I was so bummed to miss Poux, especially since it meant not being given
one of the much-coveted commemorative handmade glass medallions,
a grand Poux-doubloon if you will. Lucky stars for me! My dear friend
Forest had kept one warm and close to his heart for me. Good thing
I went out Ash Wednesday, eh? So here are my treasures, which oddly
enough I never cared about collecting until the hurricane blew me west.

Typical Poux antics. I believe this is some sort of trebuchet, no?

Randall and Drew in their amazing ensembles. They make me so happy.

Tanya Solomon (aka Dr. Flummox) is a great clown. Not the bad kind. The good kind. Really!

Liser is the big bad wolf and little red riding hood simultaneously. It happens.

Ratty and Oops were the King and Queen of Poux!
This year they won their crowns again (yes, the
naked knife-fight!) and continue to reign triumphant!

Myrtle von Damitz III, odalisque-ing out with Drew’s giant neon head.

Laron + Kelvin, two of my favorite NOLA/NYC darlings.

Jock is the leader of the 9th Ward Marching Band, a gentleman and a great dancer.

Haley Lou Haden has a stick ‘em tattoo of toast, and I love her.

Hungry for more Lundi Gras Poux?
★ Here’s more photos from Lundi Gras 2009, just for you!
★ Lundi Gras Valentine
★ Lundi Gras (A pictorial essay on the nature of debauchery)
★ Vicissitudes from Cradle
★ Voila les petites creatures musicales qui se cachent dans les fleurs!

(Photograph by @nt!x)
I can’t wait to re-inhabit our tipi-yurt-lavvu-thing!
I’m still hankering for a proper one,
but they’re quite pricey – oh, one day…

(Photograph by Oregon State University Archives)

Okay, just a heads up – this eclipse is pretty gnarly!

(Photograph by Richocam)

“The Full Moon Lunar Eclipse on December 31st, 2009
occurs at 10°15′ Cancer, in conjunction with the Fixed Star Alhena,
a star which is reputed to be favourable for hunting, besieging towns,
and the revenge of princes! It would be wise to avoid travel at this time,
if you can. Known as “the wound in the tendon of Achilles”
it destroys fruits and harvests. Cancer is an emotional sign,
ruled by the Moon, so since neither the Sun nor the Moon
form any promising aspects on this day, expect quite an emotional,
even teary New Year’s Eve. Mercury is retrograde in Capricorn,
and Mars is also retrograde in Leo, so issues and attractions
from the past will demand to be dealt with under this eclipse.
Breakdowns in communication will spark the issue.
Since at the moment of the eclipse, Warrior Mars
(action; passion; violence; accidents) is rising exactly
on the degree and minute of the ascendant,
tightly opposing the Part of Fortune (within 4 minutes of arc),
the chances of a blood-stained celebration are high.”
- Rob Tillett
Um, whoa. Yikes much?
For further reading, I suggest you
check out what Heather Burdette
has to say – it’s a little more calming!

(Photograph by Carlos Lisboa)

Regardless of celestial influence, I truly hope that
everyone has a marvelous turning of the year!
There are so many things I want to accomplish
this year, so much ground I want to cover -
it’s a little overwhelming to contemplate!
I’m starting slowly and quietly, cleaning
and sweeping my house to make it ready for
the approval of the Blanchette, and lighting
candles and making wishes that this year
I can achieve my goals – no more Procrastination
Station, please!

“You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestation of your own blessings!”

I read this somewhere recently, and it made a big impression on me.
(So much so, that I can’t recall where I read it? Eesh.)
I think that this will be my motto for the year,
in hopes that I will be reminded to take the reins
for myself and stop waiting around for divine
intervention to crown me empress of my life.
Drive your own chariot to the moon.
Now or never!

(Photographer unknown to me!)

“Begin doing what you want to do now.
We are not living in eternity.
We have only this moment,
sparkling like a star in our hand -
and melting like a snowflake…”
- Francis Bacon, Sr.

Here’s a little happy/sad number called Days With You
from fine fellows Jason Webley with Sxip Shirey.
Watch out – it is extremely catchy!
Hopefully you can remember the words
and sing it tipsily with your best friends, eh?

More reading material from days of yore:
✶ Lone Grove New Year – 2009
✶ Pink Moons
✶ The New Year – 2008
✶ Lucky Stars and Garters – 2007
✶ La Nouvelle Année – 2006

This scene made a huge impression on me.

(Photo by Isado)

I always grew up hearing “The devil is beating his wife!”
whenever a sunshower happened- it’s apparently
a Southern thing. I peeked around and found a wealth
of lore regarding this meteorological phenomenon
(on Wikipedia, of course) which I will share now
with you, because it’s fantastic:

* In South African English, it is referred to as a “monkey’s wedding,”
a loan translation of the Zulu umshado wezinkawu, a wedding for monkeys.
In Afrikaans, it is referred to as jakkalstrou, jackals wedding, or also
“Jakkals trou met wolf se vrou as dit reen en die son skyn flou”, meaning
“Jackal marries Wolf’s wife when it rains and the sun shines faintly.”
* In Hindi it is also called “the jackal’s wedding.”
* In Bengali it is called a devil’s wedding.
* In Arabic, the term is “the rats are getting married.”
* Bulgarians speak of the Devil’s marrying.
* In Korea, a male tiger gets married.
* In various African languages, leopards are getting married.
* In Kenya, hyenas are getting married.
* One animal, the fox, crops up all over the world, from Kerala to Japan
(Japan also refers to it as ‘Kitsune (the fox) takes a bride,’);
there’s even an English dialect term, “the foxes’ wedding,”
known from the south west of England. In Calabria, Italy,
it is said that “when it rains with sun, the foxes are getting married.”

In Polish, the saying is that “when the sun is shining and the rain is raining, the witch is making butter.”
For Filipinos, “elves are getting married”, or “tikbalang” (half-horse, half-men) and a “kapre” are getting married,
while in Spain it is witches, and in Greece it is the poor.

In Lithuanian, the phenomenon is described as “orphans’ tears,”
where the sun is the grandmother drying those tears.
In Russian, it is called грибной дождь (gribnoy dozhd’), “mushroom rain,”
as such conditions are considered favorable to growing mushrooms.
It is also often referred to as слепой дождь (slepoy dozhd’}, which literally translates as “blind rain”.

In the United States, particularly the South, a sunshower is said
to show that “the devil is beating his wife.” In German, the variation is
“Wenn’s regnet und die Sonne scheint, so schlägt der Teufel seine
Großmutter: er lacht und sie weint,” or “When it’s raining and the sun shines,
the devil is beating his grandmother: he laughs and she cries.”
Similar phrases occur in Hungary and Holland. The lower Caribbean
also has a notable variant, “The devil and his wife are fighting for a bone”.
A regional variant from Tennessee is “the devil is kissing his wife.”

Well, whaddya know! What do you call it?

Today was poignant and pensive for me, so I was glad to have
such a benediction to marvel at and frolic in.
August 8th is the 22nd anniversary of my mother’s death.
Hard to fathom, really. It’s something I’ve been processing
very slowly- and for many, many years (most of my childhood)
not at all. My aunt gave me some things that were hers recently:
her hand-tooled guitar strap, her psychedelic sculpture, a painting.
There’s so much I want to understand about who she was,
and who I am- and the only way I can find to do it is by writing.

Look at her beautiful red curls! That’s me when I was very new,
and my cousin all pink-cheeked and bowl-headed.
I feel that at some point in my life, part of my work
will be focused on helping people deal with death + loss.
I get so angry when I think about how much we’ve lost the
ability to mourn our dead, and the loss of our traditions
and even our words to speak of grief. Or, truly- to listen.
It’s not something to be spoken of, or written about
these days, and that’s just wrong. I will not spend another
day of my life tip-toeing around it, and one day
I hope to change the way death is processed in this country.
Our culture has lost its memory- the roads we traveled to
get to where we are now are buried and lost.
More on this soon- it’s a subject I’m very passionate about,
and I’d be grateful to hear your views on it.

For further reading on the subject of mi madre and this date,
turn back the pages of the bee-log and read:

Triumvirate Lemniscate

Gustav + Mama – August 8th

We adopted a puppy! Well, she’s six months old-
but that still counts, right? I was walking past the
Austin Pets Alive adoption station after work the
other day, and she caught my eye.
She’s super wiggly, and thus really difficult
to photograph- especially if you want to be in
the picture with her! I have lots of blurry
nose-licking shots of us now.

May I present: Prinzesse Grrizelda!
She came with the name Zelda, which we like-
so she’s that for short. As in Zelda Fitzgerald
and let’s not forget Zelda Rubinstein
who portrayed the seer Tangina in Poltergeist!
Clearly, she’s a Prinzesse because her favorite spot
is the velvet loveseat. How fancy- ooh-la-la chienne!
She’s part German Shepherd, part something else-
probably black lab, with pointy ears and big feet.
I love her soft black coat with silvery smoke frosted shadows
on her haunches, and the white star over her heart.

I fall more and more in love with her every moment.
She’s super-lovey, incredibly sweet natured
and curls up in the bed with her head on the pillow!
I was so relieved to discover that she’s good around people
and the other animals. For the most part she’s remarkably
well behaved. That is, except when left to her own devices..

There has been one casualty since Prinzesse Grrizelda’s arrival:
R.I.P. Granny Wolf – she was gifted to me after the hurricane,
and provided much joy and comfort in those dark days.

She will be missed. Most especially by Rusty Jacknife,
who did like to bite her snoot- though not as much as some!

I found this bit of evidence (her eyeball!), which I shall make into jewelry.

The crime-scene: Zelda’s nest of destruction, which we discovered
after coming home from dinner the other night. The first few days
were fine, but I think she was feeling a bit cooped up, and had
some separation anxiety being away from us. She made this
little party palace with our dirty socks and underpants,
unspooled balls of twine, chewed on pill-bottles,
shredded boxes, smashed perfume bottles,
and yes- chewed off Granny Wolf’s face!
I mean, I guess it’s lucky that she has other heads-
(regular Granny and Red Riding Hood under the skirt)
but obviously, I always loved Granny Wolf’s face best.
Oh yes, and she also devoured a big box of dates
and then the next day vomited all over the house.
Something like 17 piles of dog barf- in the bed, too.
Welcome to having a puppy! You know you really
love your dog when you look at them after all of
this and just want to cuddle them anyway.

Thelonius still has not regained his sight,
though he is adjusting admirably.
It’s been so hard for us to accept.
As far as we can tell, he has
Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) syndrome.
It’s a hereditary auto-immune disease
where the T-cells attack the pigmented cells-
everywhere. When his little black nose started
turning white, we realized what we were dealing with.
He’s on a lot of medication, but seems to be doing better.
We are hoping that having a companion will be good
for him, and he likes Grrizelda, though sometimes
her antics make him curmudgeonly and snappish,
though that’s to be expected from any 9 year old dog.
He’s the smartest, most wonderful dog in the world.
I am so proud of him for figuring out the world
all over again, without the benefit of vision.
He’s a damn strong dog- I love him so.

Look at these gorgeous pups! I am such a lucky lady,
to have such marvelous canine companions.
Growing up, I was never a dog person- I always had my kitty
(Oh, don’t click on that link unless you want to cry!
I just re-read it after all these years, and bawled my eyes out.)
I liked dogs, but I never pictured myself having one of my very own.
When I was staying in New York years ago, I got really lonely.
I found I could relate to people’s dogs better than with the people
themselves. The people were closed off, tense and in a hurry.
Their dogs were always open, excited and happy to see me.
Visiting with stranger’s friendly dogs was one of the things
that got me through that rough autumn. I realized how
wonderful they are, how loyal and how brave.
Grrizelda’s happiness and relief to have finally found a home are palpable.
She was found wandering way out in the country, dumped
on the side of the road most likely. How could anyone ever do that?
Her training’s going well- she’s a smart dog, and already is
getting all the basic commands. I’m going to work really hard
to make sure that she develops into an incredible dog-friend.

I feel like I’m ready now. I think she’s the one I’ve been waiting for.

Tell me your puppy tales, please! Have any useful tips for us?
I’ve been reading a lot, and learning so much-
but there’s a lot of information out there.
I think I need a really solid book- any recommendations?
Thanks in advance, sweet folks!

Isn’t my dad dashing? This is from his days of studying zen and fencing
at UCLA. Very Errol Flynn! Happy 100th birthday, also to the King of Swashbucklers!

My dad raised me for many years after my mom died, all by himself.
I can’t even imagine how hard that must have been for him.
He did a great job, and continues to astound me with his patience,
generosity and unconditional love. He read me stories every night,
and taught me how to read by the time I was around 3 or 4.
Hop On Pop! The Color Kittens! The Thirteen Clocks!
He spawned a voracious reader, who is still excited by his book recommendations.
Oh yes, and incidentally- he has totally revolutionized the method by which
reading is taught! He teaches adult literacy in prisons and has a truly
remarkable success rate. I could go on and on, seriously- but for now,
let me just say that he is also an incredible musician
(banjo, uilleann pipes, accordion, concertina, various whistles + recorders, etc.)
and that he is a spiritual seeker who taught me to revel in the great mystery.
Also, I used to hate a lot of things my Dad was into:
Sacred Harp (or Shape Note) singing, polenta,
quinoa, NPR, t’ai chi- now of course, I love all those things!
Go figure. I am the apple- he is the tree.

This is my beloved Grampa Charlie, holding my pop when he was a bairn.
I wonder what that enormous book they’re reading is? It must be something
pretty fantastic, because that baby is captivated!
Obviously, the book thing runs in the family.

Where to even begin to explain the wonderfulness that is my Grampa?
I cannot do him justice in little snippets, but hopefully I will be able to
embark of a project that will allow him to speak for himself, and share
his marvelous stories- of which there are many. He is 95 years old,
and he still beats me at gin rummy regularly. Sometimes I think he
gets out more than I do! We’ve traveled all over the world together:
if you feel like scrolling back through the archives, you can read
tales of our adventures through most of Europe, Scandinavia and the Balkans!

Contradiction: Oberon and Titania

In honor of Midsummer’s Eve, and the solstice,
and for my dad, who introduced me to the work
of Richard Dadd (who incidentally, killed his
own father- eek!) namely, The Fairy Feller’s
Master Stroke, (which is possibly my favorite painting)
I will share with you the treasures I have found floating through
John Coulthart’s Feuilleton, a veritable trove of wonder
which entertains and enlightens me almost daily.
Here are some succulent midsummer tidbits from his archives:

✹ A Midsummer Night’s Dadd

✹ Arthur Rackham’s Midsummer Night’s Dream

✹ William Heath Robinson’s Midsummer Night’s Dream

✹ Another Midsummer Night

This is my little neighbour, Miss Adelle Rose-
is she not the prettiest child you have ever seen?
My family and friends brought their wee ones,
lots of babies and tinies hopped up on sugar,
hunting for eggs and smashing cascarones!
Our house and garden are thoroughly sprinkled
with colorful confetti and eggshells..

Miss Nicole showed up in the best outfit ever-
extremely pregnant in ballerina tutu, stripeys, and pink cowgirl boots!
She is totally gorgeous and radiant and due in one week!

Alix and I in our Easter Sunday best!
I recycled my candy covered epaulette from the Eris parade
(yes, pictures really are coming soon- promise!)
and it became a dandy chapeau- the children were tantalized
by the bon-bons and wanted to attack me and eat all the candy!

Mlle. Katinka Pinka and Mister P. laughing in a sunbeam..

This is Pearl’s doll, Priscilla- she is 89 years old and only eats cottonballs.

Jason F. Austin and Mlle. Alisan, sporting fabulous ears!
Hers are made of her own hair and apple-blossoms.. Incroyable!
The picnic spread was lovely- lots of rice dishes! Chinese tea-eggs
were a favorite, and rainbow sherbet punch! Excellent with gin, natch.

Can you believe this iris? It smells like Vanilla Orchid Cream sno-balls
from SnoWizard on Magazine street in New Orleans. For real.

Driving out into the country we last week we found this field of bluebonnets
and bunnies. Of course we had to stop and take pictures! They are on flickr,
as are more easter photos! Very happymaking.

Follow for more birthday adventures in the black forest..!

I bought this lovely Surprise Shell at Tail of the Yak
when I was in San Francisco, and had been faithfully saving it
until my birthday morning! I would tell you what was in it,
but that would ruin the surprise- so you’ll just have to go get one of your own!

Birthday mornings in particular are very sacred to me,
and should be as blissful as possible- sleeping late and then
a luxurious bath and magical breakfast with two of my most
favorite people! The sun was shining, alighting on flowers and
tea steaming up and so many sweet treasures from dear friends!
Above are some from Mlle. Verhext, wonderful music mixes,
the most beautiful necklaces (a mysterious abalone pendant
and the coveted antler woman necklace from Theatre of Dreams!)
So amazing. Also the Fairy Wood flavored pastilles from Leone-
one of my favorite candies, and the best chai from Crixa Cakes
and gorgeous jackets of cerulean silk velvet and emerald rose brocade!
I was blessed with so many kind and generous gifts from my sweetlings
that it really requires a separate post to do them justice. Seriously.

We stayed up until 6am the night before transforming our crazy, crumbling
renovation project palace into a magical black forest! It’s amazing what you
can accomplish in a few hours with the help of friends- we strew twigs
and branches hither and thither and decked the walls with frost flecked
red currants and fairytale dollies and forest creatures..

My love found these tossed out christmas trees on the road
and hung them from the rafters- it’s incredible how much it changed
the space. The acoustics, the delicious pine smell, the shape of the room..
Needless to say, they’re still up there. I think when we finish the house,
we must absolutely have a forest room- it’s so peaceful and lovely!

On the subject of forest creatures- I just can’t resist showing off my wonderful
prize from my friends and colleagues Mr. Garbs and Mme. Cornelius
who bestowed upon me my dearest wish- a taxidermied fox!
I have been half-heartedly trying to build it back up-
with little success. It has become so expensive, even for the old
rotty pieces that I favor. I have been wishing for a fox for so long-
I couldn’t believe my eyes. His name is Alavester, and he is half albino.

Eeeee! Thar be foxees in those trees!

Despite my dour glower, I am truly filled with glee in this photograph-
because though it took an hour to wrangle with my headdress,
I am finally dressed fittingly and thus the party can begin!

These two ladies, however, were truly the belles of the ball!
Amelia and Linda were both so gloriously beautiful and antler bedecked
that there was an audible gasp from the assembled guests when this
photograph was taken- such savage elegance, ooh-la!

Everyone’s costumes were so outstanding- every little detail
coaxed from their bits and bobs into miracles of millinery,
folktales turned into fabric and feathers!
Above is a detail from Mlle. Coffey’s Firebird ensemble..

Her date for the evening, Mr. Yates cames dressed as Little Otik!
He made a perfect Otesánek, telling tales in the leaves
around a roaring fire underneath the bare branches..

I nearly died however, when I saw the gingerbread man!
He made this a few hours before the party- and wore it all night long.
His mouth fell off at one point, so it’s stuck on with one of
my bobby pins he found on the floor- which makes it even better-
Gingerbread genius, MacGyver style!

This is the red-headed huntress who pierced
my heart with a thousand flame-tipped arrows.
Please note that her bodice is made from the skin
of a wee spotted fawn- ah! I swoon.

This fabulous piñata was created by Miss Katinka Pinka and her beau Lee-
it is the terrible bear with the severed head of Goldilocks!
I slew the bear (singlehandedly!) to avenge her, and delectable
green tea candies spewed out from his body!

My dearest Francesca was the ideal Tyrolean mädchen!

She and darling Annie created this work of art disguised as a piñata.
His/her name is Sissel (Or Cecil) and was so gorgeous that I could not
bring myself to destroy it! Instead we performed ritual surgery with giant scissors
and found that the chest cavities were stuffed with all manner of booty!

Including myrrh, firecrackers, cute barrettes, feathers,
fortune cookies, fancy chocolates and saint medals!

Not to mention roses of Jericho (aka Selaginella lepidophylla) with hand lettered instructions!

If you don’t already have one, I highly recommend one of these strange
and wonderous plants for your amusement and spiritual cleansing needs!

One of the best surprised of the evening was all of my sweet relatives
that appeared amongst the branches- my parents and wee nieces,
my aunt and uncle and no less than five cousins! It was so great
to have them there, family and lots of tiny little girls!
My dear papa played songs about crows on his banjo, much to our delight!

This is my cousin Luke, dressed as Gretel..
He came with Hansel and the Gingerbread man in tow,
and their little fairytale trio were the life of the party!

This was taken around the fire, about 6am.
It makes me burst into cackles every time-
Faith Delphi laughing at the Gingerbread Man
passed out in the leaves- he had gotten a hold
of a bottle of Night-Train (don’t ask!)
and well…

Dare I say it was the best birthday yet? Yes, I do!
I had no less than three birthday cakes- and all
were insanely delicious and attractive, as you can see..
The one above was made by Miss Nicoletta,
and another made by Miss Patience, and a sumptuous
german chocolate cake from Miss Evelyn! Hot damn, ladies!
There were impromptu performances and surprises
galore, so many wonderul people and music,
and all my wishes were granted, simultaneously!
Did I mention that it was a full moon that night?
I feel incredibly loved and lucky, and I thank everyone
in my life who has made it so! Besos, besos, besos!

(Clockwise, from top left)
1 + 2 = Alexander McQueen
3 + 5 = Jean Paul Gaultier Fall 2005
4 = Kenzo a/w 2006-7
6 = Tamera wearing gingerbread vintage cape
(birthdee present from meeeee!)

1. Koji Arai’s Last Supper
2. Jean Paul Gaultier Fall 2005

1. Kirsi on Hel Looks
2. Vesa on Hel Looks
Yep, those Finnish kids have got the look down!
I think perhaps they are the most adorable, ever.

1 = Darla Teagarden
2 = Erte
3 = Kate Bush under the ivy
4 = Megan Park a/w 2006-7
5 = Violetta’s Cuckoo Clock costume

1 = Pandora + Swanboy on Mardi Gras
2 = Roxanne as Petrouchka
3 = Joanna Newsom in the best Elfquest hat ever.

Red Riding Hood by Eugenio Recuenco
Thanks to the fabulous Style Skilling for multiple inspirations here..
A Pageant of Delight
I will go swoon, now.

We arrived not long before sunset, as usual-
with just enough time to get our bearings and set up camp.
The night went by so quickly- a cold and bright crescent
watching over us, with scintillating Venus swinging below.
The celestial bodies went to bed early, and left us
telling stories around the fire, twirling sparklers,
drinking honey mead and champagne
and singing appalachian love songs.

When day broke, we yawned and stretched and gazed
up at the blue sky through the tipi’s smoke vent
and stumbled out to greet the day.
Here I am sleepy and indistinct, but there are
glowing orbs and rainbow shimmers around me.

We stayed warm in the tipi with the woodstove
going- as long as someone woke up every
hour or so to stoke the fire and get more wood..

Cooking outside always feels like such an accomplishment-
especially when the meal turns out so wonderfully.
We made tortillas over the fire, guacamole, black-eyed peas
and cabbage (for luck!), sweet potatoes, scrambled eggs
with peppers, and a truly marvelous ham.
If my first meal of the new year is any indication,
then I reckon 2009 will be an incredible year!

This is my Aunt Ruthie. She is one of my very favorite people in the whole world.

I love her rock and cactus garden- they are like little sculptures
filled with magic and treasures. The crystallized brain on the left
is one of the many gorgeous rocks found in the creekbed.
We went hunting and found so many, we couldn’t carry them all.

Ruthie’s kitchen is a magical place.

These leaves fall in spirals and curlicues-
perfect for making elfin bouquets.

Francesca rock hunting in the creekbed.

You can find a lot of treasure there if you look.

Particularly if bugs, bones and rocks are your thing!

We relaxed all day, lazing around in the warm sun
and exploring my Grampy’s junkyard.
He was a mechanic, so there are lots of cool
old cars rusting to dust in the pasture.

I love this flying witch and rainbow on the Morris Minor.

Lichen is growing on Gertie, the 1959 Buick Electra
I inherited from my mother. One day we will get her up and running.

There are flocks of wild peacocks and mountain sheep
on the land. I managed to catch this shot of a peacock
in mid-flight which made me very happy indeed.
I see it as a good omen for the coming year!

There are more pictures here on my
flickr photostream if you’d like to explore more..

This is the very first time that I’ve ever spent the holiday
in my own home, since I moved out of my folks’ house when I was 15.
I was feeling some trepidation about the prospects of waking up
in the house this morning, for a variety of reasons that are hard to sum up-
but have something to do with the fact that I’ve been
consciously and subconsciously avoiding this for years
by always finding myself out of the country, or staying elsewhere
on the eve and morning of. The responsibility of making holiday
magic happen for yourself and others is big kid stuff-
when you are wee, it just seems to be happening all around you,
for you to enjoy. I discovered this year that doing it for yourself,
and especially for others is pretty amazing.
I know this lesson can be applied to a multitude
of situations with similar results, wouldn’t you say?

We set up our wee little tree with vintage ornaments from my childhood
on a beautiful old O’keefe + Merritt stove we aren’t using for cooking yet.
The stockings were hung from the gas knobs with care
(before being stuffed silly with all manner of goodie and whatsit!)

I ended up working on hexmas eve, which was actually a lot of fun-
(despite my dark circles and glumster face!)

Naturally, I had to dress the part of an alpine candy elf-
it made me feel happy and it seemed to delight all the
frazzled folks I encountered throughout the day.

Last night we had an impromptu birthday gathering for
our friend Faith Delphi, a christmas eve baby.
Songs by the fire, mulled wine, wild buffalo curry
and fresh tamales- with lots of laughter and good company..
The perfect way to ring in the Yule!

Look who I found under the tree this morning!

I found these pictures of awkward russian kids and incredible weird santas
on RiotClitShave today that made my heart spasm with joy:

Also, from Lady Lavona, some wonderful writings on
Krampus and La Befana that are bound to illuminate and delight you-
I hope your hexmas was fantastic, dearies!