Witch-Crafted: Welcome September, Good bye August!

Well I have to say the month of August has kicked my butt big time and it was showing no signs of letting up. I know we all experience these when it rains it pours moments in our lives and last month I’m had one.
Just when I thought things were turning around that dark cloud found me again, so I am pulling out my trusty sword and paused to do battle this time it’s computer crashing time. The continuous mystery of my car’s problem, and lightning striking much of the essential electronics in my household not to mention the one going mystery of my son’s car problems a computer crash just wasn’t on the list of things to do this month. Rant over.

Aside from all that aggravation I have managed to get some Slow Stitching in this week on the Greenwoman #2 piece.

greenwoman #2

I finished the hand embroidery on the piece for the Stitch at Home Challenge I call it Herbal Tea and will use it as a banner in my herb garden. My inspiration for this piece is my love of brewing blossom tea in clear tea pots, always a hit at my tea parties.

herbal tea

the inspiration

The theme for the challenge is Burlesque which translates to an absurd or comically exaggerated imitation of something and not the fans and feather boas. Anyway I finished well before the deadline of the 15th, to my great surprise the Kreinik threads didn’t unravel or run when I washed it.
I finished stitching the Green Woman hand embroidery piece last week, now I am trying to decide whether to frame her or make her a wall hanging or pillow cover.

greenwoman #1

I am also making crochet progress on the afghan for my sister, I am working a simple granny square using Mandala yarn by Lion Brand this is Spirit colorway, so far just two cakes have been used.

It’s odd for me to be crocheting an afghan, usually the summer months in Florida are too hot to have a large project on my lap even with air conditioning yet I have been itching to crochet and so far the heat isn’t bothering me.
We have a few brief but very drenching rains most afternoons so I don’t need to water the plants though most are dying off for the summer.

After falling ill a few days after my birthday I remained sick for the entire month of July, how a simple summer cold can go to bronchitis and then pneumonia is a mystery to me. I am much better though still not operating at 100% but hoping to put the black cloud of August behind me.

The start of a new month so I plan do a house clearing ritual today to sweep away all of the negativity that August left of my door step. I will mix some mistletoe, rue and oak wood to aid in my house cleansing as a floor and door wash, speaking these words below:

Cleanse this space, remove the past
Banish all negativity at last.
Return this space with Joy and love
I ask for Your Blessings from Above.

After the floor wash I will smudge the house with sage mixed with a bit of frankincense speaking these words:

Air, fire, water, earth
bless this house, my home and hearth,
cleanse this space, remove all ill,
heed my words and my will.

I should have smudged the house at the start of summer I usually do a house clearing at the start of each season but this year has been in a flux so things fell by the wayside.

To start off this months reading the newest copy of the Wiccan Wheel mysteries has arrived so I will begin reading it later today. The next book is available for pre-order though I'll wait on ordering for a while since release date in March 2019.

I do enjoy the books in this series the magical working is not the over the top fantasy stuff, its everyday nature based modern day Wicca practice of ritual and spells, which makes these book a good mystery mixed with a little magic.

I bought a copy of Maia Tolls The Illustrated Herbiary which includes 36 oracle cards tucked into a vellum envelope in the back of the book.

the book

the cards

tucked away

On my reading table I have two new to me publications I am reading, the first feeds the earthy side of me and the second one feeds my love of plants and natural dyeing.