me to get my camera out once again.

Crows are the big gang around here when it comes to the feathered world. The bluejays tried and the seagulls show up every now and then but the crows are the permanent sentinels. The dark gargoyles of my neighbourhood.

Last winter I baked a lot and knew that when there is snow on the ground, there would be no food for them to eat so I would leave out treats for them:

Blueberry Jam Tarts

When I put the food out I also asked them to help me get home. Get back where I belonged. In just a couple of seconds these tarts were gone and I figured my message was sent to some higher power. Then one day, they just stopped eating my food. And I stopped baking for them.

My connection to nature here grows thinner each day. If I do not have the birds to speak to, I have no one left to turn to. I guess I am just going to have to get to used to silence.

Will Storr Vs. the Supernatural

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It is very rare for me to come across a book that I love so much that I just have to recommend but if you enjoy stories of the paranormal, you just might enjoy Will Storr Vs. the Supernatural as much as I did.

A journalist who spends the evening with who he thought was going to be an eccentric ghost-hunter type on a wild good chase for the paranormal, Will Storr is shocked when he finds out that the so-called eccentric is not really insane and in fact gets the pants scared off his skeptical and athiest ass. Being a good journalist, Storr hunts for the truth. He leaves no gravestone unturned. From ouija boards, to sceances, possessed people and even a night spent with the Most Haunted television show, Storr watches and questions what he believes and what he sees.

When Storr is scared, he admits it. In fact, he is shocked when anything happens but mulls it all over, gathers evidence and talks to every authority figure on just about every paranormal subject, including the Catholic church on the topic of exorcism and demons. He is relentless in his search for the truth about the paranormal.

Storr is professional in his skepticism and fair when considering the sanity of the situations and people who focus to the supernatural. What is real? Who is faking? Who is actually just mentally ill? What the hell is really going on? He is open to the truth and puts himself in scary situations and even has what he considers authentic paranormal experiences.

Fascinating!

Not only were the stories of investigation interesting, Storr is one hell of a writer. His analogies, his humour and his penchant for the lyrical among the absurd made this book a riveting read that I am sorry is now over. I was scared, I was excited and I laughed out loud a lot.

I just had to share this entertaining paranormal literary gem with my spooky friends.

I would love to hear any spooky book recommendations, although I do seem to have left the world of fiction behind. What books has rocked your paranormal world lately?!

Paranormal Subject #1: Cleansing

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Most of you probably know how to do a cleansing but considering I have recently been plagued by nightmares I thought I might as well start here at the beginning. Cleansing your home and spirit are fundamental approaches to protecting yourself from psychic attack. I live in a province that does not feel like home so I am not grounded. I have also had lots of bad luck and accidents and lost so much which has filled me with fear. Fear makes you vulnerable to negative energy. Even though the one place I do feel safe in is my home, dark energy still finds us no matter how bright our spirit shines. It's a tough world out there!

There are many ways to cleanse, I prefer using a white candle. You can let a black candle burn to gather the dark energy to help remove it from your home but I just felt drawn to white light so that is what I went with. I asked my cards why I had been plagued with nightmares and got the High Priestess, the keeper of secrets. So the cards did not reveal anything, I was on my own. I just had to be the high priestess of my own life and stand up against the dark. Fine.

This is not a formula or a spell. This is just how I felt like cleansing my home yesterday. Rituals are flexible. Listen to your spirit. I went around the house in a counter clockwise direction with my white candle and in each room said, "I am a child of light, this home is blessed by the God and the Goddess, all dark energy must leave now." When all the rooms were cleansed I took my cinnamon broom, opened my front door and said, "Be gone" three times as I swept out the dark energy three times.

Then I went through the house clockwise and protected the house with protection incense. I went around each window and said, "This house is protected by the God and the Goddess". I also smudged myself with the smoke and when I was done I rang my silver bell to call on my spiritual advisors, friends on the other side and any other positive magickal folk and asked them to protect me especially while I slept. That I was a child of light and needed their help. I rang the bell again and said, "Blessed be."

I am always amazed at how much that makes me feel lighter and better.

For extra insurance I wore my good luck nutmeg and quartz necklace to bed, I made it during the first spring I came here after our car accident. So much bad luck happened at once that I made this necklace to keep me and my husband safe. I have not worn it since but put it on last night before I went to bed, once again surrounding myself with white light.

After sleeping half an hour I woke up choking from another nightmare and yelled, "That's it! Stop it!"

I am happy to report that I slept through the evening after that and feel much, much better. Only a little bit of a migraine lingers and I am hoping to push that away soon too.

You would be amazed at how much negative feelings that we are covered with are not our own. When we are genuinely depressed and down like I have been, we become magnets for darker energy. They love to make us feel worse.. Some people do that completely unconsciously. We must protect ourselves. Banish the dark, protect ourselves from negative influences and use righteous anger to say stop it!

As the veil thins, I sense this is going to become something I will have to do on a regular basis. I hope if you are feeling down you give cleansing a try. It may make you feel better and like me, help you get some sleep and peace at night.

Plagued by Nightmares

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I think this is the fourth night in a row I have had nightmares. I have had a reprieve from nightmares for a little while, mostly because I have barely been dreaming since I moved here.

Every night I have been getting attacked. People trying to break through my front door, a guy chasing me with a butcher's knife...yesterday I woke up convinced there was someone in my bedroom and that they were going to grab my legs. All night last night I woke up thinking I was dead, choking for air.

Anxiety sucks.

My mom believes in speaking with the people in the dream and asking them what I need to learn or know. I tried this. You know what they said?

"We're coming for you."

This just started out of the blue. I do not know if it is because the veil is getting thinner. That all of a sudden I am actually in danger. Or that my fear of the coming winter is being personified as evil men with weapons.

I just know I want it to stop.

I tried surrounding myself with white light last night, shielding it with gold. I asked the divine for help, to get through the night without being stalked. It didn't work.

Time to cleanse the house I think. These nightmares are not teaching me anything and are making me wake up with migraines. So I will go through the house with a while candle and bless it and then fill the rooms with protection incense.

I thought I felt safe in my home and now I don't. My sanctuary has been compromised. Time to brew up some righteous anger and get rid of the negative energy that has somehow invaded.

Anyone want to join me in some spiritual housekeeping?

A little company during my isolation

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It has been two weeks since my husband left and so far I have done OK. This last long weekend was extra super long because a lot of my friends were out of town and I got the stomach flu and have been recovering ever since. So what a treat it was for me to meet our blogging friend and artist extraordinaire Alice in Paris in person for tea!

She even gave me an autographed copy of her Nova Scotia Potluck cookbook which you know I will be experimenting with. She was even kind enough to take me grocery shopping where I stocked up on almond milk and juice, two of the heaviest things I buy on a regular basis!

We spent the afternoon discussing food and ghosts, how could you have a better time? It is so wonderful to meet real people that are as great as their blogs. I hope I was not a disappointment, I have had such a hard time lately. I hope I left my dark cloud at home.

Living life almost completely alone has been a little easier than I expected. I am sure that it has to do with the gorgeous weather we are having but now the temperatures are cooling and my pain is starting. I even damaged some muscles in my left hand from picking up juice, yes, winter is coming.

I miss my husband dearly and unfortunately his situation has not gotten any better since I made his dreamboard. That is the worst thing about being apart, I worry for him so much. I wish things were better.

The moon is waning, it is time to let go of those wishes and desires, pass them on to the universe and hope that my message is discovered. Until then I wait in my house alone.

Wishcasting: What do you wish to learn?

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This week via Wishcasting I wish to learn why I am here. In Nova Scotia, in particular, but I would also like to understand why I am on this earth in general. Due to my fibromyalgia and a myriad of other health issues, I have no sense of personal direction. I have no idea why I am on this earth and especially, why I am on this coast.

This morning I pulled the Hierophant from The Pagan Tarot Deck. This deck's advice during hard and trying times is to stay true to who you are, do what you think is right and call on the divine for strength to get through it.

Perhaps I am going through all of this as a kind of spiritual initiation? I have been thrown out in the cold woods to find my inner strength all alone to survive this long dark winter of the soul.

I wish to learn why I am here.

Halloween/Samhain approaches

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Although I dread winter's approach I do celebrate autumn, it is my favourite season. And I am bonkers about Halloween. I always have been. I love all things spooky. I was having a discussion with Mrs. B (who seems to have hurt herself in a fall, poor Mrs. B!) via Facebook on the elusive 2009 edition of Martha Stewart's Halloween magazine. I hope she had finally found a copy, I finally found one and I haven't opened it yet, I am saving it for October.

As we get closet to Halloween/Samhain I will be writing about the paranormal here and there. The veil is getting thinner, can you feel it? The days are darkening significantly, the air is crisp and almost electric. If anything paranormal is going to happen, it is this time of year.

I was happy to see this lovely witch at my local flea market! It's that time of year. Awesome.

I will once again also be participating in Mrs. B's 31 Days of Halloween. I want to keep the specifics of my donation under my witch's hat for now but will share the details with you soon.

I will have to take a bit of a blogging break at the end of September and the beginning of October because I will be going to visit my family in Toronto. For those of you in the Toronto area I hope you consider coming and dreamboarding with me on October 4th from 2:15-5:00 pm in the Broadview & Danforth neighbourhood. Contact Jamie for details.

I will be bringing those spooky items with me for the dreamboard session in October (although I will leave the ghost mug at home, isn't it cute?) to create a Halloween-themed dreamboard. I have a lot of baggage to let go of but I also want to celebrate the coming new year even though it brings ice and snow with it.

Let me know if there are particular paranormal issues you would like me to write about or that you need help with OK? I have studied this topic for a long, long time and am happy to help.

Walk in the light while the time of year for lengthening shadows is upon us.

Flea Market Treasures

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All this long weekend I have had the stomach flu. Nothing too serious but it has put a damper on the weekend. Most of my friends are out of town. I had a chance to go see a play with friends but it was outside and at night and I knew my body couldn't take it. My husband is away. I am alone and it kind of sucks.

I finally felt good enough to leave the house yesterday and spent $1 to go in and check out our local flea market. I love flea markets! Trying to find that hidden treasure nobody else sees? It's very exciting! So above are my long weekend flea market shopping treasures. I got a healthy breadmaking book for $2, a retro yellow glass cake plate for only $3 (what a steal!) and a little glass bottle for free. Yup, for free:

I have never been a a flea market with a free table before! I still can not get over that cake plate. I am not a huge fan of coloured glass but then I kept picturing Shannon's prosperity cake on it and how pretty that would look and had to buy it!

So I actually got out of the house yesterday and spent a total of $6 on some flea market treasures. What have you been up to this weekend?

Treevenge not a shocker around here

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Pretty picture isn't it? I took it last year in the fall. There were very few houses that got into the Halloween spirit at all so I took this one because I like the house and the little pumpkins on the staircase were so cute. And that tree! Heavenly!

This year it will be an entirely different story. This house had three gorgeous pine trees in front of it and they cut them all down. All of them. Now their house is just like their lawn, a bare stump on a tiny piece of property.

Here is another property where they chopped many trees down. I have noticed this around where I live. If there is a tree, it must be quivering in its roots and knows its days are numbered. People around me seem to love cutting them down and there are not many around here to begin with. I choose this house because in all the other houses I went through you did not have trees outside your windows, you had views of your neighbours' kitchen, family room...

I suppose if you are not pagan this would be no big deal but to me, it honestly feels like murder. Murder of an endangered suburban species. Although I really hated the short film Treevenge, I do appreciate the fact that it was a local revenge story told by trees and their revolt against humanity. Around here, there are tree killers everywhere.

I actually only have two trees on my property, all the other trees I look at and admire through my windows are on other people's properties. I fear for their safety. My husband promises me that because there is a stream close by that no one will be allowed to cut down trees because it would screw up the integrity of their land. In other words, they would be stupid to do it.

This does not inspire confidence in me. I will keep watching out for them and ask that all trees around here be protected.

September Dreamboard

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Yes, I need to get a camera that also includes sound! So bare with the silent movie here of my first step to making my dreamboard this month!

Oh how I love to be destructive! You see that was a photograph I took of some nautical rope and I really wanted to us it in this dreamboard. It represented the "ties that bind" to me and I needed to break that apart! This dreamboard is all about my husband who has suffered so much loss and bad luck since we moved here and I just have to change that. I need to help break that tight hold bad luck has had on him and now instead of a photograph of the rope it now looks like nautical wings! I also added some cinnamon and nutmeg at the bottom of the dreamboard for an extra pinch of magick to help turn bad to good luck.

I got very specific with the exact changes I wanted to make for him which is very private and just for him so forgive me for obscuring the text with stickers.

This full moon I am breaking the hold that bad luck has had on my husband.

I am asking the full harvest moon to release this child of the moon

From all negative forces,

To give him freedom in his career and good health

And lots of prosperity and joy.

Help him become the beacon of light in a dark world he is meant to be.

Blessed be!

BTW, as I was working on this yesterday my husband's health started to improve...let's hope that kind of good luck trend continues with your help and the moon's!

And next month I will be joining Jamie's Toronto Circle! Yup, I am going to be in Toronto whipping up a Halloween-theme dreamboard and hope you can join us!

Moving into Pisces Moon weirdness & dreamboards

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Well here I am and for once I am not in the kitchen or on a crummy walk, I am in my crafts room! I do not think I have spent any creativity time in here during 2009. I am not entirely sure why. I ran out of creative and spiritual steam early in the year. I love this room. This is "my" room. I have not had a room of my own since I left home 14 years ago. You would think I would spend all my time in here.

I took advantage of the Aquarius moon yesterday and got all inspired and worked on my dreamboard. I even got some spices out to add an additional touch of magick to it this month. It has been a long time since I have made one of these too, I have been too down to even dream that life can change. But I am working on that and trying to break free of this sense of doom that has invaded my spirit.

It helps that the weather has been stunning. It has been around 20-23C and sunny all week. It is the first week of beautiful weather for a long, long time. I try not to look at Victoria's weather too often because it is like this on a regular basis but for now, I will be happy that it is gorgeous here. I will cherish it while it lasts.

My astrologer Wendy Guy warns that even though the full moon will be in Pisces, we need to prepare for the unusual:

Pisces usually likes to be sensitive, gentle, compassionate, creative and psychic. But right now there's quite a bit of stressful energy going on in the skies, so our Full Moon in Pisces is to be forgiven if it sends us eerie, shadowy vibes.

Mercury is going to go retrograde September 7 and I personally have already been having technical difficulties in my life, have you?

Wendy completes her astrological newsletter with:

I now send thee forth into the realm of spirit made physical under the mystical Pisces Full Moon.

Sounds good to me! Let's take the dreaminess of Pisces and make those dreams a reality. We begin with dreamboards but it does not end there. Focus on the vision of the dreamboard and then make it happen in the steps you take, the decisions you make in your life and hold on to the belief that you are going to make this happen with the help of the full moon.

Wishcasting: What do you wish to begin

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Our sad Christmas penguin's journey continues down the ditch

This week for Wishcasting Jamie asks, what do you wish to begin?

I wish to begin my journey home and away from this place. I wish to begin brewing good luck, replacing the bad that has plagued us for a year and a half. I wish to begin conjuring positive change in our lives, get us out of this rut and ditch of negative energy. I wish to begin a path towards health and spirituality again. I wish to begin betting back to myself and my real home. I wish to begin big changes in big ways that make life so much better than it is now.

Blessed be!

A little purple goes a long, long way

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My hairdresser and I have been working on my hair colour for a year and a half now. Every time she colours my hair it goes auburn which is gorgeous colour but it isn't a gorgeous one on me. For some reason the more autumn the colours I wear, the more I seem to disappear. I think it is safe to say that when it comes to colours, I am a "winter" and need bold colours.

Today, I think she nailed it. Usually she mixes a dark brown with a violet and then in a week or so the violet is gone and it turns orangey! This time she had the genius idea of completely forgoing brown and focusing on the violet and now my hair is a dark purple!

I am not a mousy person but I can come across like that. Be invisible. Ignored. Unseen. I don't think that will happen now with my dark violet hair. Or maybe not so often.

I do hope it stays. I know in some ways discussing hair seems to superficial but colour impacts how we feel. I need to say to the world I am still a punk ass rebel.