Otter: Freud Stole The Monthly Reading

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Normally I would have posted my monthly ‘Just For Fun’ card reading by now.  This month is the month of the Otter.  However, after the sixth attempt at trying to get it to publish, only to have the little cretin switch entirely to italics, the paragraphs to rearrange themselves and the picture move unchangeably to the bottom, I have decided Otter is being to playful with his silvery moonlight and I am therefore grounding him.  Perhaps next year the little beast will have had himself fitted for a glass bellybutton so he can see his way clear to stop playing around so much and get some work done. 

The basic drift of this month’s reading is to avoid extremes, follow your own light and flow with destiny’s changes, be loving, giving, caring and listen very strongly to your instincts.  I will still include the famous quotes I had chosen for this month’s card reading at the bottom.

Perhaps I should blame it all on Sigmund Freud’s theory about Id, Ego and Super-ego, or Alter Ego.  Actually I forget what he said about the ego and alter ego, but when I was writing about listening to your instincts, I recalled Freud referring to the id as ‘Instinctual Desires’.  Perhaps from here on out I should refer to Otter as Freud.

I can assure you Otter Freud will not be getting any of my Starbucks Mocha Frapaccino Ice Cream with marshmallow cream topping.  I will stay steadfast and go unflinching when he tries to charm me with his cute little whiskered face, and batting those sweet eyes at me will not work either.

Following are the quotes I intended to include in this month’s card reading.

          “Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth,
           for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire:
           it is the time for home.”  Edith Sitwell.

          “Take away love and our earth is a tombe.”  Robert Browning.  Tombe  with an ‘e’ is the way I found it.

          “The destiny of man is in his own soul.”  Herodotus.
Copyright 2011, by Suzie Ashby. 

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Winter and I Fell in Love Five Times

Image by ulterior epicure via Flickr

As I live and breathe, I cannot for the life of me, figure out just exactly where the holidays went.  All of a sudden I find myself staring at a new calendar with a lovely snow scene of wolves standing near a frozen stream.  Winter is finally here and I want it to be summer.  Having been sick for a few weeks has really stolen some time.

Over the holidays I fell in love five times and I will hold them in my heart forever.  I will share with you the intricate details of my romantic meanderings.  Beware though, you may need a wet nap to clean the slobber from your chin.

          “Twill make old women young and fresh; create new motions
           of the flesh.  And cause them long for you know what, if they
           but taste of chocolate.”
                                              James Wadsworth (1768-1844)

My first new love literally fell into my lap by mistake, but I wasted no time in gathering and devouring the sweetness being offered to me.  Yes, I am talking about Starbuck’s Hot Chocolate ice cream.  He (it) is a most delicious kiss of both chocolate and vanilla ice creams swirled in with a hard bodied chocolate fudge.  The way it jumped into my lap, I think I was wanted as much as it was.  It is always nice when a relationship is mutual.

My second and third new loves are cousins and may be foreign, I’m not sure.  I do know I love them passionately and they do not mind sharing.  It is always nice when we share with one another, don’t you think?  Their names begin with Haggen Daz.  So, without further torture I will introduce to you the Mocha Torte ice cream cake.  He is all of the mouth-watering happiness that defines great love, chocolate ice cream.  He wears mocha flavored whipped cream like a perfect three-piece suit.  His sexy five o’clock shadow of chocolate cookie crumbs really sends my heart reeling.  The fedora (garnish) of mocha coffee beans adds style and flair to the suit.  I so love a well dressed man. 

His cousin, White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle ice cream is the hottest sweetest dream a woman could ever hope for.  I mean, talk about sex appeal, this honey has it all wrapped up in one tight package.  He (it) kisses me ever so softly with perfect white chocolate ice cream, delivering a surprise of chocolate fudge truffle tidbits all swathed in ribbons of raspberry.  I allowed this one to linger for some time, having decided he is my favorite of the two cousins.  Such unconditional love is so very hard to find, let alone savor and bask in.

          “When I was a child and the snow fell, my mother always rushed
           to the kitchen and made snow ice cream and divinity fudge egg
           whites, sugar and pecans, mostly.  It was a lark then and I always
           associate divinity fudge with snowstorms.”
                                                  Eudora Welty (1909-2001)

My fourth love is Godiva’s Dark Chocolate ice cream, kisses so delectable I dream of him even when I am awake.  He is well worth sharing my attention with.  This one is something akin to having a massage, but from the inside out.  He took care of nearly all my needs.

My fifth newest love came to me by accident, which made for a nice surprise.  I have been swooning over Tolenti Blood Orange Sorbetto for the better part of a week.  Happily he (it) does not mind sharing me with the others.  I have found that I desire blood orange almost as much as vampires do.

Love may be fickle, but it is also mighty fine and I have been in heaven for weeks now.  I figured I really should share some of this love myself.  I cannot stand the idea of anyone suffering severe loneliness when such grand loves are out there just waiting to be had.  By the way, you can love more than one at a time without gaining weight.  It’s called a little smootch here, a loving kiss there and tiny hugs in the middle.

When I found this Eudora Welty quote I remembered my mother making snow ice cream and soft oatmeal cookies from the leftover morning oatmeal.  It was always such a happy and wonderful experience.  I cannot fathom making snow ice cream now, not with all of the pollution.

Copyright 2011, by Suzie Ashby.

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Sour Cream Apple Cranberry Crunch

My dad used to call me from work every night to find out what kind of sweet treat I wanted from the store.  It never mattered what I asked for, he would stop and buy it for me on his way home.  I would stay up late if I had to, just to get that goodie.  I have eating sweets down to a science and enjoy sharing, sometimes.

Filling:

5 Granny Smith apples, peeled cored and sliced.
3/4 cup dried cranberries, re-plumped by soaking in boiling hot water,
         drained.
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup sour cream
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
a tiny pinch of nutmeg

Once you have sliced your apples into a mixing bowl, add the lemon juice and toss.  Mix in the remainder of the above ingredients.

Topping:

5 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
4 tablespoons soft butter
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup regular rolled oats

Mix the topping well.  Place filling into a baking pan, I use a large heavy skillet.  Spread the topping evenly over the filling and gently pack it.  Now bake at 400 degrees (my oven cooks a little slow) until bubbly and dark golden.  Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream.  I refrigerate any left overs.  I hope you like it as much as I do.

This made me hungry so I’m off to the kitchen for hot coffee and cookies.

Copyright 2010, by Suzie Ashby. 
Photographs Copyright 2010, by Suzie Ashby.  All Rights Reserved.

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Month of Elk

Young Bull Elk.

                    “Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall
                    never be disappointed.”  Alexander Pope, 1688-1744.

Autumn gives birth to winter and I love its drastic and profound change.  Elk is a big sign of change, up here in the mountains.  As soon as they start hanging out around the house I know the snow is soon to follow.  I see elk as natural leaders, teachers and are highly intuitive.  Being extremely wise and strong-headed, they help other creatures find their way.  They can help us too, if we learn from their ways.  Much like wolves, elk are very sensitive, and their bugeled songs are a musical salve, soothing to the soul. 

By living in the ways of the elk, we can utilize our right-brained creativity for survival, and the left hemisphere of our brains to decipher our innermost thoughts to make the most of our lives.  In this way we can also help others. 

                    “We make a living by what we get, we make a
                    life by what we give.”  Sir Winston Churchill.

Now is the time for intense loving and expressing love in creative ways.  We should never be pushy about it, but a little kindness goes a very long way.  This is also a great time to make some much-needed major changes in our own lives.  Many others will benefit from these changes as well.  Hidden within our own hearts are many of the answers we need.  Right now it is imperative to keep our physical and emotional health in tact, so do whatever it takes, as long as you remain just and true. 

No matter what religion we follow, remember none of us are ever alone.  The universe is filled with the energy of love and it’s perfectly alright to tap into it, just don’t forget to put a little back in as often as you can.  Meditation and contemplation are also very helpful tools at this time.

                    “There are four questions of value in life…What
                    is sacred?  Of what is the spirit made?  What is
                    worth living for, and what is worth dying for?
                    The answer to each is the same.  Only love.”
                                                                             Actor, Johnny Depp.

 
Copyright 2010, by Suzie Ashby.
Photograph Copyright 2010, My Family Photos.  All Rights Reserved.

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Orbs

It seems to be three balls of solid light, pale pink in color.

 

A couple of years ago, my oldest brother went to the old Phillip Sutton property in Southern Indiana, seeking any signs of old family graves.  Searching genealogical records for ancestors on my mother’s side of the family has been a painstaking process.  Not having any luck searching death and burial records, or cemetery records we continued coming up short on   grave sites for three important familial links.

He described the property as very beautiful and lush.  He walked around for hours looking for signs of old graves, but spotted nothing.  This was during the day and he was not using the flash while taking the pictures.  The entire time he was snapping digital photographs of anything and everything of interest to him.  His eyes never fell upon any lights at any time during this exploration, being a nature nut like me he was just happily clicking away.

At one point he came across a natural opening in the trees and shrubs which led into a small clearing of sorts.  Part of him felt compelled to venture inside and take pictures, another part said it was time to leave.  Before turning away, he paused just long enough to take four or five shots of this small clearing, looking through its opening.  A few days went by before he actually had time to sit down and look at the photographs.  Out of the ones he had taken of this intriguing little clearing just one of them (this one) had what appears to be three pinkish light orbs in it.

Neither of us know enough to say these are actually orbs.  I thought perhaps I would show them to all of you and hope that I get a lot of great feedback.  I need honest opinions to share with my brother, so please do not be shy.

I know such things are often called orbs, ghost lights, foo fighters, will-o the-wisps, St. Elmo’s Fire and ball lightning.  I also read that out of the large number of orbs which are reported, only about 10 percent are considered to actually be paranormal phenomena.

I thank any and all who want to give this their best guess.  My brother and I will both be very grateful.

Copyright 2010, by Suzie Ashby.  All Rights Reserved.
Photograph Copyright 2010, K. Ashby.  All Rights Reserved.