Category: A day in the life (personal)

5 Things I Love Right Now v.02 + Poll

1 Comment

So… June happened. I think.

I’ve been having a hard time keeping up posts these last few months. Ideas weren’t flowing and it became a chore to write. June was a busy month for me on a personal level so pretty much only Spell Saturdays happened. Towards the middle of the month I kind of just say “fuck it” and took the month off. I’m so much happier for it and I’m ready to really get back to posting, writing, and working on projects.

Burn out. It’s not fun.

On a personal front, it’s been a very “everything is happening/nothing is happening” kind of phase. My novel Spirit Walker was suppose to be out last month but stuff happened so it’s coming out later this month. A project I thought wasn’t going to take place until next year might happen this year. A few other projects have the same thing happening. It’s a lot of “hey, this stuff is happening but we can’t, you know SHOW you it”. Ugh.

Anyway, here’s five things I’m totally obsessing over right now.

 

01 Fairy tales with actual faeries

I recently finished my re-read of Catherynne M. Valente’s Fairyland series. I’m a sucker for stories. Anyway, that and a recent flux of faerie related posts has been reading lots of articles and stories about faeries. And listening to faerie stories told in songs. And playing video games with faeries.

(Sensing a theme yet?)

I son’t particularly have a favorite kind of faerie story. I like the stories of Wild Hunts because I’ve experience one before. (That’s a story for another day) but I like stories that have a good tale to tell and ends with a satisfying end. Not necessarily a happy ending, mind, but a satisfying one.

While the classics are always good to brush back up on (I’m currently reading Phillip Pullman’s Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm) but there’s some truly excellent faerie-based stories out there. Which one is your favorite?

 

02 Baking Bread

I like baking. Cooking, not so much but baking? Sure. I like making tasty foods and trying out recipes simply for the challenge of it. (Which is weird but I’m not one for competition or challenges as a whole). Baking, to me, is fun and I get to nom on a hopefully delicious end product.

Except bread. Breads, for some reason, escape me 90% of the time. I can make a decent scone and drop biscuits. I can do a dense banana bread fairly well. Other than that? Nope. Failure is a constant companion. I just can’t seem to get a bread that tastes good or isn’t rock hard. I’m pretty sure I’ve baked some bread that were actually stones in disguise. I like to think I’m a decent baker. I can do some desserts pretty well but bread and I aren’t friends.

So I recently borrowed some bread recipe books from my library and made it my mission to create a good bread. I haven’t really dug into the books yet (other stuff is going on) but here’s hoping I can create something edible!

 

03 Selkies

I really like the folklore of selkies. I mean, I like mermaids but I really like selkies. If I had the option to become a mermaid, I’d probably ask to just be a selkie instead.

Their stories remind me of fox spirit stories (which I also adore). I especially like the stories where there’s a happy or at least bittersweet ending. The Maiden and the Selkie by Heather Dale is probably one of my favorites because there’s a lot of lore and ideas packed into that singular song.

Right now I’m currently writing two stories with selkies or water based faerie-like creatures so my interest may be ramped up from that that. But selkies are always an interest for me so who knows?

 

04 Honey

I’m a fan of honey. I like honey. I like the taste of it, the color of it, the smell of it. I keep several honey types from various sources around my house. I keep a huge jar on my counter because I just like looking at it.

Recently, I’ve started to swap sugar out for honey for some of my baking. And making honey based pastilles for herbal remedies. I’ve done this before but I don’t use a ton of herbal remedies for myself and there’s some recipes I use that don’t take substitutes well. (Like my chocolate chip cookies).

I don’t use honey much in magic as it’s a “wet” ingredient and I don’t typically work with wet ingredients unless I’m enchanting food or making a potion. While I like doing both of those things, I don’t tend to dive into that realm often. Or, maybe’s it’s better to say that I don’t tend to deviate often from regularly created food or potions that I don’t share. Not because I can’t come up with something better but more because why fix what isn’t broken?

Honey’s often loved faerie and spirit offering. I’ve given it myself during the summer when I can’t give milk-based offerings. Also, while writing this post a random thought occurred to me: mermaids and most selkies probably haven’t tasted honey before. That’s a shame and gives me a really cute idea for a scene.

 

05 Boats

I like boats. I’m not in love with them but I like them. I grew up looking at model replicas of tall ships, paintings of sea storms, and through elementary school I use to stare at my grandmother’s hand-carved wooden ship mast that hung on one of our walls.

Weird part is? None of my family owns a boat. We have family friends that do but save for our kayaks, there isn’t a single boat among any of us. I’ve worked on boats which I thoroughly enjoyed. My mother has plans to buy a small sailboat sometime in the next ten years so that’s something to look forward to.

Since much of my witchcraft is based in New England lore and water, especially, boats come up often with my research so I often practice my boat magic on our kayaks. Much of it is upkeep of boats, making sure the hulls don’t rot and so on. But there’s so much on a boat that can be enchanted. Sails, motors, ropes, and even the deck floor to make it less slippery.  (Which is so important, depending on the type of boat you have.)

Do any of you have must-have spells for boats or working on the water?

 

It’s been kind of low-key for me right now when it comes to things I adore but right now there’s a lot in the works. What about you folks? What things have you been interested in? What kind of articles and books have you been reading? What kind of research or posts do you wish you had access to?

Oh, before you go! I promised a poll. I’m creating a rather extensive correspondence chart for the website, with information gathered from all over, with cited sources. How would you best like to see it? You have until the 14th to vote!

 

5 Things I’m Currently in Love With

Life has been kicking my ass. Last month (and the month before that) was filled with stuttering posts due to a variety of reasons. Long story short: Life got in the way of… life? Weird sentence is weird.

Anyway, here’s five things I’m totally in love with right now.

 

01 Cherry Blossoms

I mean, I love flowers any day of the week but right now I am constantly staring at my flowering trees and blooming garden. Right now I’m very lucky because I have two cherry trees in my front yard – the Yoshino white and the Kwanzan pink. The Kwanzan always flowers after the Yoshino (and lasts at least two weeks longer???) but there’s this sweet spot where both still have flowers and everything is awesome forever.

I always love cherry blossoms so I’m super happy at this time to just stare at them all the time. Like, all the time.

Also, little known fact, for my 21st birthday I asked for a cat and a cherry tree. I got Kiki and my Yoshino tree. One of my better birthday requests, to be honest.

 

 

 02 Aromatherapy

I’m not actually all that well-read when it comes to aromatherapy. I mean, I could probably blab about it for an an hour or more but a lot of that comes from my herbal knowledge rather than aromatherapy knowledge.

A couple of weeks ago I scored an aromatherapy mister for a song and have been using it nightly. It’s really been helping me sleep when I’m suppose to be asleep and even helped clear up my lungs a bit (which is good because they’re kind of rubbish after an infection years ago).

I’m looking forward to diving into more research on aromatherapy in the coming days. Yay for new stuff to read about!

 

 

03 Cooking

This is a weird one. I do a lot of baking but not a lot of cooking. However, last week my mother went away and that meant that I could use my brother as a taste tester without feeling guilty that I was making something my mother didn’t want to eat.

So far, every recipe I tried came out a complete success. Most of the recipes I tried came from the World of Warcraft Cookbook but I also tried my hand at making stuff that I love but no one in my house has ever tasted before (like curry!). It was fun and encouraging. I guess I’ll be stepping outside of my normal baking and trying to make something more than cupcakes or cookies more often.

 

 

04 Backbends

I don’t talk about my exercise regiment very much because I’m either all for it or being a slacker. (I’m not super consistent and that’s something I’m trying to work on). Anyway, the other day I accomplished a backbend that I haven’t been able to do in years.

Actually, let me rephrase that. I’ve always been able to do a wheel style backbend with some warm up but I use to be flexible enough to do a wheel backbend without any warm up at all. (I’m naturally that flexible in that direction) but years of computer sitting and driving without consistent practice made that go away. I know I can recapture that original flexibility if I keep working on it.

Also, don’t be me. Warm up before you try complicated physical moves. I’m a bad example of what to do with your body. Seriously. Don’t be me.

 

 

05 May Day

May Day is a thing for me. But it’s a weird thing. Many pagans and practitioners practice May Day or Beltaine celebrations. Mine are far more low-key and not based on the Wheel of the Year. I think I celebrate May Day because the first of May is when you can finally start seeing a lot of flowers blooming and it really starts to feel like spring in my area.

I’ll spend much of this May Day cooking, put out some offerings, and put away some winter clothes and blankets. Simple things but they make a difference on an individual and household level.

I hope when I get enough land sometime in the future that I can set up a May Day pole. That’s a “someday” goal I have.

 

 

So that’s the five things that I’m totally loving right now. What about you all? What have you been staring at in awe and love? What have you been occupying your time with?

March Round Up

We made it to the other side of March. Yay! This month has been truly insanely busy for me between medical appointments (everyone’s OK, no worries!), caring for sick people, chasing after paperwork, birthdays, funerals, and a small snowstorm. I signed up for a bunch of stuff that I’m now scrambling to complete because I can see the end of March and those deadlines are looming.

When it comes to the blog, I unintentionally took the first week of March off. I needed the rest but I truly dislike leaving everyone without content to enjoy. I’ll try not to let that happen again. The posts that did make it were more on the spiritual side of things.

 

Secular Witchcraft Defined by This Crooked Crown

 

Tumblr followers know I identify as a secular witch and this month tackled how I define and work within my paradigm to some degree. Secular Witchcraft Defined proved to be an interesting read and one I hope will help out new witchlings in understanding this newer form of witchcraft. To counter this, I talked about my current focus of Getting Back to My Roots on a spiritual level. I even offered an Awakening Spring Ritual for some ideas on how my witchcraft and spirituality are separated. For those thinking about working with spirits, which is a bridge between my witchcraft and my spirituality for me, How to Know What Spirit You’re Talking To might offer some insight for you. If you’re looking to see those beings, check out Enchanting Objects for Second Sight for a helping hand.

Spring is here in the Northern Hemisphere although the snow storm and cold snap recently sure doesn’t feel like spring here in Rhode Island. If you’re trying to counter the final winter push, try the spell Burn Away the Winter Blues.  If you need a push to get over that winter lethargy, give the Forged in Fire spell a look. It’s mean to kick procrastination in the ass and celebrated fifty Spell Saturdays. (There, uh, should be more but let’s celebrate our victories and not failures, OK?)

We also saw the Curse and Blessing of the Sun which is a spell that can be a curse or a blessing, depending on your intent. My brother the Necromancer has really been into the Sun as a being of worship recently so I’ve been inspired to create a shrine for him and some spells. By the way, the Curse and Blessing of the Sun has been updated. I originally said that you should create two boxes if you want a curse and a blessing at the same time but I don’t know what I was thinking. Clever wording can create both in one box so check out that spell for new tips.

 

The Curse and Blessing of the Sun Spell

 

I don’t really work healing spells too much so I rarely post them but the Sand Healing Spell is specifically designed for those with chronic illnesses that spend a lot of time in one place. It’s a jar spell and one that’s very low key. It’s not designed to heal you but rather focus on alleviating pain and symptoms. I hope it helps!

On a more practical and mundane front, I wrote a guide on Where to Buy A Tarot Deck which is a question often asked to me and others on social media. We also saw two reviews this month, one on the beautiful Scrying Ink Lenormand deck by Siolo Thompson, the creator of the Linestrider Tarot. There was also the book view for The Soul Searcher’s Handbook by Emma Mildon which scored a 4.5 out of 5. I love both of these things so I’m really happy to recommend them to you all. Speaking of things I loved I started a new mini series I’ve nicknamed “Obsession” which dives into what I’m currently working on or obsessed with right now. I hope this gives a fun insight into the everyday workings around here.

 

Heart

Heart from Scrying Ink by Siolo Thompson and Nourish the Sacred Feminine from Sacred Creators by Chris-Anne Donnelly | thiscrookedcrown.com

 

Other quick news for This Crooked Crown:

  • I recently changed up my newsletter to come out twice a month – once at the full moon and again at the new moon.The newsletters are smaller but contain mini divination readings for the current moon phase which is always fun.
  • Flying Salves arrived in the shop at the end of February and quickly sold out. I hope to have them in again by the end of May, if not sooner.
  • We reached out first goal over on Patreon. I’m always, always floored by the support I receive from everyone and cannot thank you all enough.
  • I received the absolutely amazing  Idiosyncradeck Tarot and the Amethyst Oracle from Jessica Bott who is probably better known as Cracked Amethyst. I’m absolutely in love with them both and can’t wait to do more readings with them.

 

Getting Back to Your Spiritual Roots by This Crooked Crown

 

So that’s what was up this month at This Crooked Crown. It was super busy in a way I wasn’t expecting but I’m thinking I’ve made the most of it. What were your favorite posts? What do you want to see more of? Planning on trying any of the spells? See you in April!

 

5 Things I’m Obsessed with Right Now

Wow. What a week. Actually, the last two weeks have been absolutely non-stop here at the Crossroads House. Now that the worst of my obligations are out of the way, we can get back to the witchcraft. I’ve got a lot of work to do this weekend but in the mean time, let me talk to you about my current obsessions.

I’m an ADHD and OCD Gemini soI have the attention span of a hummingbird, the obsessiveness of an impatient child wanting to go somewhere, and the chaotic adventure that is being a Gemini. This means my obsessions tend to be all-consuming… for about three days to a week. Then it’s something entirely new. In fact, I stated this post at the beginning of February and had to update one thing and entirely change another by the time I published it in early March. Haha. It can be hard to keep up with my own whims!

Anyway, here’s what I’m obsessing and researching about right now…

 

01 Wind Knots

Capturing a strong wind by tying a piece of rope in a knot is an age-old spell. Sailors would unknot the rope once, twice, or thrice depending on the amount of wind they wanted.

The theory behind it is super simple and doesn’t have a great many variations to it considering it’s fairly widespread. So what’s there to obsess over? The knot. I study knot-making as a hobby (are any of you surprised?) and trying to find a knot that aligns with my goal has caused many late night internet searches.

While any ol’ knot will do, I want to create a wind knot that can be “snapped” open. You pull both ends and the knot comes loose. There’s a few contenders that can make this happen but getting it to work without tangling with the other knots is a challenge that I keep coming back to.

 

02 Beeswax

I live in Rhode Island and, for some reason, I have the hardest time ever finding local beeswax. I usually have to pick mine up when traveling through New Hampshire or Vermont. I’ve even ordered it from Oregon. Finding beeswax with a solid source behind it is my ever-continuing odyssey.

The dream is to find a local supplier within the Rhode Island-Massachusetts-Connecticut area with a solid beekeeping record. I want happy bees for my beeswax. Once I get that I can start regularly keeping salves in my inventory!

If any of you know a beekeeper with lots of beeswax to spare in the New England area, drop me a line, will you?

 

 

03 Crystals

My mother likes to tell stories of when I was a toddler, coming home with pockets full of rocks and dirt. Or as a teen, moving house was a pain because I had a few boxes of rocks. I’m smarter about packing my rock collection now and I do my own laundry so no one but me knows what rocks are in my pockets but I’m coming back around to the usages of my collection.

As a kid, I wanted to know what the rocks all did. What did this crystal do? What did that mineral mean? But I fell away from it. I think that I partially got away from it because a) collecting crystals is expensive, especially if you’re looking for ethical sources and b) I had spirits knocking on my door every night and damn, if that didn’t get annoying.

But I’m coming back around. It started with a piece of quartz I’d picked up that felt great for healing. I tucked it among my blankets at night and to my surprise my body didn’t ache the next day, even after an intense workout. And that was only the beginning. Another piece of quartz, an amethyst point, and a bit of rose quartz joined it. Re-learning crystals is on my “to research” list and something I’m excited to dive into again.

 

04 Fairy tales

I’m a researcher at heart. I’m always willing to do research on something. I really love research. I was definitely that quiet eight year old reading Latin encyclopedias and adult novels in between fairy tales. I’m that person. I just want to know things.

The other day I was reminded of a book I wanted to read on Japanese fairy tales. I couldn’t find the book in the library system but I accidentally ended up requested something like fifteen books on fairy tales. None of them Japanese fairy tales, mind you. Oops.

Rereading some classic fairy tales is always good for both my spirit and my witchcraft. It reminds me to slow down and really appreciate magic. Plus, it’s just been nice to go back and reread some of my favorite stories from childhood once again.

 

 

05 Tea

While I’ve always appreciated a cup of tea, I’ve always been the only tea drinker in my house. But recently, my brother’s gotten into the habit of drinking tea, then my Dad, then my Mom. We don’t even all live together and they started all at the same time!

This has us trying all sorts of new tea. They’re sticking with what they know but I’m happy for the chance to slip in some less-than-ordinary teas for me to try while they sip their usual.

Not that I’d ever say no to a cup of earl grey. Yum.

 

That’s what I’m obsessing over right now. What about you all? What have you been into recently?

5 Tips to Loving Yourself + Tarot Spread

Quick post and then I’ll let you get back to your evening. There’s a ton of tips floating around about how to love and care for yourself. I’m not going to rehash all of that info because I’m sure you’ve run into it before. Here’s some of my favorite ideas.

Keep reading because there’s a tarot/oracle/divination spread at the bottom you might enjoy!

 

 

01 Focus on what you love

I pick one thing that I really like about myself and buy or create something nice for it. For example, I’m really fond of my hair so when I’m feeling down in the dumps, I’ll buy a new hat, make a new hair accessory, or try a new hair style.

It helps reinforce that there’s stuff I like about myself and that I’m still super cute even in sweats and a baggie tee while procrastinating today’s workout.

 

02 Forgive yourself

Life’s tough and sometimes it sucks. And when you suddenly remember that mistake you made when you were five, it’s like the world is crashing down for about fifteen seconds.

Forgiving yourself isn’t easy. How do you come to terms with something you’re still ashamed about or still embarrassed about? For me, I sit and and say, “yeah, that thing happened and it sucked. I’m sorry it happened but I can’t change it now. I know not to do that thing again.” And that little mental convo helps ease the regret that clings to that memory and it can ease out of the forefront of my mind. It doesn’t instantly forget that memory but it makes it easier to go on with my life.

 

 

03 Making time for yourself

I’m not really a meditation girl. I spend about five minutes on meditation, total, a day. I’m far too restless to sit otherwise. And half of that five minutes is actually me telling myself today’s to do list.

But all those thoughts running around in your head can be addressed when you’re not busy doing a thousand and one other things. Taking a moment to stop, think, and know that you’ve got eight more things to do before lunch is important. Know what else is important? Acknowledging how much of that to do list is actually for you.

If your to-do list is entirely for someone else or work, then you need to carve out time for yourself. And if you can’t find time, make time by dropping or rescheduling something that isn’t important.

 

 

04 Treat yourself

Typically when I’m treating myself,  I buy myself flowers or a book. Usually I mix up something super tasty while I’m at it. I don’t do it often and I make sure that what I’m making or buying isn’t witchcraft related. It helps separate my work and the rest of me. Don’t get me wrong, almost everything I do is witchcraft related eventually. Untreated flowers become dried flowers for my herbal creations, books are broken down to see if I can utilize any ideas in my spells. Food may later become offerings. These are all things that may happen but that’s not why I’m doing them, so it counts as a treat in my eyes.

Why and how do you treat yourself? Are you treating yourself for good accomplishments? To even out bad days? How about ordinary days? You know the ones that you have most of the time. Do you treat yourself then?

Figuring out how to treat yourself is super important. It can make ordinary days special and memorable. It can ease dealing with crappy co-workers or take the bite out of an argument with family.

It doesn’t have to be food based or shopping based, as many “treats” are. I sometimes dedicate an evening to doing something fun but “wasteful” like surfing pinterest pinning ideas for my dream home on a secret board. Or I’ll pop in a favorite Disney movie or read a favorite book once again. It’s a treat. For you. Who cares what others think of it?

 

 

05 Stop doing things when they’re no longer fun

I don’t know about you but there’s lots of people out there that start doing a hobby and it no longer is fun. Sometimes projects become frustrating or you realize that the people around a hobby aren’t people you want to be with. Whatever the reason, they’ll be a point where you’ll stop and ask yourself “why am I doing this?”

And if you don’t have a good answer for that question, then stop it. A good answer might be “because I want to master this” or “I’m doing this for a commission” or “I want to achieve this goal”. If it’s not those reasons then it’s probably not worth your time right now. Put the project and hobby aside until you get inspired to pick it up again.

Your hobbies should be enjoyable. If they’re not, what’s the point?

 

Ready for the spread?

loving-myself-by-this-crooked-crown-3

A simple spread to be sure but it focuses on big questions.

01 How can I love myself?

This card doesn’t tell you what to love about yourself or why you should love yourself. Instead, it tells you how to treat yourself with love. It tells you how to show your love of your own self in the same way a card might show how you love someone else.

02 How can I care for myself?

This is your self-care methods. It may suggest that you reread a favorite book, binge watch TV, meditate, or any number of other self-care choices available to you. When you draw this card, make sure to correlate it with real-life actions in addition to ethereal or mental actions.

This card might be a little harsh. It may tell that you need to cut back on snacks and focus on healthier food choices. It might tell you to get out of the house and go make friends. It might even tell you to drop toxic friends for your health.

03 What can I do better for myself?

This card will focus on things you’re already doing. They will be things that you should focus on now, for yourself. If your attention is scattered or you feel like you’re being pulled in a thousand directions, this card will tell you where to focus your attention and how to get back on track.

It can also tell you things like “go make some more friends so you’re less lonely” or invite more art into your life. It might suggest that you take a class to inspire your yoga routine or start taking up daily writing prompts to upgrade your writing skill.

This isn’t necessarily about bettering yourself but doing things that you already like doing and focusing on that. It may also be a suggestion that you should focus on controlling your finances or getting a job promotion. It’s less self-oriented than any of the other cards and can involve how you deal with the world around you.

 

 

Give it a try! It’s a simple little reading but can really answer some questions if you’re kind of floundering right now. If you don’t want to read for yourself, you can always buy this reading over at my etsy or storenvy shops.

Decks featured:

  • Sacred Creators Oracle by Chris-Anne © Chris-Anne.com
  • Linestrider Tarot: Kickstarter Edition by Siolo Thompson ©

How to Shovel Snow & Other Snow-Related Tips

Winter kind of sucks, doesn’t it?

A lot of my witchy friends are currently deeply depressed and worried about the heavy snowfall heading their way, especially since many of them don’t get heavy snowfall.

I mainly post about witchcraft, magic, and other spiritual pursuits of that nature. But sometimes, practical advice should be offered in addition to the magical advice. So a year ago or so I wrote a post over on tumblr about dealing with it.

I’ve decided to republish it here and add a few more tips as well as some witchy ones. Keep in mind, this advice is probably only good for people in the RI/MA/CT area so YMMV on this.

 

Magic tips for winter

  • Enchant your winter gear for warm.
  • Enchant your shoes for grip and dryness.
  • Gather up some snow in a jar for winter-related spells later on.
  • Weather spells might be useful to nudge storms off course from you but you may end up messing with another town in the process. Plan your weather spells carefully.
  • Leaving an offering to winter spirits to ease your winter worries.
  • Listen for the sound of chiming or laughter when you’re outside. You may be joined by winter spirits playing. Keep in mind, sound travels very far in the stillness after snowfall so you might be hearing neighbors two streets over.
  • Use de-icer and road salt as protection salt.
  • Enchant any post-shoveling drinks or food as a health boost to keep the body from suffering in the extreme temperature changes.
  • Enchanting a wind chime to chime when you need to go out and shovel can be tricky but worthwhile if you get a lot of snow often.
  • Create a snow altar to put offerings on.
  • Your snow creations can be fantastic for offerings and can be enchanted for literally anything. Snowman guardians, snow balls as a curse, snow angels to bring clarity.

 

Shovel early and often.

If it snows on and off for 12 hours, I’ve probably been outside to shovel at least 3-4 times, it now more. Generally, my rule is every four hours. If it’s really heavily coming down, I’ll go out more often.

Even if there’s only an inch or two on the ground, I’ll go out and shovel if we’re expecting more snow. This is because the earlier you shovel, the more snow is out of your way.

Even if you don’t intend to go out, shovel. Eventually you’ll need to go out to get something and you’ll have to dig through crusted, frozen snow and that’s an awful experience.

Do not shovel more than you are able to.

Take your health into consideration. Wear supportive measures if you have to and take breaks often. Hire out if possible. Don’t hurt yourself.

Shovel in shifts.

Shoveling might go faster if two people do it, but then two people are exhausted. It’s sometimes easier to have one person shovel for round one and round two goes to a second person. This works especially well if said two people work different schedules.

Shoveling is hard work

People always underestimate how hard it is to shovel snow. It’s slick, heavy and everywhere.

Your back will ache. Your wrists will hurt. Your thighs might not like you anymore. Your fingers will be frozen. Your cheeks, ears, and nose will be wind-beaten. Your eyes will sting from snow. Your shoulders and arms will be boneless.

And then you got to go out and do it again.

If you shovel early and often, you’ll reduce the amount of strain on your body so consider that.

 

You have to shovel a pathway to your mailbox if you want mail delivered.

The USPS will NOT deliver your mail if they can’t get to your mailbox without climbing through snow. They want a shoveled path. Steps should be de-iced.

Push when you can, lift/toss when you have to, perfect the turn.

Ideally, you should be able to push the snow across a space like a lawn mover across a lawn. At the end of your space, lift or toss the snow into a pile, and do it again. Go back and get any snow you missed.

“The turn” is great for when you have a lot of snow and it’s too heavy to lift. Ideally, the turn is a slight scoop and turning the shovel to slide the snow onto a pile without actually lifting.

When you form a pile of snow, it should be at least a foot or two from the end of your driveway. This is because if you put a snow pile right at the end of your driveway it can obstruct vision when driving and can even block you from getting out. Plows can make the piles even higher and piles are very hard to move later on.

Clearly define your space.

Ideally, you should shovel the entire length and at least a person-sized width for walkways and about seven to eight feet width for each car. The space for cars to drive on should be clear, always.

If you have a two car driveway, make sure that you shovel at least two feet at the end of it. This is to clearly mark to plow truck drivers that that’s the edges of your space and they shouldn’t plow you in. Pay special attention to this if your driveway is on a corner.

Markers can help but I find they tend to get buried in the snow anyway. We once hung up stakes with LED lanterns at the end of the drive and that helped.

Shovel with the wind

You will quickly learn to shovel with the wind. There’s nothing worse than tossing a pile of snow against the wind towards a pile you started to discover that it’s flying back in your face.

 

Yes, you will feel like you’ve accomplished nothing

Often times, I’ll finish shoveling only to discover that it looks like I did nothing back where I started. When this happens, I quickly run the shovel back over the main areas, especially the walkway, and go back inside.

There’s different kinds of snow

Fluffy, powder snow is the easiest move and can make the job very easy. It’s fun to walk through and great for photos. However, it makes rubbish snowballs, snowmen, and snow forts. This snow typically shows up well below freezing.

Wet snow is snow that comes down that is slightly wet. This is the kind that will pelt you. It’s heavier than the powder but still snow and should be fairly easy to move. This is the perfect snow for making things out of like snowballs, snowmen, and snow forts.It’s usually about 10-20 degrees below freezing temperature for this snow but is can show up at average freezing temperatures.

Slush is the worst. It is heavy. It’s rain mixed with snow and will make you miserable. It is very heavy and yes, it still needs to be shoveled. Watch for ice. It’s useless for anything unless you want to make deadly ice and snowballs that can smash windows and hurt people. It’s usually above or right around freezing temperature for this snow.

Day after snow is snow that’s “rested”. It’s compacted and is greatly useful for making things like snowballs and snow forts but is heavy, often comes up in chunks, and is a hassle to snow.

Temperatures are a guess. There’s a lot more meteorology to consider to guess the kind of snow properly.

 

Look at your lease/renter’s agreement to see if you’re suppose to shovel.

Some places will require you to shovel and others will hire someone to do it. Make sure you know your rights and what you’re suppose to shovel.

Check your city’s website for cancellations. Listen to the radio. AAA road services usually has the best up-to-date information in my area. Twitter, however, is extremely useful, especially if you follow local twitter accounts.

De-ice your pathways. 

De-icer is expensive but it can save you from breaking a bone from falling. Road salt is the less chemical version of it.

If you choose not to de-ice, try sand, kitty litter, or pebbles to help against ice and slick pathways.

You can skip de-icing the whole driveway and instead stick to where people get in/out and the path from the driveway to the house. However, you risk the cars not having enough grip to get out.

A combination of kitty litter on the car spaces and de-icer on the people spaces is a good, safe bet, although it can be expensive.

Make sure to check if your de-icer will damage anything. For example, road salt isn’t good for brick walkways or steps. We have brick for both our porches and have to use a particular chemical de-icer to keep from destroying the brick. It’s more expensive but it also melts the snow faster. When I get to the cement of the walkways and asphalt of the driveway, I switch to salt to melt the ice and cat litter for grip.

De-icer can freeze.

Weirdly enough, de-icer can freeze. Or, rather, it can freeze into a slushy block of horror when sufficently wet then cold then wet then cold.

We keep our deicer outside to avoid damaging the wood floors and to keep the animals out of it.

Brush off your car.

You should at least brush off your front and rear windshields, your mirrors, headlights and taillights, the grills/exhaust, door handles, and license plates. Legally, in RI, you have to have your license plates shown (and lit during the night) so you have to do this. I know people who have been stopped and given tickets for not brushing off their license plates.

Brush off the doors, roof, and area near the doors before opening the door or you’ll wind up with a wet seat.

Flip up your windshield wipers.

Windshield wipers can lift up, straight towards the sky, to allow replacement of the wipers or arms.

This keeps the windshield wipers from freezing to your windshield and allows for easier brushing off of the car. This can be a lifesaver when leaving work in rubbish weather.

However, avoid this is the wind is really, really bad as it might break the wiper arm.

Start you car

If it’s especially cold, you may wish to start your car, run it for a little bit, and turn it off every times you go out to shovel.

I usually skip this because it’s rarely that cold in my area but when it does get that cold, I do that.

 

Buy/own at least two or more pairs of gloves

No matter how careful you are, your gloves WILL get wet. Have a dry pair to switch to for additional shoveling or going out.

Skip using soft cashmere or similar gloves. Your hands will look like a lint brush after a few moments of being wet.

Snow boots are useful

However, they might not be necessary. Wear old, comfortable shoes to shovel with good treads. For example, I wear a pair of thick 2″ heeled casual boots. For me, my feet are comfortable in this position and the treads are good. Having the boots and heels elevated keeps you from getting stuck in deep snowdrifts.

Avoid sneakers if possible. Your feet will be unhappy, cold, and wet. You’ll also want to skip your fashion winter boots. They’re not meant to survive extremely wet conditions and the salt will destroy them. Trust me.

But wear whatever shoes are comfortable and have good grip.

Don’t shovel in clothes you want to wear. Wash shoveling clothes often.

Snow is solidified water, often saturated with road salt. This means your shoveling gear will be saturated with this weird white shit. When the snow dries, it will leave the material stiff and crinkly. Having clothing to switch to is awesome.

I tend to shovel in boots of some kind, warm Lycra leggings, and at least two shirts plus a heavy winter jacket with hood, scarf, gloves, and hat. I sometimes even take my glasses off because after a while you can’t see shit anyway. Save for the jacket and hat which dry easily, I rotate to a different set of clothes for another shoveling session.

Stay by the door

Going in and out from heated houses and cars to cold snow and back can be hell on your body. Stay by the door and allow your body to acclimate to the warm/cold weather before moving further. This is true for both coming inside from shoveling and going out to shovel.

Keep tissues by the door

Like the above tip, coming in and out from hot/cold weather does weird things to the body. One of those things is making your nose run like a river. Keeping tissues nearby can avoid gross stuff on everything you love.

Treat yourself!

I tend to make up a pot of something warm like coffee, hot chocolate, or soup before I go out so I can have it as a treat for a job well done.

Prepare

A flashlight and candles with a working lighter left on a counter or table can make power outages much easier.

If an outage occurs, do not panic. Keep the fridge and freezer closed as much as possible, fill bowls and containers of tap water, and pick one room to center yourself in. That center room should be the one you want to remain in mostly for the length of the outage. Bring all the blankets in the house to that room and stay warm. There’s lots of tips for making a mini heater from candles available online if you care to search.

Stock up early and well. The few days before a storm is suspected, the stores will be PACKED. Everyone will buy milk, bread, and toilet paper. Followed by de-icer, gloves, shovels, and booze. These are the most hunted for items. Buy them early or you’ll miss out. ATMs and banks are extremely busy too.

If you have to go out, plan according. I generally use at least 30 minutes to an hour for travel time to get to some place by a particular time. Do not go out unless you have to, especially if the roads are being worked on or cautioned against. Be careful when driving, slow early, and leave room for plows.

Keep gloves, a scarf, hat, a snow car brush, and a small shovel in your car to shovel when you need to leave work or whatever.

 

Parking ban

This means you cannot park there for the length of the ban. Typically this appears as an on-street parking bans during plow hours. An example would be that you cannot park on the street between 9 p.m. to 8 a.m.

The city may tow your car or fine your for parking during that time. You’ll definitely be plowed in and risk the plows damaging your car. Find a place for your car to be.

If you become stranded

Stay inside. Even if your car is stranded, stay inside of it. Cars can’t see you in the dark and you’ll be far warmer inside the car than outside of it.

Know your shovels.

Take a good, long look at what you need to shovel when choosing shovels. Deep, crescent shovels are great for pushing snow, like when clearing a driveway. Shallow shovels are better for lifting snow. Metal shovels are heavier but useful in breaking up ice and snow chunks. Plastic shovels will break but are lighter meaning good for fluffy snow.

Multiple shovels FTW

We have three shovels in my house. We keep one (metal, shallow) at the top of the stairs to keep the back steps clear and to break up ice. A second crescent shovel is kept at the bottom of the back stairs for walkways and the driveway. We keep a third crescent shovel by the front door to keep the front walkway clear without having to haul a shovel through the house or walk around the snow outside.

Walking in snow is hard work.

Lift your legs up as if you’re climbing stairs for deep piles.

Lean very slightly back when there’s ice, especially if you have breasts or a lot of weight in front of you, to give yourself counterbalance.

Assume there is black ice (ice that is hard to see) under where you’re walking because there probably is and that it is your mortal enemy which would like nothing more to watch you fall.

If you fall, protect your face but try not to land on your hands

Hands and wrists are some of the easiest bones to break. They often break when we try to catch ourselves from falling and to protect the face. If possible, turn to the side, land on your forearms, and tuck in your head.

Shovel when people are plowing. 

Snow plows operate usually during quiet times. So if I go out to shovel at 4 a.m., I’m going to be out there the same time as plows on my street. Often times, they’ll help by plowing the front part of my driveway for me for free. Sometimes they’ll ignore me. But either way, they DON’T plow me in which they WILL do if I’m not out there.

Pay for a plow or shovelers.

In my area, a plow to is about $25-35 per visit. Hiring someone to shovel can be some $15-35, to do a driveway and walkway. Our current plow guy won’t come unless there’s a few inches on the ground and costs $45 but he plows the driveways and shovels all the walkways. Make sure you know what you’re getting before you pay. Prepare to tip for jobs well done (although this won’t likely be required if you’re paying a contractual service).

Inform your city or local plower if you work in emergency services or may need emergency services as they should plow your driveway for you.

If you’re in emergency services, such as a doctor or you may need emergency care, inform your city. In my city, they’re suppose to ensure that you can get out and that disabled people can be reached.

That being said, uh, they don’t. We hired someone or I shovel. But your town might be different!

If you own a plow, do not plow the street.

Plow trucks can be hired by private parties but, in RI at least, you have to be licensed to plow the street. This is to avoid damage to the street. I’m certain rural areas are far more lenient with this sort of thing but check your city ordinances. You don’t want to be fined for trying to help people.

By the way, the streets WILL be shit afterwards because people ignore the law and the people hired by your city probably don’t care after day 5 of 3 a.m. shifts. Expect chunks of asphalt and cement; expect potholes. Advanced tip: Look to see if your car insurer covers replacement tires and double check your tire spares.

No one really enjoys shoveling but hopefully these tips can make things easier for everyone!

Originally posted over on my tumblr’s satellite blog here. Different URL but it’s mine.

Messy Lives

Let me share a secret with you: life is always going to be messy. There will never be a moment where you suddenly have your life together. Everyone’s life is messy. Everyone has streaks of bad luck where terrible things happen to them and then streaks of good luck where great things happen to them. Things balance out, eventually. And if they don’t, well, that’s what magic is for, right?

But that’s my secret. Accepting that life is going to suck sometimes and everyone else is probably going to experience a great level of suck at some point soon too.

That’s probably not motivating to you. It is to me. It means that we all aren’t perfect and that when we struggle, there’s probably someone out there who is struggling too. We can help each other and reach our goals. It means that person that you admire has had a shitty time in their life too. It helps by reminding us we’re human, mistakes happen, and we can still get up and keep moving forward.

Want me to share another secret? Of course you do. You’re still reading. Okay, here it is: spirits’ lives are no cleaner than ours.

Their lives are messy too. Even more so in some ways because they tend to embrace a lawlessness we don’t normally experience. So a spirit guide you’ve worked with probably has gone through some shit too. Ask them about it. Ask them about their day and their experience. See what practical information they care share.

I talk a lot about cleansing and cleaning. Some days my home could be a showroom (for about 30 seconds before I ruin it with a DIY project, herbs, or batch of cupcakes). You’d think, looking at my home, my life would be together but that’s so not true. My life is messy and often out of my full control so I control the one thing I can control – my personal spaces. I can embrace the messiness of my life and mind without worrying about a pile of dishes.

Embrace your messiness. Clean and cleanse what needs to be but don’t be afraid to say “I have no idea what’s going on.” Don’t be afraid to say “wow, I’m a hot mess right now”. Acknowledge these things, forgive yourself for them, and move on. See those messes as a challenge and a chance. A challenge to do better and a chance to be creative and inspired. Sometimes the best experiences in life come out of these messes.

P.S. Check out the poll currently running! It’s your chance to offer some input and tell me what you want to see more of on the blog!

2017 Resolutions, Wishes, & Dreams

Welcome to 2017.

I hope, with absolute sincerity, that your year shapes up beautifully. I hope you will find love of all kinds. I hope you will find passion and courage within your life, to pursue your dreams, your goals, your inspiration. I hope you find a well of strength in yourself to achieve the goals you’ve set and conquer the challenge you’ll be faced. I hope you find, receive, and spread kindness throughout the world. It’s so needed right now and so necessary.

 

 

Now that the blessings and my hopes for your 2017 are out of the way, let’s talk about resolutions.

You’re probably in one of three camps when it comes to New Year’s resolutions. You might make and try to achieve the resolutions you’ve set every year. Or you don’t make any resolutions for a variety of reasons. Or you halfheartedly make a resolution and maybe achieve it.

I’ve been in all three camps over the years. This year I wrote a list of things I want to do, in all areas of my life. Some are totally doable things that will happen because they’re already set up to happen. Others require inner strength and determination from me. And a few require luck or spells to occur – if at all. I starred the ones that were really important to me and wrote down WHY I wanted to achieve those goals because when it going gets tough, I’ll remember why I’m doing it. I entitled it “2017 Wishes” because they’re not all resolutions and not everything on that list is a dream. It’s just a list of things I want to happen in 2017.

 

Be kind to yourself. Make simple goals a part of your new year as well as the big dream goals. Lose that weight but also make it a goal to walk in a park, woods, or beach once a week. Finish that big project but spend some time completing your To Be Read pile. Spend time achieve little goals including big ones. Those little goals can open up so many opportunities within your life and pave the way for the bigger goals you want to achieve.

When it comes to magic, I keep it simple. I write in magical ink on enchanted paper and hang it up by my desk. with iron nails and  blessed string. I pick a quartz crystal, cleanse and let it sit in a window for a full day and night then program it with my wishes for the new year and put it beside my bed.

 

 

I find action more useful than magic during these first days so that’s what I do. For example, today January 2nd, I intended to wake up at my regular time, get my workout in, and start accomplishing my to do list. Instead, I woke up at my regular time, then my “get the hell out of bed” time, and went back to sleep until late afternoon. Instead of calling the day a wash and playing a video game, I showered, dressed, and sat down to get the important things done. Because I determine how I want my day and year to go. I want this year to be productive, successful, and kind. So that’s what I’m doing, even if the sun’s already set in the sky. Spells for motivation, luck, and other blessing are great helpers.

Here’s to 2017. May it be wonderful for you and those around you.

P.S. And don’t forget to vote in the poll. It helps me to help you!

Thank You! + Poll: What do you want to see in 2017?

spells and herbs

 

In a few days, 2017 will be here. I’m taking the time today to say thank you to every single one of you who have been following my blog and social media outlets. An especially big thank you to those of you who support my storenvy or etsy shops and eternal thanks for my patrons. Without you, this blog would probably exist but certainly wouldn’t be as much fun or as consistent.

I’ve learned so much this year about running a blog and business and I’ve learned even more about myself. I can’t wait to see what opportunities 2017 brings. It’s definitely been a rough year at times but I always hope for the next year to be better. I do worry about the future, given the state of things in the world right now, but if we all stick together and keep fighting what what we believe is right, for our freedoms and our friends, we can do amazing things together.

 

 

I write tons of different posts, as you all well know but what I don’t know is what you actually want to read about. I need your input to make this blog more interesting to you. So what brought you all here? Why did you stay? And what post are the most interesting to you? What keeps you coming back?

 

 

You’ve got until Jan. 20th to complete the poll before it closes. You should be able to input your own answers into the poll but if not, drop me an email to let me know if you have specific thoughts. And, of course, as much as I love input and you all, I’m still going to do what I want (I wouldn’t be me otherwise!). But your input definitely matters and helps me create better posts.

 

 

Again, thank you so much for such a great 2016. I hope 2017 brings you peace, joy, safety, and security. Much love and many thanks.

-Samantha

This Crooked Crown

Jack Frost nipping at your nose

Or, more properly in my case, causing snow as soon as I step outside.

As blog followers know, I don’t really worship things. Not my cup of tea. But Jack Frost and snow spirits hold a special place in my heart and thus they get a little more attention than your average spirit. Namely, I try.

When the snow began to last week overnight, it was a soft dusting that didn’t survive the dawn. But I knew it had snowed so I brought out the snow related items and went about my day. When I stepped outside to fetch some groceries, a light sprinkling of snowflakes began to fall. Not enough to even be called snowing. It was the middle of the day and was too warm, scientifically speaking, for snow to be falling yet here it was, just for a few minutes, the snow was falling. And Jack Frost was there, waiting anxiously for acknowledgement. So I did what I always do when I spot a spirit: I say hi. He was delighted and danced off to spread his snowy glory elsewhere and I went about hauling in baking supplies.

Jack Frost appears to me as an ageless youth. Often accompanied by a snow maiden or maybe a few smaller snow spirits, he’s usually a fun spirit. Cruelty comes to him quickly though at times and one should be wary of that. I find that children spirits (and his demeanor is often child-like) act this way pretty often and mostly they want attention and affection. Give them both and they’ll add a light-hearted air to your relationship. These spirits, and snow spirits in general, don’t tend to work as some others do. I find they’re not interested in trading tit for tat but instead want the attention because you want to give it to them which is a good match for me.

Because I don’t have a working shrine space (and I don’t want one) when I decide to show a little love to spirits, it takes the place at random and casually; a homemade candle on the table, pressed incense on the counter, a garland along the wall, an offering dish next to the coffee pot. Little bits of witchcraft and spirituality scattered throughout my life.

It’s just something I like to do for our winter wandering spirits. They’re just as important as the spirits of spring so honoring them with a bit of food and drink is something I enjoy doing.