ivycoov should be covered with dead leaves unless snow can be counted on to blanket her for the winter.

The Pagan Book of Days has nothing to say about this date.

No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease
No comfortable feeling in any member --
No shade, no shine, no butteflies, no bees
NO fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds.
November!

-- Thomas Hood

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The medieval Irish prophet St. Malachy, the "Irish Nostradamus" is commemorated today. In Celtic tradition, this i the day for starting new enterprises and the day the cattle are taken from the hills to the lowlands for wintertime.


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I've been reading (slowly) some of the books I got from the library last winter. The first one I read was Robinsheugh by Eileen Dunlap. Published in the early 70s, it's a young adult ghost story. Sort of. The writing style is nothing like the YA books published now: the pacing is considerably slower, Dunlap's language feels (and sometimes is) old-fashioned, and it's much more of a mood piece than you find on YA shelves these days. What I really enjoyed about the book is the contrast Dunlap made between the late eighteenth-century household the heroine found herself pulled back into and her modern-day life. The clothes, the food, the pastimes, the attitude of parents toward children and vice-versa, what was expected of a thirteen-year-old girl in 1763 and what was not allowed. While I won't be rereading the book again, that part worked for me.

Unlike Patricia Wrede's The Thirteenth Child. There's very little feeling of being in another century in the book, except for a few spots scattered here there. References are made as reminders -- Columbians, the short list of presidents, and so on -- but I didn't feel immersed in the world Wrede presented. What did strike me was the lack of Amerindian-based names for the cities, rivers, etc. Given the novel's setting, it makes sense. Still jarring, though.

I did like Lan and Eff's relationship, and how Lan was later shown to be getting a little big for his britches, but overal, the book was boring. This is something I've found about Wrede: I can like some parts of her books, but generally her books feel flat tom e. Sorcery and Cecilia is an exception, and I'm not sure how much of that is my fondness for the cover art. I am curious about the other cultures' and their magic mentioned in The Thirteenth Child. If Wrede writes about them, I might try her again. But they won't be going on any wishlists.

All Souls' Day. There was an old belief that on this day unhappy souls returned to their former homes. It was the custom to keep kitchens warm and leave food on the table overnight for the benefit of visiting spirits.

All Souls' Day commemorates departed spirits not elevated to sainthood. Before becoming a churc festival in 998 C.E., it ws marked with celebrations from the festival of Woden (Odin) as god of the dead; parading the Hodening wild horse and other guising including mummers' plays enacting the mysteries of life, death and rebirth. Ceremonial soulcakes were cooked and eaten on this day.

Yeah, couldn't pass this one up, either. XD

Blatantly stolen from lordgloria

I used to see what a link was when I hovered my mouse over it. I don't anymore, and I can't figure out why.

I'm using latest version of Firefox.

An old almanac lists the following as fertilizers: bones, woolen rags, fish, soapsuds, brine, lime, mud from the swamps and ponds, straw, ferns, rotten wood, ashes.

Day of the Nemesea, the celebration of the Greek goddess Nemesis, defender of the relics and memory of the dead from insult and injury. Day of the Vertumnalia, held in celebration of the Vertumnus, Roman god fo the change of the seasons and the transformation of flowers into fruit. It is also the festival of Vulcan and the Nymphs.

Dinpik born.

Note to self: find and install Paintshop Pro.

Has anyone else possibly ruined their car's suspension by having close to 100 pounds of books in the trunk? Or is that just me?

New computer with 2.5 megahertz, 500 GB hard drive, 4 GB RAM, Nvidia GEforce 8400 video card with dedicated 512 MB RAM, 2 DVD players, multiple card-reader drives, 7 fans: just over $500.

Hearing your brother say, "If she doesn't have one soon, my life will not be worth living and I'll never be able to go home again" : Priceless

August and March are the times to plant evergreens.

I have no words for this community. I haven't laughed this hard in months.