Hello, my pagan pretties.
Isn't there just something wonderful about the time of year we're coming into? Sure, it's still blistering hot during the day. But this morning...*blissful sigh*...I swear, it's actually a little on the chilly side this morning! That's a sure sign that my favorite time of year is knocking on the door. That and the fact that the doggie and I fought for the covers all night. Not three days ago I was kicking the covers off the bed, she was sleeping on the floor - it's cooler - and both of us were panting from the stifling heat. I really hate taking a shower before bed and then getting up and needing another one because it's so hot at night.
Historically, there's a lot of activity around my house in the autumn. Always has been. We seem to take on some sort of project when the weather finally begins to break and we go out in the Jeep pretty often, but that's not entirely what I meant. There's usually some little something odd that happens around our house this time of year and I'm wondering now if it's already started.
Over the long weekend, Mr. Vagabond and I worked on the kitchen. We've been installing our cabinets a little at a time and also working on the countertop. Almost everything in this house will be custom by the time we're done, which may or may not be a good thing - that's yet to be determined. Since I didn't want some standard cabinet installation that looks like everyone else's kitchen, I've been pondering with my little sketch book for weeks while the cabinets were stacked up in the living room and foyer. Once I got something figured out, we'd haul a few pieces into the kitchen and set them up.
Saturday, I think it was, we got one of the uppers in place. It's the kind that has the little slots underneath the cabinet to hang stemmed glasses upside down. Since I don't really have any pretty crystal, I was a little bummed that I couldn't try it out. But then I rememebred one glass in the cupboard that would work. I reached through the Tupperware and coffee cups all the way to the back and pulled it out. It's a beautiful crystal glass with our last initial etched into the side. I noticed a little spot in the bottom of the glass and it had a strong smell that I recognized right away. I smiled and said, "Check this out" to Mr. Vagabond and he grinned. Patchouli oil. "That's wonderful, isn't it?" He said as I hung the glass under the cabinet. We decided that since the oil was apparently used for something and there was a little left in the glass, it must still be there for a reason. So we left it.
Now, Patchouli has a special place in this house. Sure, I've used it for perfume on many occasions, as any good hippie-chick would do. But there's more to it that that. There is one particular entity we are familiar with that prefers patchouli over any other herb or oil. We've had many strange happenings that revolved around that particular oil. Years ago, while working in an herb shop, I came into work one day to the overwhelming scent of it. I found a small bottle broken all the way in the back of a cabinet where nothing could have broken it without breaking everything else. Curious. Later, a tall, glass candle that we put patchouli oil into shattered as I walked past it in the hallway at our apartment. Both times, those happenings answered a question we were pondering at the time. So finding that glass was almost like he had popped in to say hello. We thought about it for a little while, but eventually went back to working on the kitchen.
Both of the windows in the kitchen have been frameless since we bought the house. It's like they were installed and then never finished. Since we've had numerous other pressing issues to tend to like, say, installing a real floor or getting the plumbing to function properly - that's a biggie - we didn't really put the windows high on the list of prioroties. But Saturday, I was inspired so I tackled that project too.
As I worked on the window above the sink, I kept catching a whiff of the patchouli every so often. It was like someone or something tapped me on the shoulder once in a while and whispered...rememeber. It was nice to have something outside of the mundane take my attention because it's been so very long, but my work at hand didn't allow me to focus on it for very long.
I finished that window and admired my work for a while before moving to the next, which is situated beside the refrigerator. The fridge was a little too close to the window to get to it to work, so I had to pull it away from the wall just a bit. CRASH!!! "Holy crap, what was that?" I thought. Almost instantly the whole room filled with the scent of patchouli. I pulled the fridge out a little more so I could get behind it and whaddya know. A very large jar containing the herb was shattered into a million pieces on the floor. I didn't remember putting it up there to begin with. But when I moved the fridge, it fell and then a liquor bottle fell on top of it, breaking the herb jar. The bottle didn't break, though.
Of course, Mr. Vagabond came into the room and said, "Sweetie, it sounds like you're having a helluva time. Need some help?" I smiled and told him to stop and take a smell of the room. He did and he grinned again, like when I showed him the glass. "Is it the glass?" he asked. I shook my head and told him to look behind the fridge.
He stood there for the longest time, obviously pondering, looking at the pile of herbs and broken blue glass. Finally, he turned to me and said, "It seems like someone is trying to get your attention today. Maybe it would be a good idea to scoop some of that up and put it into a pot on the stove so they can have as much of it as they want." With that, he kissed me on the cheek and left me to my work.
So ever since, I have thought and thought about it. I still haven't cleaned it up yet because I can't decide what to do. It's behind the fridge so it's not like we're going to step on the broken glass. It's just about that time when we start focusing on something other than the mundane. It goes in cycles with us. The older we get, the more we get caught up in our everyday stuff and rarely take time to consider the rest of the universe. But it does seem like I have been tapped on the shoulder. Now I just have to decide if I want to acknowledge it.
Isn't there just something wonderful about the time of year we're coming into? Sure, it's still blistering hot during the day. But this morning...*blissful sigh*...I swear, it's actually a little on the chilly side this morning! That's a sure sign that my favorite time of year is knocking on the door. That and the fact that the doggie and I fought for the covers all night. Not three days ago I was kicking the covers off the bed, she was sleeping on the floor - it's cooler - and both of us were panting from the stifling heat. I really hate taking a shower before bed and then getting up and needing another one because it's so hot at night.
Historically, there's a lot of activity around my house in the autumn. Always has been. We seem to take on some sort of project when the weather finally begins to break and we go out in the Jeep pretty often, but that's not entirely what I meant. There's usually some little something odd that happens around our house this time of year and I'm wondering now if it's already started.
Over the long weekend, Mr. Vagabond and I worked on the kitchen. We've been installing our cabinets a little at a time and also working on the countertop. Almost everything in this house will be custom by the time we're done, which may or may not be a good thing - that's yet to be determined. Since I didn't want some standard cabinet installation that looks like everyone else's kitchen, I've been pondering with my little sketch book for weeks while the cabinets were stacked up in the living room and foyer. Once I got something figured out, we'd haul a few pieces into the kitchen and set them up.
Saturday, I think it was, we got one of the uppers in place. It's the kind that has the little slots underneath the cabinet to hang stemmed glasses upside down. Since I don't really have any pretty crystal, I was a little bummed that I couldn't try it out. But then I rememebred one glass in the cupboard that would work. I reached through the Tupperware and coffee cups all the way to the back and pulled it out. It's a beautiful crystal glass with our last initial etched into the side. I noticed a little spot in the bottom of the glass and it had a strong smell that I recognized right away. I smiled and said, "Check this out" to Mr. Vagabond and he grinned. Patchouli oil. "That's wonderful, isn't it?" He said as I hung the glass under the cabinet. We decided that since the oil was apparently used for something and there was a little left in the glass, it must still be there for a reason. So we left it.
Now, Patchouli has a special place in this house. Sure, I've used it for perfume on many occasions, as any good hippie-chick would do. But there's more to it that that. There is one particular entity we are familiar with that prefers patchouli over any other herb or oil. We've had many strange happenings that revolved around that particular oil. Years ago, while working in an herb shop, I came into work one day to the overwhelming scent of it. I found a small bottle broken all the way in the back of a cabinet where nothing could have broken it without breaking everything else. Curious. Later, a tall, glass candle that we put patchouli oil into shattered as I walked past it in the hallway at our apartment. Both times, those happenings answered a question we were pondering at the time. So finding that glass was almost like he had popped in to say hello. We thought about it for a little while, but eventually went back to working on the kitchen.
Both of the windows in the kitchen have been frameless since we bought the house. It's like they were installed and then never finished. Since we've had numerous other pressing issues to tend to like, say, installing a real floor or getting the plumbing to function properly - that's a biggie - we didn't really put the windows high on the list of prioroties. But Saturday, I was inspired so I tackled that project too.
As I worked on the window above the sink, I kept catching a whiff of the patchouli every so often. It was like someone or something tapped me on the shoulder once in a while and whispered...rememeber. It was nice to have something outside of the mundane take my attention because it's been so very long, but my work at hand didn't allow me to focus on it for very long.
I finished that window and admired my work for a while before moving to the next, which is situated beside the refrigerator. The fridge was a little too close to the window to get to it to work, so I had to pull it away from the wall just a bit. CRASH!!! "Holy crap, what was that?" I thought. Almost instantly the whole room filled with the scent of patchouli. I pulled the fridge out a little more so I could get behind it and whaddya know. A very large jar containing the herb was shattered into a million pieces on the floor. I didn't remember putting it up there to begin with. But when I moved the fridge, it fell and then a liquor bottle fell on top of it, breaking the herb jar. The bottle didn't break, though.
Of course, Mr. Vagabond came into the room and said, "Sweetie, it sounds like you're having a helluva time. Need some help?" I smiled and told him to stop and take a smell of the room. He did and he grinned again, like when I showed him the glass. "Is it the glass?" he asked. I shook my head and told him to look behind the fridge.
He stood there for the longest time, obviously pondering, looking at the pile of herbs and broken blue glass. Finally, he turned to me and said, "It seems like someone is trying to get your attention today. Maybe it would be a good idea to scoop some of that up and put it into a pot on the stove so they can have as much of it as they want." With that, he kissed me on the cheek and left me to my work.
So ever since, I have thought and thought about it. I still haven't cleaned it up yet because I can't decide what to do. It's behind the fridge so it's not like we're going to step on the broken glass. It's just about that time when we start focusing on something other than the mundane. It goes in cycles with us. The older we get, the more we get caught up in our everyday stuff and rarely take time to consider the rest of the universe. But it does seem like I have been tapped on the shoulder. Now I just have to decide if I want to acknowledge it.
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