Which Witch?

WHAT SAY YOU?

My Much Ratherish!

Who be your
cherished~choice television witch?

Practical Magic After~Be Magick

Thank~yous abundant to Frosted Petunias and La Boheme Magique, our ever gracious cohostesses with the bewitching mostesses! The Practical Magic Blog Party was indeed a merry~glad time had by all!

‘It Didn’t Appear Indulgent Amid' Tonic~Remedy:
A Receipt to Aid Revitalization of Humours
(Today’s illustrative example of this need: most completely,
too many Midnight Margaritas!)

THE INTEGRALS BE:
1 small caldron (or 1 large pot) of yoghurt (organic~natural is best)
2 equal pot sizes of Full Moon Spill (water)
1 cucumber (I be ratherish to the seedless variety, what say you?), finely chopped
½ cup crushed walnuts (Arriving them them to this condition is half the remedy, as the pounding it requires “doth assist in making easement for a soring head”!)
1 teaspoon olive oil
parsley
[“...always throw] salt [over your left shoulder...”]
1 clove of garlic, grated

WHAT MUST BE DONE:
Comix the yoghurt and water to form a trim liquid. Give boost with the addition of the cucumber, walnuts, garlic, oil, parsley and salt to your desired flavor. Blend all parts to concoct a smooth drinkable. Down~the~hatch it as a cold soup with a spoon. You shall feel uplifted spit~spot!

A PROFUSELY IMPORTANT POSTSCRIPT:
Does anyone know where I might snag a spell
that would have Gillian kindly turning

this sweater
over to me?
(Barely do I exist without it!)

Some Incanted Evening, When You Find Your True Love...

FIRST THINGS FIRST:

Chocolate Cake
for breakfast!

A glad welcome then be yours to
Frosted Petunias and La Boheme Magique’s

Practical Magic Blog Party!

There are so very many to chose from, aren’t there?! (And a too fewness of hours to watch and re~watch, and read and reread them all!) Merrily I speak of the plethora of enchanting moments from the movie and the book,

Practical Magic!

Today, my always and forever favorite is as follows:

Young Sally: (Pained and speaking quickly, almost chanting) I hope I never fall in love. I hope I never fall in love. I hope I never fall in love. (She leans her head onto Gillian’s lap, still muttering)
Young Gillian: (Eyes glittering) I can't wait to fall in love!

Sometime later, Sally is gathering ingredients from the conservatory, a room containing many apothecary jars, cartons, herbs and plants. As she speaks, she consults a handwritten spell in her open diary. A dried flower has been pressed between the pages.

Young Sally: (Reciting) "He will hear my call a mile away. He will whistle my favorite song. He can ride a pony backwards."

Young Gillian: (Entering and standing in the doorway) What are you doing?

Young Sally: Summoning up a true love spell, called Amas Veritas. (She plucks a petal from a vase of pink roses) "He can flip pancakes in the air.

He'll be marvelously kind.

His favorite shape will be a star. (Picking more petals from a star-shaped white flower) And he'll have ... one green eye and one blue."

(She picks more leaves and petals from another plant along on the shelf. Gillian follows her and peers at the plant.)

Young Gillian: (Turning from the shelf to face Sally) Thought you never wanted to fall in love.

Young Sally: (Pensively) That's the point. The guy I dreamed of doesn't exist. And if he doesn't exist, I'll never die of a broken heart.

Sally and Gillian stand out on the balcony, Sally holding the bowl containing her spell out in front of her. She stares at the petals in the bowl, and as she concentrates, they all rise out of the bowl into the air. They form a beautiful helix of petals, and, with increasing speed, flutter up towards the full moon above. Sally watches them go, as her thoughts repeat:

Young Sally: And if he doesn’t exist ... I’ll never die of a broken heart.

Ever since my this summer's first crossing Gemmama’s threshold (I came to perch a while at my grandmother’s house mid~July just past, when she warmly invited me to custodian her haunt during the time she be Across the Pond attending to a dear friend.), I have been feeling the feels of a love wanting to be encouraged. But, Shhh! Don’t tell: I admire secretly and from a very small afar, an incredible "someone," and it all took start that first day I received the mail whilest~Gemmama~be~away!

(I can't wait to fall in love!)

And each morning thereafter, I awaken with a makemumble upon my lips: a worthy~good charm (Most assuredly familiar?), invoking Aphrodite to introduce love, THE love, into my life:

Inside it and it in me
Aphrodite of the sea
O Powerful Aphrodite,
To let the love find me!

Yet truly, best met spells use things and actions, as well as words (So certainly: Young Sally turned out with petals plucked and leaves and "stars" offered brim-bowled to an ink~sky night’s Full Moon.), thus,

tonight,

I will achieve a particular and love~necessary charm this way (Please join me in the spelling, if your "need" ratherish be like mine ~~~but hold tight to this remembering: THOMAS IS SPOKEN FOR! lol!):

Eyes On Me Apple Love Spell

The Integrals:
Full Moon water, enough to cleanse
1 very red apple, but not a schepabbel (crooked apple): two people who come together in a caring relationship stand equal. An incantation over a misshapen fruit can only result in a less than desirable unevenness!
1 pen that scribes "red"
1 terribly small plane of indigo paper
1 butterfly’s wing (Do NOT spend a living creature for personal advancements. Instead, scour a meadow, park, or, if need be, a motor vehicle’s grill for this ingredient, that of which lends itself to making true love soar!)
1 large spoon of honey
3 driblets of Oil of Heather
1 rose red ribbon

Parlay:
After cleansing the apple, lance off the lid in one slice, exposing it’s star-heart. With an ever so gentle hand, hollow out the core to leave visible a small star, whose points aim directly, yet in all directions, to love. Write with the red on blue paper the name of the one you want to hold you in mind (and then possibly in heart?) Fold the inscibed around a butterfly's wing and insert it in the apple’s hollow. Then, to the top, fill the love fruit with honey and Oil of Heather. Replace the lid of the apple and bow it with the ribbon. Putting fingertip to your Cupid’s Bow, then to the ribbon’s satin knot, twice spell this charm:

O apple~well ‘neath
Full Moon, steeping
Through this night,
heart~wish be keeping.
When feathered song awakens day,
A Longed~For’s gaze shall turn my way.

Now place the apple under a Full Moon’s bright, where its luminous light will charge it until the first song of a bird awakens a new day. (Yes, do make yourself comfortable, as you will have to be alert to its morning sound.) Make haste to then bury the apple in your garden. If you haven’t got a garden, deep earth it in the window box you’ve ahead~of~the~clock purchased just for this purpose. Wait for your results, which should be immediate!

PLEASE TO LOVELY NOTE: And if the first kiss you share together tastes of apples, know then that this be your true love!

POSTSCRIPT:
Be wise. You cannot force someone to love you, so you should never bid on a heart specific. If heedlessly~needlessly nevertheless describes the do~be of you, it might wind you up thrice times more in love with them then they are with you. Also, forever will you NOT be able to trust that the love is true. Then instead, purely intend that the Eyes On Me Apple be of service only to tie snug enough the straps of your Confidence Bonnet, thusly allowing you to finally ask out first the one you’ve been quietly admiring! (No fears be yours of a self~broken heart because you hadn’t done your part!)

Chocolate heart cake originally pictured.

Gemmama Called! Gemmama Called!

Although this wasn’t THE actual postcard from Gemmama, given her message~intentions, it truly would have been the purrrfect “pick of the litter” to send!

One week ago this day, my grandmother, who remains Across the Pond where she pays visits to her dear friend Luella, jingled me! And, indeed, it was a wee wee early last Monday morning (It would be 6pm, their clock.), when Gemmama and her forever-let-the-good-times-roll partner put down their esscential doings to place a counted on call to me.

(The Esscential Doings: Neither my grandmother nor Luella have ever dealt gently with human deodorizers or Central Air, but that doesn’t mean they surrender their toilette. Instead they trust Lavender-Scented Full Moon Water Spritz before pressing their frocks and linens. (Yes and can you imagine?! These two hens still keep lively their ironing boards!) And nearly at the start, when her receipt called for witch hazel,

Gemmama deemed it necessary to substitute with vodka. Methinks it's much ado about the 100~proof, that of which these two concocters merrily sip before the readying, during the readying, after the makehay, and even while they same~day spritz! More about Lavender~Scented Full Moon Water in a while.)

After an overthewire, quick exchange of “Hellos” and “Oh, How I’ve Missed Yous," Gemmama joyously (and with happy tears in her eyes, I could just tell!) exclaimed, “A card large with importance from we to you has been full chisel sent!” Then she boldly underlined it with, “Be wide-awake of Thomas.” (Thomas being Gemmama’s mail carrier.)

The delivery arrived promptly the following day: a lovely postcard whose illustration expressed a picturesque Welsh countryside and whose backside, penned in Luella’s beautifancy (I'd know it anywhere!), read:

To Our Cherished Pet,

Inked to paper, then torn in half
And bubbled in a caldron bath,
By coalish cats with eyes: marine,
By all the Magick ever seen,
Your wish is granted and anointed–
Now make haste the time appointed!
Love, G. & L.

Beneath the charmed directive and written
in her signature nervous~pigeon~walking scrawl,
Gemmama added:

Off with you, then, in well-timed fashion to 1333, where your dream awaits you. NOW SCAT!
P.S. Bring with you a paper sack into which your hastened breaths in and out shall go, for surely the excitement will take you miles!

Ever since I can remember, my heart~want has been to call a Magickal cat my very own. But it just hadn’t happened yet. That is, not until Josiette and I, with small brown bags in hand, bee~lined to Miss Monica’s, two houses over.

Trumpet fanfare, please!
(But not too full~volume, as he is still a morsel-bit mousy.)

INTRODUCING:

Puddle!

Monica’s cat Boo mixed up a small batch of three kittens about seven weeks ago. Puddle is mine (all mine!) and his lookalike brother is now the latest family member of another neighbor, Ina, two houses the other way from Gemmama’s. And Josiette~~ahhh, my ever~patient Josiette! She has been promised the black cat sister (whom she’s already christened Clarinet), just as soon as the little scamp is finished hiding!

Hmm. Thinking backward in my head, I recall a weeks ago, stifling night at the top part of August, when a sleepy me flipped over my pillow in hopes of finding cool. Suddenly, the entire feathered pudding went sweetly warm and cozy! And I inexplicably smiled, as I am at this point, only this go ‘round, my inside~knowing tells me the exact answer (and so, too, did Miss Monica, verifying with her Kitty Birth Records): That mysterious calefacient had ocurred at the bull’s-eye moment that Puddle met the world!

Come this week’s Thursday, my very own pussycat and I (and positively Josiette and Clarinet) will celebrate our first full Moon together! I am so excited that I’d best be putting little paper bags at the top of the market list!

POSTSCRIPT:

Lavender-Scented
Full Moon Water Spritz
(low yield)

1 couple of small, sealable Masons (jars)
2 teaspoons lavender essential oil
5 tablespoons 100~proof vodka (or witch hazel, if that would be your preference)
1 cup Full Moon water
spritz bottle

Let oil an vodka cooperate by shaking vigorously together. Add Full Moon water and store in previously cleansed~of~negative~energies vessels. Keep in a dark place for fourteen days. When ready to use, shake jar ever so gently, so as not to bruise or bend the luna charge. TO USE: Lavender~Scented Full Moon water~fill a cleansed atomizer. Fine mist on clothing (including dailies, work clothes, romantics and other fine washables, or spray on bed dressings, curtains ~~any fabric items calling for fresh and crisp) before putting an iron to it.

lavender forest, lavender atomizer

The Grape Escape

Anna Pavlova, the incomparable Prima Ballerina Assoluta
~ Photo by Herman Mishkin, 1923

Still unwinding from weekend fussies, yesterday’s lunchtime found Josiette and I turning to a most reliable and dear, old friend to tame ourselves. Yes, the most agreeable grape, forever known throughout the land for its calming and curative purposes and its "makecertain" to alleviate the brought-on-by-the-world (and then some) wearies. Indeed, and by the bunchful, these fruity do~gooders are a natural diuretic (flusher of all that be body and soul toxic) ~~not to mention, their soothing qualities help smooth out tired nerves.

Call on the grape, we did. And some of his closest tags along, too. Then, WE ATE THEM!

What be you? Are you a nigglebit frayed about the edges? All at once extending your bowls would be for the best:

An Enchanting Grape Salad

INTEGRALS:
1 cup of fresh baby spinach leaves (but nibble-sized butter leaf lettuce will do in a pinch)
1 ½ cups green grapes
1 cup diced green apples
½ cup crumbled Feta cheese
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

SIMPLE PREPARATION:
Gently commingle (so as not to boo~boo any parts) spinach, grapes and apples in a salad dish. Add Feta cheese and mix the ingredients together~~ again with the gently. Add the balsamic vinegar and mindful~jumble once more. Serve immediately.

All~Important Postscript:

Dog with Grapes (1836) by Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller
(Or, as I perceive it: Shoo, Fido, Shoo!)

Remember this PleaseHeed: When treating poochies, make the "fun eats" NOT be grapes. Grapes (and raisins, alike) contain a "something" that negatively affects dogs’ kidneys. (The danger comes when the grapes and raisins begin to work their way through a Rover’s system, causing renal failure.)
　
Truly, being thoughtful of his favorite family member, a Newfoundland, it was dog~loving Ben who was heard to say:

"An ounce of prevention
is worth an ounce of cure."

MEMErabilia: The Magick That Is Me!

Days back but not so far ago,
TheBlakkDuchess at Absythe and Arsenic
poured me a delightful cup of kindness:

Hip, Hip, HUZZAH!
and merriest cheer!

My much appreciation to you,
and “yes” to the award’s necessities:

1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you the Versatile Blogger Award:

Dear BlakkDuchess ("click"),
A heartfelt thank~you à la a delicious and ambrosial

wedge of Biting Cream Apple Walnut Pie
(which is always worthy of a special friend and a special occasion!), for this lovely recognition!
Most sincerely,
Cellar Door

2. Share 7 things about yourself:

Harry Kemp’s Scotch Broth Entertainers ~ Season 1925~27

ONE~~Being that it is my favorite soup, I would never stop short of a bowl of Scotch Broth.

TWO~~ I arrived four days shy of Halloween. I do regret that I was in such a hurry, as a Halloween birthday, now that would be the living end!

THREE~~ I am in complete agreement with famous Croatian conceptual artist Željko Kipke, when he says and paints:

“I prefer cats to dogs
because there are no police cats." ~~ Željko Kipke

FOUR~~ I am not opposed to the aroma of a skunk; the scent quite appeals to me. Unless of course the “skunk” be human! Tee-hee!

FIVE~~ It goes against my grain
to write in blue ink.

SIX~~ The possibility is ENORMOUS that I am Liza Minnelli’s biggest fan.

SEVEN~~ I am a professional dog walker. Once upon a time, when I was strolling with Doctors Seuss and Pepper (German Shepherd charges of mine), Seuss nosed something in the grass. Lo and behold, it was a glass eye! The police have yet to determine who belongs to it.

3. Pass the Versatile Blogger Award along to 10 bloggers who you have recently discovered and who you think are fantastic for whatever reason! Not to forget: Be sure to let your selected bloggers know that the spotlight is theirs!

A joyful song of congratulations to
My List of Ten!

Moonlit Hootings of a Night-Owl
The Vintage Sage
The Candy Corn Chronicles
Ms Bingles Vintage Christmas
A Very Fairy Garden
Rue and Hyssop
7 Year Old Witch
~serendipity~
Musings From Harmonie House
The Haunted Gardens

A Blessing In Disguises

My pal of pals Josiette, who is still inclining backward on the fainting chaise in Gemmama’s Upper Pink Room, where she be wink~catching from our last night’s

Midnight Margaritas
~~Shall we call it a practice run in the direction
of La Boheme Magique and Frosted Petunias’

Practical Magic Blog Party?

Let’s shall! Tee~hee! And forgetnot to trace a star around where it’s situated on the calendar. (“Click on the up~top button for the whole of it then, because the more, the merry meet!)...

I re~gather my thoughts: My dear Josiette, who is a little peaked today, and I are trick~or~treaters in an ENORMOUS way. We were wee~witches in late October, traveling door~to~door in our mumsies’ arms, brimming our Halloween candy sacks to bounteous, when we made our pact to always honor the Trick~or~Treat, and nothing less than TOGETHER.

Yes, I spill: at first, it was all about the chocolate bars and wax lips and all things ju ju be~ish. But soon, the “all about” became the fun and frolic of the disguise! Our delight belongs to the annual dress~up (and our homemade pumpkin tart~filled hands extended to offer sweet appreciation to the kindheart answering the ring of the doorbell or the knock of the knocker, who generously treats the little ghoulies and goblins shouting out their wonderful “Tricks~or~Treats!”).

Ten plus one days ago, we panicked! It was already August 24 and our this year’s Halloween "charades" were yet to be constructed (Our unwritten deadline has perpetually been that month’s first day.), because our ideas of what they would have us be, hadn’t even been realized by us!

That night, we turned to

a wise old friend,

who just happened to be hanging over us and full, for meaningful awakening and great reception to its opportunities. We called on the Moon for abundant inspiration.

Under Lunar luminance and beneath Gemmama’s rogue grapevine, we were granted a potent enchantment: after making ourselves the middle of two mirrors placed opposite of each other so that one reflected a moonbeam back into the other, and three orange candles, Josiette and I scratched our initials into the up~top side of the warm wax of one of them. After lighting their wicks and still seeing the letters of our names, I linked to Josiette by attaching my left hand to the orange cord she held in her right. And with my other hand, I grasped the wand of

Honesty Plant

she held in her left, forming us into a circle. As we absorbed the energy of the moonlight, the candles ~~in particular, the "inscribed~by~us"~~ burned, freeing the letters of our names. Just as they were no more, Josiette and I together clockwised seven times. The trailing cord wrapping round us, gathered the moonbeams about our bodies. We felt rawly and happily opened to receive all that was to come our way!

Retiring for the night in Gemmama’s BIG bed, we slept with freshly~plucked~from~the~moon~drenched~stem honesty seeds tucked under our peather fillows. (Cuckoo birds that we be, Josiette and I often speak Oddly Reversed ~~such fun!)

At the snap of a quick dawn, we both sat bolt~up, just as quick and not unlike two reposed vampires caught in a sun chink, but without the smoke and burning. (EWE! Tee~hee!) Josiette looked my way and I, hers. Joyfully we cried out in near harmony (Actually, I think it be all Miss Josiette’s idea.):

Me: Chinese Lantern (Physalis)

Josiette: Deadly Nightshade (Atropine)
“We will show ourselves
as poison plants!”

Following the gardenyard burial of the Honesty coins, and a honey bun breakfast, Josiette and I pleasant tripped to Britex (four floors of store right off Union Station, packed to the rafters with consummate cloths, notions, etc. We would indeed again squidge our wallets, for only the finest fabrics will due for our Halloween costumes, forever treasures that they are.) A good explore later, I had bought miles-long of

bloody orange
to share!

And Josiette had climbed the library ladder
to find luscious remnants of

Yellow Like Fireflies
and Evening Purple
for her delicate accents.

Tonight, we sew!

Evening Nightshade: K.Chayka