I'm creating witches

Winter Witches and giveaway Witches ~

The Winter Witch is all in White except for her black painted canvas ~

And if you come to my blog and make a comment on this witch you'll be entered into my giveaway that I'm having. Picking a name on Halloween night~

Quiet Days

The past two weeks have been quiet ones. I've walked on the beach, lost a few pounds, worked on crochet and fabric projects. I've been listening to my inner voice, finding even more refined direction and insight as I follow the bread crumbs of my personal journey with God.

I also decided to join a swap - my first in at least two years. It was fun gathering up the goodies and I even threw in a couple of books. It was all mailed off today and I'm thrill that I decided to rejoin the world long enough to share in the fun.

kj Hawks Her Book

Hear Ye! This is a early holiday pitch on behalf of my beloved first book!!
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The publication of The Light Stays On has been sheer joy. It's a thrill to hold the book in my hands, to hear from people who've read it and liked it, to see reviews and excerpts in print. I haven't done the promotion piece justice in recent months, but The Light Stays On is finding its way through Amazon, Barnes and Noble. com, some book signings, a recent book reading, and several favorable critic reviews.
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I apologize if you've come here for leisure and here I am promoting my book. I haven't and won't do it often, but as a jump on the holidays, if books are on your shopping list, I am offering my blog buddies, here and at my own blog , a discounted rate of $10 per book for purchases of two or more books (plus postage).
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To get this rate, you will have go to my blog at karenjasper.blogspot.com (see my sidebar there) and order through Paypal. I will include a beautiful bookplate with each purchase, personally signed by me and inscribed to who ever you'd like.
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Or you can order by email at karenjasper@comcast.net and pay by check. The shipping charge is $ 4.80 for one or two books, a bit more for three or more.
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If you are not familiar with the story, here is the synopsis from the book's back cover:
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The Light Stays On by Karen Jasper

$13.95 List price

Publisher: Chihuahua Press

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Is it morally defensible for a wife and mother to leave her family because she's fallen in love with someone else?

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What if that wife and mother is terminally ill?

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.And what if that someone else is another woman?.

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For Alex Fournier, it is the pull of obligation and duty to her husband and children. For Lily Peterson, it is the challenge of loving a woman who belongs somewhere else.

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.They are apart for seven years, until a terminal illness strikes. When they finally meet again, they begin an unforeseen and unimaginable journey through a maze of confusing and tender connections with each other and the innocent people who love them.
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You can find some reviews on my blog or at Amazon. com.

Okay, I did it. I promoted my book on Blogland Lane. I did it. I hope you don't mind. And if you don't mind spreading the word, I would appreciate it. I have sales goals in my head, and I'm over the top excited by every single sale!
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Thank you, thank you.

xo

kj

LETS CELEBRATE!!!

WELCOME TO HAPPY HOUR AT THE TURQUOISE TURTLE!!! 

We are delighted to have you here at the first of many gatherings at the Turtle, where natives and guests mingle in the warm night air and the conversation is as spirited as the dance steps.

Listen to the sounds of the Tres Amigos as you choose your drinks and get your feet tapping.  You can adjust the sounds to your personal levels. 

The Margaritas are icy cold and have their own table near the pool.  There is a cash bar under the rear portico where the bartenders can mix anything you want.

Vincent also put pitchers of Sangria on the tables around the pool.  Help yourself.  I don't know if you have ever had Sangria, but here is a recipe I've used for years.  Just remember, its not too sweet, so you can use it as a jumping off point for adding fruit, although the more fruit you add, the more it will taste like punch.  And, the Sangria pitchers are so much fun!

Spanish Sangria
3 1/4 c. (26 oz) dry red wine
1T. superfine sugar
juices of 1 large orange and 1 large lemon, strained
1 large orange and 1 large lemon, thinly sliced
1 c. club soda
Add juices to wine and refrigerate.  When serving, add club soda.  Prepare glasses, or large balloon wines by putting 1 slice each of lemon and orange against the inside glass, add ice, then pour in the Sangria.  Makes four glasses.

This goes really well with Tapas, especially if you can find those wonderful little plates that fit on top.  We buy them buy the case here.  

You are in for a treat.  Rose has made lots of tapas and she is a fanatic about freshness, so they will all be hot and crispy.  Don't even think about the calories.  You don't want to know.   Rosa keeps all her recipes in her head!  So, enjoy them while she makes them, but I can give you a few general clues.  Whatever she makes, she mixes hot and cold temperatures, mild and spicey flavors and sweet and savory mixtures.  Then, she adds little pick ups.  Heres a sample.

Mix cream cheese with smoked oysters.  Make another mixture of egg salad, but use aolli instead of mayo.  Stuff hollowed out small yellow and red tomatos.  Brush pita toasts with a little mixed cream cheese and mayo.  Top with a little red onion and smoked salmon.  Add flavored olives, some sweet gerkins and cinnamon pecans and you done!  I can do this; I can't touch what Rosa does.

Isn't Vincent a hoot!  He is just way too cute for his  own good.  He may have had too much Sangria.  Someone point him upstairs a little later if he starts listing to the left. He will grab all of you and drag you to the dance floor sooner or later.  He thinks he is Fred Astaire (his hero).


Now, I know you are tapping your feet, so GET UP AND DANCE!!!  You can do it, just swing your hips and your feet will get the idea.  Just pretend you know what you are doing and pretty soon, you will.  

Girls, we need to find Baino.  She HAS to tell us the story of big sombreros and large guitars...............


Grab a Margarita!

 

BE CAREFUL..........

Several employees here at the Turquoise Turtle have seen someone lurking about, both around one of the upstairs rooms and then again out by the pool.  I'm finding things around the place, but can't seem to get a handle on this.  

Whoever it is will not get away without paying for the room.  I found this book by the tea service, but the bed has not been slept in, nor have the towels been used.

If this is a freeloader, its certainly the oddest one I've ever encountered.  Nothing is missing.  Still, I thought it prudent to warn you all, especially those of you with businesses.  You just can't be too careful these days.



Let me know if any of you have a clue what is going on here.  Meanwhile, I'm looking forward to seeing you tomorrow at Happy Hour.  

Unbelievable....look what one of the maids found upstairs! 

Lot 40, House #268...The Voice

What were the odds I would find an old telephone in this old house, in the corner of its entry way?


I suppose I should not have expected smooth sailing when I bought this lot...Blogland Lane has a reputation I'd heard about even when we were sailing the high Seas.  I remember the whispers about it from out neighbours in the sailboat anchored next to us at one of our stop-over places...the tales intrigued me even then.  And here, in this elderly home, those strange stories are bearing out...


I tell myself...It is only a telephone, a really ancient one, at that.  Don't be such a wuss...

There is no sound, here in this room.  Birdsong, Ocean waves, Wind...all are muffled, indistinct.  I consider calling Wolf or Owl or even Spider, but I am known for my stubbornness.  Wolf has shaken his massive head often at my disinclination to compromise; Owl will simply not put up with it.  And Spider...well, she tends to hibernate at this time of year. Waking her would be, quite simply, hazardous.

And I don't feel danger here, in any way, only apprehension. It is not yet time to call for reinforcements...I would only question my Allies' advice.

The telephone is not connected.  I pick it up, and use it the way I've seen these old phones used in movies, by holding the earpiece to my ear, not really expecting anything, only following instinct.


And just as soon as I do...the telephone RINGS!

Startled very badly, I drop the phone, shattering the silence in the room by letting loose with a string of expletives.  Of course, being frightened in this manner, I immediately react with Anger, kicking that telephone to the farthest reaches of the room.


It continues to ring.


Trying with some difficulty to regain my composure, I consider the situation.  I watch the ringing telephone, urging myself  to calm down and answer the thing.  My heart is pounding, sweat drenches through me, my hands are trembling badly...


I take a deep breath, as I walk over to the phone and once again place the receiver to my ear.


The ringing ceases; I hear nothing from the earpiece but the wavy sounds one hears when a Seashell is placed against one's ear.  I manage a shaky, tremulous and questioning...Hello?

A Voice booms out into the room, so loudly I once again drop the telephone.  But it doesn't seem to matter...I have released and allowed this Voice entrance by my inquiring Hello.  I know better than to do so; not allowing entrance to energies not yet fully understood was one of the very first lessons taught by my Animal companions.


WELCOME!..the Voice shouts...Welcome, welcome, welcome!


The word reverberates and echoes through me.  I have not yet completely lost the all-consuming Fear, but the warm word welcome goes a long way in reassuring me.


I try to shakily answer the Voice, but it is not interested in listening to any speech from me.  The Voice does not seem to come from only the telephone...the very walls, the floor, even the glass in the window seem to be speaking, in an extremely deafening, booming way. And the Voice seems to be made up of many voices, each melding into one, yet distinct, as well, if I listen carefully enough.


I can almost make out...someone...I once knew...


Voice goes on...Many long years have passed.  There has been much time spent waiting for you to return, but it seems you HAVE passed many of your lessons. You have accumulated some knowledge...whether it will be enough remains to be seen.  But your banishment has now ended!

My eyebrows raise and I can feel my hackles rising.  Strange, this instant Anger...but the word banishment raises sudden feelings of loss, sadness and misunderstandings.  And I wonder...


Have I learned enough to challenge the Voice?






More in awhile...





 

Preventative Healing

We hear a lot about Preventative Medicine in our culture, be it well care checkups, immunizations, or tests and scans that are recommended to catch the physical problem before it becomes a bigger problem. I believe we need take that a step further, and heal ourselves from within so that medicine is less likely to be needed. This can be in the obvious form of adopting a more healthy lifestyle or in a deeper form of spiritual healing and nurturing that soothes us so profoundly that we don't manifest outer disease.

Spiritual healers such as Louise Hay and Wayne Dyer refer to disease as dis-ease, meaning that disease is the result of our bodies being "ill at ease" with something...with our path, our relationships...our own inner resistance to our outer situation, which then creates tension and stress in our bodies and ultimately manifests itself in disease. Louise Hay has certainly lived that idea in her own healing of cancer in her body, as well as through the many people who have been helped by her book or those of other Hay House authors. There are many examples in which these spiritual leaders have shown through their own experiences that one can heal physical illness through faith and by ridding the body of things that have caused dis-ease.

While preventative medicine is a wonderful avenue for staying healthier, we should not forget other measures that do not have to do with medication or medical practices, delving into ourselves to find our true path and course, which will then put us as ease, rather than dis-ease. Our health issues can be wonderful clues from above as to what we need to work on, or which directions are not working for us. All that it requires is that we pay attention, in earnest, and take steps to correct our missteps or alter areas that are incongruent with our true plan or purpose. When we begin to live our lives more accurately on our path and rid ourselves of the obstacles (self-imposed or otherwise) that steer us away from our Higher Selves, then our bodies will become more at ease with our choices, through better health, fewer physical problems, looking younger, and other noticeable physical responses.

I speak repeatedly on my personal blogsite (www.seeingmiracleseveryday.blogspot.com) about spiritual guidance through connection to Source, to God, to angels and spirit. I do so because I have seen so many wonderful and miraculous things in my own life and many of those that I have worked with, so I KNOW that it can have an immediate and profound impact on one's life. I feel that I must share that with as many as possible, as many as are willing to listen or open enough to consider the possibilities. There is a great energy that is touching many people at this time to examine their lives, to search for a deeper spirituality, to find and live their real purpose...rather than just living out a routine existence. It is a truly exciting time. If you have ailments that are bothering you, understand that they may have a deeper root than just the medical implication, then search beyond the pills and medicine to try to go to a deeper place within yourself and a higher power beyond what you have known so far. (This does not mean to ignore the medical options, but simply not stop at those for all of your solutions!). If you search earnestly and faithfully, I believe you will find your answers, your healing, your peace.