Good Morning!!!
I woke up this morning and it was still dark outside. Turns out (after I had already told Little Miss it wasn't morning yet) it was time to get up it had just been raining this morning. Well I'm not sure why but the rain always make me feel so lazy, but it just seems to zap the energy away. But, alas, living with a child gives you no choice but to get up when she begins screaming your ear, "Mom Eat!!!" So I pulled my sluggish self to the kitchen, starting the "Brew of False Energy" (coffee for those who don't know), cracked an egg, and turned on Gabba all in my first 5 minutes of morning. After ingesting the first two cups of my magical elixir, I begin to get inspired for the day.
It is the beginning of September and the scent of Fall is wafting in the air. I was never one for the colder months till I was preggos during part of the summer. Then after that, I began to realize all the things you have to watch out for when outside with a kid to protect. No more laying by the pool drinking all day when you got kids, unless I want my clumsy daughter falling headfirst in the deep end, fainting from heat exhaustion or being burned from head to toe. Also, I have learn that mosquitoes are the minions from hell sent to torture my kid. Heat rashes and bug bites have been all I known this summer. So, I am now ecstatic about the coming fall months.
Cooking and crafts are big this time of year. So many projects are in the works at the moment that I'm hoping I get the all done before the year is up. Here is a breakfast recipe I found this morning to get me starting on my baking.


Harvest Morning Muffins 

Ingredients: 
3 eggs, 1/2 cup sugar,  1/2 cup vegetable oil, 1 cup grated apples,  1 cup grated carrots, 1 cup whole-wheat flour,  1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 tbs. baking powder,  1/4 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a 12-muffin tin or line it with paper liners. Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, blend the eggs, sugar and oil until well combined. Stir in the grated apples and carrots. In a separate bowl, sift the flours, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Blend the dry ingredient fors with the apple mixture until just combined. Spoon the batter into the muffin tins and bake for 25 minutes.  Makes 12 muffins.
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Keep looking out as I finish I will post pics and instructions for all my many ideas.

Also, I should have more paintings up soon as they become finished. I'm currently working a grouping of paintings to inspire balance. Don't forget to check out my page "Artwork by LCH" and let me know if there is anything you would be interested in. I can also do commissioned painting for those looking for something special. Just send a message to my Facebook page (link at the bottom of page) and I will let you know the prices for what you're looking for.

Fall is in the Air

I woke up this morning and felt Fall in the air. I love the feeling of the seasons changing, like electricity that runs across your skin and a warm feeling in your chest. It's a magical time straddling two separate worlds. So, I felt like sharing information about the first fall holiday coming our way...........

Mabon
Autumn Equinox, 2nd Harvest, September 21st

     Mabon, (pronounced MAY-bun, MAY-bone, MAH-boon, or MAH-bawn) is the Autumn Equinox. The Autumn Equinox divides the day and night equally, and we all take a moment to pay our respects to the impending dark. We also give thanks to the waning sunlight, as we store our harvest of this year's crops. The Druids call this celebration, Mea'n Fo'mhair, and honor the The Green Man, the God of the Forest, by offering libations to trees. Offerings of ciders, wines, herbs and fertilizer are appropriate at this time. Wiccans celebrate the aging Goddess as she passes from Mother to Crone, and her consort the God as he prepares for death and re-birth.  

       At this festival it is appropriate to wear all of your finery and dine and celebrate in a lavish setting. It is the drawing to and of family as we prepare for the winding down of the year at Samhain. It is a time to finish old business as we ready for a period of rest, relaxation, and reflection. 

       Mabon is considered a time of the Mysteries. It is a time to honor Aging Deities and the Spirit World. Considered a time of balance, it is when we stop and relax and enjoy the fruits of our personal harvests, whether they be from toiling in our gardens, working at our jobs, raising our families, or just coping with  everyday life.

 

Symbolism of Mabon:
Second Harvest, the Mysteries, Equality and Balance.

Symbols of Mabon:
wine, gourds, pine cones, acorns, grains, corn, apples, pomegranates, vines such as ivy, dried seeds, and horns of plenty.

Animals: 

Dogs, wolves, stag, blackbird, owl, eagle, birds of prey, salmon & goat, Gnomes, Sphinx, Minotaur, Cyclops, Andamans and Gulons.

Element: water.  

Herbs of Mabon:
Rue, yarrow, rosemary, honeysuckle, marigold, sage, walnut leaves and husks, mistletoe, saffron, chamomile, almond leaves, passionflower, frankincense, rose hips, bittersweet, sunflower, wheat, oak leaves, dried apple or apple seeds.

Foods of Mabon:
Cornbread, wheat products, bread, grains, berries, nuts, grapes, acorns, seeds, dried fruits, corn, beans, squash, roots (ie onions, carrots, potatoes, etc), hops, apples, pomegranates, carrots, onions, potatoes, roast goose or mutton, wine, ale and ciders, breads, apples, pomegranates 

Incense of Mabon:
Autumn Blend-benzoin, myrrh, and sage.

Colors of Mabon:
Red, orange, russet, maroon, brown, and gold.

Stones of Mabon:
During Mabon, stones ruled by the Sun will help bring the Sun's energy to you.clear quartz, amber, peridot, diamond, gold, citrine, yellow topaz, cat's-eye, adventurine. Sapphire, lapis lazuli, and yellow agates.  

Spellworkings of Mabon:
Protection, prosperity, security, and self-confidence. Also those of harmony and balance. 

Taboos: It was considered unlucky to cut down the very last of the Harvest, and so was also left to stand in the field by some traditions.

Deities of Mabon:
Goddesses-Modron, Morgan, Epona, Persephone, Pamona and the Muses. Gods-Mabon, Thoth, Thor, Hermes, and The Green Man.

30 Activities of Mabon for Personal or Family: 

1. Select the best of each vegetable, herb, fruit, nut, and other food you have harvested or purchased and give it back to Mother Earth with prayers of thanksgiving. 

2. Hang dried ears of corn around your home in appreciation of the harvest season. 

3. Do meditations and chanting as you store away food for the Winter. 

4. Do a thanksgiving circle, offering thanks as you face each direction - - for home, finances, and physical health (North); for gifts of knowledge (East); for accomplishments in career and hobbies (South); for relationships (West); and for spiritual insights and messages (Center). 

5. Decorate the table with colorful autumn leaves in a basket. Display the fruits of the harvest - corn, gourds, nuts, grapes, apples - preferably in a cornucopia. Or decorate with wildflowers, acorns, nuts, berries, cocoons, anything that represents the harvest to you. 

6. Plan a meal that uses seasonal and symbolic fruits and vegetables. You can serve bread, squash, corn, apples, cider and wine. 

7. Make some homemade wine or cordial gather and dry herbs, plants, seeds and seed pods. 

8. Make grapevine wreaths using dried bitter-sweet herb for protection. Use ribbons of gold and yellow to bring in the energy of the Sun, and decorate with sprigs of dried yarrowor cinnamon sticks. 

9. Make a protection charm of hazelnuts (filberts) strung on red thread. 

10. Make a witch's broom. Tie dried corn husks or herbs (broom, cedar, fennel, lavender, peppermint, rosemary) around a strong, relatively straight branch of your choice. 

11. Make magic Apple Dolls Gifts of the Harvest can be used to make tools and emblems that will remind us of their bounty all year round. 

12. Look for colored leaves. Collect fallen leaves and make a centerpiece or bouquet for your home. Save the leaves to burn in your Yule fire. 

13. Visit an apple orchard and, if possible, pick your own apples. Hang apples on a tree near your home. Watch the birds and other small animals who will enjoy your gift. 

14. This is also the time for replacing your old broom with a new one. As the broom corn is ripe now, besom making is traditional and magickal this time of year. 

15. Begin the festival with a vineyard or orchard harvest. You might check the farm lands in your area to see if there's an orchard or pumpkin patch that allows customers to harvest produce for themselves. Traditionally Sabbat festivals begin at sun set on the eve of the Holiday. You can use the daytime hours of this holiday eve to prepare baskets for harvesting the next day.  

16. Baking a pumpkin pie (from scratch if possible) is a wonderful way to bring in the fragrance of the holiday season.

17. Take a walk in the woods, scattering offerings in harvested fields, offering libations to trees. 

18. Adorning burial sites with leaves, acorns, and pine cones to honor those who have passed over.

19. Do what you can to  improve your home and prepare for winter.

20. Pick a subject that interests the whole family. Go to the library or find other resources and study that subject. Together, share what you've  learned.

21. Look at old family photo albums or scrapbooks. Try to tell stories about each person in the pictures.

22. Cut an apple in half to show your children the star inside. This is a reminder that all life is  renewed in some way.

23. Bake cored apples filled with butter and cinnamon as a special treat.

24. Sing songs and talk about all the things you've done over thesummer. Make plans for the winter.

25. Make rattles out of empty gourds and sunflower seeds or seeds collected from nature walks. Use the rattles to make music or scare away bad dreams.

26. Look at your family habits and figure out what you can do to improve your conservation habits. Can you use less water or recycle more of your  garbage?

27. Make a Vine God (stick-type male figure with a hollow body) filled with foil-wrapped cornbread and sacrifice him on the campfire (or barbeque!). Give thanks to the god for his sacrifice and enjoy the cornbread.

28. Make a place mat using dried leaves, flowers and flattened seeds.

29. Make a wax paper leaf sun-catchers.

30. Special Kids Activity: Pine Cone Bird Feeders
Give each child a pine cone, a piece of string, and a spreader. (Plastic knives make ideal spreaders.) Place a jar of health-food store peanut butter (no added sugar or preservatives) and a tray of bird seed at each table.

Ask children to tie their strings around the small ends of the pine cone. (Young children may need help.) Show them how to spread peanut butter along the surface of the pine cone, filling in the spaces along the lower two-thirds.

After cones are coated in peanut butter, roll them in bird seed. Finally, let each child take his or her feeder home and hang it up, or scatter the feeders in trees around your home and enjoy watching the birds feast.

A Step Further: 

Buy peanuts from a health food store. Slowly pour peanuts into a blender to make peanut butter as students watch. You may need to add a little peanut oil to improve consistency of the peanut butter. Let students sample the freshly-made peanut butter before sharing it with the birds. WARNING: CHECK WITH PARENTS BEFORE DOING THIS. SOME CHILDREN MAY BE ALLERGIC TO PEANUTS!

**********I hope everyone enjoys this and a special thanks to two websites that allowed me to gather the information together easily.

http://cronescottage2002.tripod.com/thecottageaugustmabon2002/index.html

http://www.wicca.com/celtic/akasha/mabon.htm

 Thank you:)*********************************