Kitchen Home News

*The Light in the Forest is going home to live with Shelley! Thank you so much for playing along with me this month!* The final day of October has arrived, and with it the magic and mischief of Halloween, and the remembrances and observances of Samhain. I want to thank you for spending some time with me this month, celebrating my favourite season, and the sixth annual Great October Book Giveaway (which has evolved so beautifully, beyond books, thanks to several big-hearted folks). Things have been a bit mad at my end with computer issues and wild work schedules, but I have muddled through and you have been such lovely guests. I have always said that the gods took one look at me when I came into form and said "this girl is going to need some real help in this lifetime," and they surrounded me with exceptional people. I've always felt so fortunate to know the folks I do, and to be the sort of creature that people found worthy of their friendship. I bump into the most extrao

*The Harrow County series is sailing off to Jacqueline Thompson! The Linestrider Tarot is going home with Mrs Duncan Mahogany! What is a Witch is flying off to Brandy Boyd! Congratulations!* From sigils and symbols to alchemical figures and automatic drawing, art and the occult have been imaginative bedfellows for centuries. Where would tarot as we know it be without Pamela Colman Smith's images, and how might the Key of Solomon do its work without the pentacles to accompany it? In this second-to-last October giveaway, I am sharing some of the magical illustrations that caught my eye this year. To start with, I have a set of the first two volumes (collectively includes the first eight issues) of the beautiful and frightening Harrow County , a Dark Horse comic series by Cullen Bunn and Tyler Crook. Labeled "a southern gothic fairy tale" Harrow County is teeming with devilish fun and is sure to make you pull your blanket up a little higher as you read it. I keep telling

** One copy of The Black Folder will be heading home with James, and one copy with Melissa Glassford! Wild Drinks and Cocktails will be slipping into Christine Candora-Hickey's hands! DIY  Bitters will be going to live with Petoskystone! ** A cave. In the middle, a cauldron boiling. Thunder. Enter the three Witches.   First Witch: Thrice the brinded cat hath mew'd. Second Witch: Thrice and once the hedge-pig whined. Third Witch: Harpier cries 'Tis time, 'tis time. First Witch: Round about the cauldron go;  In the poison'd entrails throw. Toad, that under cold stone Days and nights has thirty-one Swelter'd venom sleeping got, Boil thou first i' the charmed pot. All: Double, double toil and trouble;  Fire burn, and cauldron bubble! A pinch of this and a handful of that. Ingredients from the cupboard, the garden, the crossroads. Whether you are brewing up some magic, some medicine, or a good drink, these next books will be very helpful.  I have two copies of Th

The Stag Lord - Polly Lind **The tapestry will be going out to "lillie8302" - congratulations!** Needles and pins, Needles and pins, Sew me a sail To catch the wind. (from Needles & Pins by Shel Silverstein) It seems as though witches have always had pins or needles in their hands for one reason or another. A blessing, a dressing, a protection, a curse - a sharp thorn or a shard of bone worked well enough for all these things until clever souls manufactured the first metal needles around 7000-1200 BCE when copper, bronze, and iron (respectively) were fashioned into tools. Of course, what a witch does with their tools is what matters, and I am so impressed by what Polly Lind creates with her thorn and thread. Polly Lind is a fabric artist living and practicing her art in New Zealand. She creates designs centered around folklore, nature, spiritual practices, and whatever moves her own creative spirit. Polly has generously offered one of her enchanting tapestries up to ou

** The folks taking home the books are: Brigid's Blest - Low Magic Rommy - The Chaos Protocols Stephanie Clayton - The Witch's Book of Power Wise Owl - Protection & Reversal Magick After we have walked through the fallen leaves...books. After sipping hot, spiced drinks with friends...books. When the bonfire burns down and the cold air sends us inside...books. Autumn is the perfect combination of gorgeous days spent outdoors and chilly evenings where we seek comfort in blankets and books. I picked up several tomes this year (alright, more than several) and of course I had to grab a copy of a few of them for you too. This is our Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, and my modem chose this week to die, so my planned exploration of each author and summary thereof was thwarted by my access to suitable wifi and a proper size screen (blogging via phone is not an easy task). Therefore, I offer a simple one word observation of each author and greatly encourage you to click on their books

**The folks taking home the cards, are as follows: Joel - Shades of Magick Tarot AlphaBetsy - Shades of Magick Tarot Thistle - The Oracle of Oddities Thanks so much for playing along!** There is a deep sigh that comes upon us when autumn arrives. Some of us feel it in September when the goldenrod starts to lean at an odd angle and the sun follows it, stretching out languidly. Others must wait until October days bring cool, breezy kisses to their skin and the heat finally relents. Here in The Valley, it was late August when the treetops began to blush and the squirrels furiously sprinted around, taking cones and seeds to their winter stores. Autumn has been settling in here for a while. September was truly lovely, but there is just something special about October. I had much to say about watching autumn come in. I've had a good lot to say about this entire year, the seasons, my gardens, the hills I climbed and the paths I got lost wandering down, but somehow I haven't found my w