After six long weeks my walking boot came off. My leg and foot muscles feet incredibly weak and I hated that fragile feeling. I spent a week or so carefully walking around the yard and doing things around the house to gain back my walking stability and also test my injured foot. Last weekend we walked the farmers market and stores for two straight days. While I was a bit sore, it just felt like part of the process this time. I have badly wanted to get out into the woods. I wanted to wild craft and to hike and explore what winter has left behind and what spring was gifting us with. Mother’s Day seemed like the perfect day for that. I think that my foot has finally taken leaps and bounds towards healing. While I am being very careful this time not to reinjure it, I needed this time in nature too. I needed the time to ground and reconnect with Mother Earth after a long winter and to heal my spirit too. While reflection is needed and has its place, lurking all winter in the shadows of ones’ self does take its toll. We need to allow our spirit to sprout with nature so that we, too, can grow through the summer and continue with our cycle of life. We can’t be continuously stuck within a season. I am excited to see what nature will gift to Cynnamon Charmed this year. Continue to follow the Charmed Daily Blog, where we will take you on our journeys to find the foundational ingredients that we bring to you all year around in blends, singles, and magickal crafts. You get to be a part of the process from beginning to end. Photo: My thoughtful husband of 17 years cut theses fresh for me on Mother's Day. I don't care about all the commercialized gifts.....it's things like these flowers, the handwritten cards from my kids and effort that they all put into making my day special that makes me feel like a very lucky lady on Mother's Day.
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This has always been a difficult day for me. One of completely mixed emotions and anxiety. I am the mother of three beautiful and healthy kids. I never wanted anything more in my whole life than these three bundles of love and energy. They are the reason that I get up every morning and the reason I don’t get enough sleep at night. Every decision I make through my day begins and ends with their best interest coming first. I often wonder why I was so blessed. I see other mother’s go through many struggles; from death of their children, to disease/ illness, to other uncontrolled instances. I silently wonder why that was not the hand I was dealt. Maybe I am purely lucky…. Or maybe some higher being knows I am not strong enough to survive what these women have had to….Scarier yet, maybe my time for trial hasn’t come to me yet. All these are very scary thoughts. The Gods know, I wouldn’t know who I am without being called Mom. I have my own pain and baggage I carry in terms of my own mother. I was almost 6 years old when her life was taken in a fatal car accident. She was driving, no seat belt, and was thrown from the car. My baby brother was barely a year old. When my kids were the ages we were in this accident happened, I remember looking at each one of them wondering if the same were to happen to me if they would remember me, how they would remember me and what impact I would have had on their short little lives. I can’t speak for my baby brother, but I do remember my mom. I have several memories of times that we shared, although mostly insignificant. Mostly I remember a gentle embrace, a joking and loving playful interactions, and most of all a beautiful big smile. For years now, I have seen that smile again in photos but they aren’t the same. They are reminders but they don’t hold the impact the images and memories in my head do. People act like you move on after death. I suppose to some extent this happens. You stop crying but you never stop missing that person. I never stopped wondering if my mom would have been proud of me in this instance or that over the years. I never stopped wondering if she would have loved my spouse, been a good grandma, etc. I am older today than she survived to be. I wonder if I would have looked anything like her…..do my own little girls? I am very grateful and fortunate to have had a woman feel her shoes for all these years. My step mother has been amazing and supportive and I love her for all she has done. I celebrate her on Mother’s Day for the mother’s role that she took on without complaint and without really being asked to. So, as another Mother’s Day comes and goes, I feel all the emotions over and over again. I am grateful and proud to be a mom myself. I feel fortunate to have a step mother and step grandmother that have taken me under their wings. And I truly miss my momma and both my grandmas. Trying to be fair and respectful and show my love and gratefulness to all these amazing women is overwhelming. I don’t want to feel guilty for missing those I have lost. Guilty for not moving on in all these years. Still feeling the undeniable need to go to the cemetery and pay my respects. To show these people they are not yet forgotten and still very much a part of me and who I am. Time doesn't stop the yearning for them to be here to spend this day with. It is their blood within my blood. It is their names that I call on to guide me in times of trial and need. I still seek them in meditation and ritual for guidance. I miss them on Earth but they all await me in another world. I must tell my children their stories, to keep their memories alive and their spirit with us. We can not allow those that we love and lose to be forgotten. Photos: In memory of my momma ,Carol Cooper, my maternal grandmother, Beverly Graham, and my paternal grandmother, Barbara Cooper. My family pays our respects, clears their tombstones and shares stories. Mother's Day 2018 Thank you for following along with us as we created our own magickal garden at home. We hope that our readers got ideas, inspiration and maybe even learn from our own mistakes along the way. We are not experts in these things and experiment, design and execute plans on our own after we research and brainstorm our own ideas. Even harder is finding information that combines the everyday world with the magickal and that is exactly what we struggled with in this project. Initially, this was going to be a place solely for the Fae. I wanted something inviting and accommodating where they may want to come and bestow their blessings on my home, family and garden. As a witch, I know the preferred plants and surroundings of the Fae. But as a human being, I was easily caught up in the commercialized fairy gardens that are popping up in the stores. In the beginning I meant to meld the two together to form something beautiful, and also practical. Something that everyday passer byers, family and friends would recognize as a beautiful fairy garden but I, myself, would know as a magickal and powerful addition our home. When I was finished, I had a well-intentioned observer tell me it was a beautiful gnome garden. My first thought was, gnome garden? Why would they say that? Duh, there isn’t a fairy in this garden, only a gnome, mushrooms and toad house. Welllllllll, crap!!! Was this intentional? Does it mean something? As witches, we look for symbolic meaning in EVERYTHING, and this was no different. I felt that I may have been being pulled into a different direction for a larger unknown purpose. After all, every single fairy I saw, every fairy house I looked at just wasn’t what I wanted. Oddly enough, last month we had a tree cut down on our property. In my defense, it was a dying tree that was a major hazard for us and one which has caused damage in past storms, so I didn’t have a choice in removing it. However, gnomes are known as the protectors of forest and trees. Very recently it occurred to me that maybe I cut down the home of a gnome??? I don’t live in the forest; I live close to a treed park. However, as humans cut into the forests and we populate more and more land, we are undoubtedly infringing on the magical realms of the nature spirits. Is it really that farfetched to think that maybe some were living in that dying Maple tree I removed? Not escaping my attention, was that my own Patron God, who found me this past summer, Pan, was also connected to the tree spirits. I was a bit shocked as this gnome idea came to me. It seemed strangely odd that I was only attracted to gnomes when shopping. I seemed to create a gnome habitat more so than a fairy. On the other hand, my entire yard could be considered a Fae wonderland. Around my yard we have many strongly appealing things to the Fae (and Gnomes): hummingbird feeders, bird houses, bird feeders, tulips, ever living plants, butterfly bushes, mints, roses, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, rock gardens, water ponds, petunias, gladiolas, iris, lilies, sage, lavender, salvia, thyme, rosemary, grape vines, honeysuckle, etc. etc. etc. My yard in its entirety attracts birds, bees, hummingbirds and so obviously the Fae. The Fae and Gnomes are thought to work side by side as magickal nature spirits. They are not in conflict with one another and so they can inhabit land together. The Fae are normally seen around flowers, on the borderlines of society while the Gnomes are thought to live underground, or in rocky areas. However, these are all just generalizations, right, because nothing is set into stone. And the truth of the matter is this…..intention is never overlooked. Something more powerful than myself made me stray from my intended path. Instead of making a fairy garden I created another piece in my entire nature spirit yard. This fountain space isn’t fitting as an entire atmosphere for these creatures but it shows symbolic respect for the spirits working in and around my home. This center piece to my home will serve its purpose as a beautiful space to leave offerings to nature spirits, and deity as well. And so, more appropriately, I intend on making this fountain a nature spirit garden. As I find the ideal fairy pieces I will include them and more gnomes, as well. I will combine all in to one to show the combined forces of spirits all toward the same cause of loving, protecting and honoring Mother Earth. If you have followed along the past couple weeks, we have been documenting the construction of our own fairy garden from idea to todays finished (almost) product. We even took you all with us to the store and shared with you the budget on this project in our last blog post. So now, with the majority of items needed, it was time to begin putting it all together. With my daughter helping, we filled in the flower pot with a bag of soil. I wanted to leave lots of space for the flowers since this fountain was very shallow. We strategically placed the asparagus ferns toward the back on each side of the second tier. We thought this was a place that the ferns could have a little more room to grow taller while also providing a beautiful forest look to the back ground. The house would only fit and look right in the bottom tier. My daughter wanted to create a forest landscape around the house with the succulents she had picked out. They were mostly a mixture of Red and Green Jelly Bean plants. They were also placed around the garden in the throughout the three tiers. We were keeping in mind that succulents were also a spreading/multiplying perennial plant. The Irish and Scotch Moss were placed in each tier, as well. We wanted one of each color on the bottom so it could spread and have a two tone effect. Then the two smaller tiers had a single one since we didn't think it could accommodate any more than that. We also wanted to allow them to have plenty of room to grow and we are hoping they will eventually hang off the sides of the concrete bowls. The spout was tricky because the bowl we had to work with was just so tiny. We broke off a tiny start of moss and planted it there along with this vining moss that I have around my yard. I am not sure what it is called but it was given to me by a neighbor and I was told that it would grow and spread ANYWHERE. Boy was she right. This stuff now pops up all over. The birds will break off a piece and then when they fly off, they drop pieces in the yard and this stuff will grow where it’s dropped. I am not complaining. It is actually very pretty and in pots in will create these long green beautiful strings that hang down all around and out of the pot creating a stunning display that lasts clear through the first hard frost. We thought this would be perfect for that spout when it starts to drip down from that tiny little spout. With all of our plants in, we filled in all around them with compost. We decided to mound it a little hoping that rain would wash off rather than flood the plants too much. We then set stones to act as little pathways to the house. We placed our chickens, mushrooms and little gnome for design. It turned out even prettier than I had hoped. It had wonderful curb appeal. I actually loved the look as a planter/garden much more than the water fountain it previously was. When the garden was all complete, I went to water the plants and that’s when it hit me………oh shit!!!…….is this thing going to completely wash out in the first heavy rain???? Oh no, I hadn’t thought of that before now. I was seriously stressing out over this. All of our hard work could be ruined in one spring storm. So each day I am watering and packing in the dirt. I am hoping that the plants roots take off quickly so that they will bind and compact the soil making a wash out more difficult. Just like in a potted plant, I am sure I will lose some dirt in heavy storms. I am trying to avoid drilling drainage holes in my fountain but it may become necessary. The tiny figures are kept in place by stakes down in the dirt with the exception of the chickens that could easily get washed out. I guess the only was to be sure is to wait for the next rain. I know succulents prefer a drier soil so I don’t want to overwater right now. The compost I put on top is a sandy mix. I am hoping that will help. Stay tuned for after thoughts, additions and more on nature realm magick. In our last post, we had finally decided where we wanted the Fairy garden to be displayed in the yard. We had a general idea of the style our garden would take and we were ready to begin shopping for supplies. The supplies we needed were going to be plants and art that would transform this fountain into a beautiful fairy garden. Rather than going to Lowes, like I usually do, I wanted to see if other stores might have something more unique. Our town just got a new Menards last year and I had only been a time or two. They seemed to have a larger garden area so we elected to go there for our shopping. The fountain that our garden would be in was not very deep. Any plants would have to have shallow roots and be pretty resistant to dry conditions. When looking up garden designs I had come across many bird baths that people turned into succulent gardens. This got me to thinking that these plants may be a nice addition to our own garden. We lucked out that Menards was running a sale on all succulent plants the day we went shopping. They were $1.99 each. Some other things that I was looking for in plants for this garden were that they were very low lying, different styles, perennial, and that they would spread to fill in and I wanted some that would vine/hang down off the sides of the fountain when they started growing and were established this summer. Some ones that I ended up deciding on were the Irish moss, Scotch Moss and the Asparagus Fern. The fern looked like a bushy tree and gave some height in the background, while both mosses were different shades of green and were said to easily fill in and survive in dry conditions. I loved the Irish/Scotch Moss addition to a fairy garden because the Fae was traditionally a Celtic tradition. It seemed to acknowledge and symbolize that connection. These perennials were also on sale that day and were $1.99 each for the mosses and $1.49 for the ferns. I needed dirt to fill in the three tiers of our fountain. I highly overestimated the amount of dirt I would need, since I wound up buying 3 bags. I got two bags of top soil and one bag of compost. The top soil was $1.47 each and the compost was $2.47. We only ended up using one bag of soil and about a half bag of the compost. The rest we used to fill up an additional pot I had lying around for some more herb seeds and then scattered the rest in our sage beds on the side of the house. Then we ogled over the garden ceramics aisle. My biggest obstacle here was that I wanted a practical fairy house. Everything I was finding was just like at Lowes, the houses were beautiful but their doors didn’t open. I ended up opting for this Toad house ($12.99) because the doors and windows allowed entry for shelter. Although I came here for fairy items I soon realized I didn’t like the representation of their selections associated to the fae. The statues looked like cherubs or angels with wings. I wanted mischievous and sharp. The houses weren’t inviting and I wound up buying more in terms of mushrooms and gnomes ($2.99). I bought a couple cute chickens ($2.99) just because I love chickens and they are symbolic of fertility and life. I bought the ceramic mushrooms ($2.99) because I knew I would never be able to grow real ones but they are symbolically linked to the fae…….be wary of a circle of mushrooms…… So I returned back home with anxious anticipation of how this would all come together. I am worried we may have gotten too carried away with all the plants we bought and there may not be room for the other items I wanted to include. At this point I have a total of $70 into all the items I plan on incorporating into this garden. This included this Menard's trip and the two figures I initially purchased intended for my future garden. Stay tuned for our next post on how are garden comes together….. In the meantime, here are some links to information around the web on gnomes, fairies and gardening to keep you entertained, informed and interested in this magickal realm: http://www.alchemy-works.com/witchs_garden.html https://www.gabrielleisis.com/single-post/2016/06/15/Nature-spirits-elementals-fairies-elves-gnomes-unicorns https://www.amandalinettemeder.com/blog/who-are-the-nature-spirits-a-short-bio-of-fairies-and-gnomes In my last blog about my new spring/summer project, I told everyone how I wanted to create my own fairy garden. At the time I knew what why I wanted the garden and what it would be used for. I knew that what I didn’t want, the super cluttery and junky look of a bunch of small stuff thrown all over the yard. However, this project was a little more challenging than I had initial thought it would be. My daughter had me convinced that putting any amount of small fairy sized trinkets in the yard was going to look junky. We take a lot of pride in our yard and the curb appeal of it. We are known as the flower house and when people walk by our home we get lots of compliments. So any addition is a thoughtful process of how it will blend with everything else and also, equally important, is how easy it is to steal. We have those people in our area who scavenge the neighborhood at night scoping out peoples hard earned yard décor just to steal it out of their yards while they sleep. I decided that this isn’t something that could be placed directly on the ground. The leaves, grass cuttings, etc. would easy make it a difficult thing to maintain and it wouldn’t look as nice on the ground. We knew it needed to be in some sort of container. I had seen these containers at the nurseries, at the hobby stores, etc. However, most of what I saw was more for indoor, visual pieces and not practical outdoor, useable areas. I have this 3 tier fountain that I moved this spring from the side of our house to the front yard hoping to get it closer to the front porch so I could hear and enjoy the fountain of water. Where it was at, it easily would dry up and I wouldn’t know it for a few days because the only time I saw it was when I was driving by our house our walking around that side of our yard. By the porch, it was a beautiful sound, but now it was more out in the open and just the slightest wind would very quickly blow the fountain of water and cause it to dry out and the pump to just run dry. Then you had to take two tiers of heavy concrete off just to re-prime the pump. This was a two person job and after three times in one week I gave up and was frustrated. After all we already enjoy a small pond with pumping water that is much easier than this to maintain in our back yard. I decided that I was going to repurpose this fountain into my new fairy garden. It would be three tiers of containers and has the potential to be very pretty. I started scouring pinterest and getting ideas from the internet and friends. Evidently, I am far from the first to think of this idea. There are tons of people changing their fountains and bird baths into beautiful pieces of fairy and/or planter art. So our location and general design has been decided. Now, I must plan how to incorporate the live plants and the small pieces into a design that I am proud to display and that is also practical and welcoming for the fae…… Well, follow along ‘til next time when we put it all together. Cynnamon Charmed's May Newsletter can be found in your email's inbox today!!!! If you are NOT a newsletter subscriber, you can subscribe at the bottom of this page or here on our website. By subscribing you are allowing Cynnamon Charmed to send you a monthly newsletter with new products, information, and a new coupon or promo code to be used in the store exclusive to subscribers.
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Keri Nichol
Founder, Artist, Herbalist, and Writer Archives
August 2018
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