Deep Roots

I've been feeling pretty bad about a lot of different things, and not that those things will go away quickly, because they didn't come quickly, its on the climb. The dirt is making me better. The horrible clay, the blisters on my hands and feet, the simple joy of being surrounded that which I am trying to control.

The failing of the controling makes me feel even better some how. Nothing grows the way I want it to, and it ends up looking beautiful anyway. I labor until the the weather or sun tell me its time to go inside, or if it is time for work or school. But in the dirt, covered in clay mud mess, top soil, and elbow deep in bags of poop I'm happy.

This can only mean one things....I'm just a dirty hippy. No that's not completely true, I hate having to take forever scrubbing the dirt from out from under my nails. My roots towards the outside world tend to keep getting deeper and deeper, and the more they soak up from the earth the more I want to be surrounded by her.

Its the end vision in my mind. I trudge on. One day my yard with be a Magickal Oasis. The Mother Earth is my shrine to eternal salvation. I'm just part of the maintance crew....with a few extra plans for the shrine.

As part of my gardening and maintance duties, my goddess is giving me lots of fresh air, exerise, a better state of mind, vitamin D and B, and just because she knows my adversions to spending too much time in the sun, shade loving plants, she also helps me keep in mind that the more beds, the bigger the herb beds, the less mowing there will be. But she is not the only one shoving me outside and into the ground. The Green Man always dances with his beautiful Flora.

Nature Spirit

(I'm not sure who wrote this)

Nature Spirit carried

By spirits above

spirits below

spirits to rise

spirits to flow.

Always busy moving to and fro,

causing the elements,

to activate its cosmic dance,

merging together as a whole,

blended and drown into matter.

Thanks to the Paw Path website, and my Love of Bill

Five Most Toxic Houseplants for Cats
There are many common household plants, both indoor and outdoor, that are poisonous to cats. Several of these plants can cause your beloved cat to become quite ill, including vomiting, diarrhea, and convulsions. In some cases, these plants can cause your pet to have complete respiratory failure, kidney failure, or other fatal illness. For this reason, it is important to assist your cat immediately if it eats a toxic plant.

Lilies
Perhaps the most toxic and common form of plant that can be fatal to your cat are lilies. Pretty much every form of lily can cause death to your pet. This includes the Tiger lily, the Easter lily, the Japanese show lily, the Rubrum lily and the Day lily. If your cat ingests any part of one of these plants, even a small amount, it will result in complete kidney failure in about 36 to 72 hours.

After ingesting a lily, your cat will begin to show symptoms within a few hours. Symptoms include a lack of appetite, lethargy, and vomiting. As the damage to the kidneys worsens, the symptoms will become worse. If your cat has ingested any part of a lily plant, it will need prompt attention from a veterinarian in order to prevent kidney failure.

Lily Of The Valley
Although the name of this plant has “lily” in it, it is not the same as the lilies already discussed. Nonetheless, this small, sweet smelling flower is also toxic to your feline friend. If your cat eats any part of the Lily of the valley, it can eventually die from cardiac dysrhythmias.

After eating a portion of a Lily of the valley, your cat might start to vomit and diarrhea. It also may show signs of confusion and weakness and even collapse prior to death. If you are certain your pet has eaten a part of a Lily of the valley, you should induce vomiting (as discussed later) and administer activated charcoal, which will help soak up the toxins and prevent them from getting further into your pet’s bloodstream. You should then take your pet to see a vet to ensure its safety.

Foxglove
Foxglove, also known commonly by its Latin name Digitalis, is also potentially fatal to a cat if eaten. Not only is the entire foxglove plant toxic, so is the water from the vase if the plant is cut and brought indoors.

If your cat ingests foxglove, it may begin to vomit and salivate excessively. Its pulse may become slow and strong early after ingestion, then later become rapid and weak. Ingestion of foxglove causes cardiac disturbance that can lead to hypotension, collapse, and shock, which can ultimately lead to death. The pupils of your cat may become dilated after eating foxglove and you cat may become delirious before slipping into a coma. While some of the symptoms of foxglove poisoning can be treated at home, your pet still needs to be taken to the vet to flush the foxglove out of its system and to help regulate its heart.

Monkshood
All parts of the monkshood plant, including the water in its vase, are toxic. Contents of the monkshood plant cause disruption in the nerve impulses when ingested in low doses. When ingested in large doses, it completely inhibits these nerves. Monkshood also causes irritation to the mucus membranes when ingested, which can lead to vomiting and excessive salivation. Some animals appear to go blind after eating monkshood, which is followed by cardiac dysrhythmias and death. Your cat needs to visit the vet right away in order to recover from monkshood poisoning.

Anemone
The entire anemone plant is toxic. It is irritating to the mucous membranes and often causes blisters to form after it is chewed. If it is ingested entirely, hemorrhagic gastroenteritis can occur, which can lead to shock, convulsions, and death. If your pet ingests anemone, administer activated charcoal and see the vet immediately.

Help For Your Cat: Inducing Vomiting
Inducing vomiting is generally appropriate after your cat ingests any toxic plant. To do this, mix 1 teaspoon of Hydrogen Peroxide with one cup of water and administer it to your cat. Or you can mix 1-2 tablespoons of salt with one cup of water or administer ½ mil of Syrup of Ipecac per pound of your cat. Of course, the vet should still be contacted immediately.

What to Do For Shock
If a cat is in shock, its heartbeat might be escalated. Or, it might have an irregular pulse or a very little pulse. In addition, its tongue might appear to be curled and its gums might be pale and have very little color. When a cat experiences shock its body temperature is often below normal.
A cat that is in shock needs to be seen immediately by a vet so it can have medication and intravenous fluids administered. While driving to the vet, it is best to have someone hold the cat and try to sooth it along the way. The cat should be kept warm, as loss of heat only increases the severity of the shock.

A Rose by Any Other Name

Isn't it lovely. The rose bushes were looking rather sickly first come spring, but now they are in bloom, or rather just the one bloom, but isn't it lovely. I'm not sure what kind they are, but a rose by any other name would still smell as sweet right? Not completely true, but none the less its made me happy.

And here it is again from a different angle. The second angle isn't really needed I just felt the need to take it in, from all angles.

In other news the irises are alive and well and blooming like wildfire. The yellows ones suffered from being cut back twice, just because I think cut flowers are nice to have inside the house. They need to be thinned out horribly bad, but while they are so lovely they are just as good to be enjoyed. Beside I would kill them if I did it now. (Do you like how I have a valid excuse to be lazy?)

Continuing with the irisis they also come in purple, just not as many as I have in the driveway area. I find them very pretty, and they too are in desperate need of being thinned out.

These lovely ladies grow around the house and just here where I like to keep a rock 3/4 up the driveway as if you didn't know you were on clay mountain tells you who lives here.

Before we continue the garden tours of things that arew currently in bloom, I should make note that most of my lawn isn't grass, and is really weeds, and some grass sprinkled in so that the weeds look even more strange in the forever hills and holes that is my yard.

These that look like strawberry, but aren't and have a secret ungrourd root system that the devil himself giggles about perfecting are both nice and horrible. nice because they don't grow up high, horrible, because well they are Satan's root system.

I love this bush. It is a rhododendron, and was very sickly and small for 5 years. Last year it desided to get as tall as me and present me with lovely flowers. (thanks to a whole bag of poop) This year it is taller than me and goes through two flowerings before just turning into a waxy leaved giant. I I don't mind though, the flowers last long, and the bigger it gets the less grass (weeds) grow around it.

But behold those beautiful flowers. if only they smelled like something. They prove the world is not perfect, but can still be lovely.

Well that concludes it. The blooms of my yard will continue, but at the moment they lie in waiting.

This Means War!

Do you know of the hell of the carpenter bee? Carpenter bees get their common name from their habit of boring into wood to make galleries for the rearing of young. These are worldwide in distribution with 7 species occurring in the United States. They don't have a hive as honey bees, but are solitary bees.The female Carpenter bee can get into small areas,boring holes. They are perfectly round, about 3/8 " in diameter.

How do you kill them? I am at war with them. They are drilling holes in my porch that I went at hanging off a ladder to plug them up, I dance around the yard with a fly swatter and smack them down so I can rush over and stomp them, I spray them, and yet they buzz still yet. They have insane exo-skeletons, maybe a sledgehammer, or string their dead bodys on a piece of string as a spoil of war and as a warning to the others?

The males can't sting me, and the only reason I am brave enough to fight this war.

A Moment to be serious

Sometimes you just don't get enough of those, and here is the thing if you don't balance right between your seriousness and your craziness then you end up on sided over the other in the eyes of other people. I know these things to be true. I also know that I'm caught in a bad place because of this. Emotionally I am suffering because of it.

What can you do? How do you get a good change going for you if everyone around you is rooting you deep in the thing that you're really not? How do you keep the people around you from tearing apart the small and hopeful fragments of your stability? They don't know of course, because you haven't told them. You haven't told them because they think you are stronger than you really are. In fact they think they're funny. What a terrible combination.

Here comes the kicker, you want to believe it. That's why you're not saying anything about it. That's why day after day you sit there wondering what to do and don't take actions, because you believe you are strong enough to deal with on your own. Who do you tell? Who is going to offer up their "funny" advice, that in the end is going to make you angry you even said a word.


A little kingdom I possess, where thoughts and feelings dwell; And very hard the task I find of governing it well.
Louisa May Alcott1832-1888, American Author

Big red Bench pt. 2

Without much further ado I now have the rest of the photos for the photomentary of my big magickal red bench adventure. The red looks quit sticking no? Well I liked it at least, and yes it was still raining. I did the top half of the bench before I went to sleep on the day of the posting of the finished unfinished bench. I figured in the morning I could flip it and paint the bottom, because after reading the paint can I found out it takes the paint a good while to dry.

And there it stands. Finished. The next morning before I ran away to do the things that needed to be done with my day I flipped and painted the bottom of the bench. On getting back home I flipped it back over and took its picture.

I've been thinking now that I should paint a few, lets say 5 stars on the upper right side of the bench. Why? I was think the big red bench of china could be fun considering the color choice. No? Maybe so....

Rustic Bench Unfinished pt. 1

This is a bench. This bench I made, and before it gets any judgement...I know nothing of making benches. I had spare wood, and some time on my hands. Why is this bench ugly, and in my kitchen? I can explain.

It started out being outside when it was lovely and sunny, but it turned cloudly and stormed on me. So I brought everything inside so it could be finished. Still not finished. I am going to paint it red tomorrow. Why red? Its the only color I have that is for outdoor use. I could buy a different color, but that would make my bench worth something. I call it, found bench in a pile of stuff. Until tomorrow.

Pentacle Plantacle

After such much blood sweat and tears I have done it. My second herb garden is complete. That my friends is a whole lot of bricks. the path ways were going to be two bricks wide, but when I was getting the bricks loaded up from my mom's old house I touched a snake panicked and ran away with only 125 bricks. Snakes win the brick pile every time.

Anyway the plants look tiny and unimportant as of now, but soon very soon it will be amasing looking. With the help of Edwin my gnome my second herb garden will kick much ass. Hooray!