The Haven

I just want to say thank you to Vanessa over at A Fanciful Twist for hosting another Mad Tea Party!  Based on all the participation and comments, everyone had a great time. Also, I want to thank all my friends (new and old) for the wonderful comments.  I enjoyed visiting everyone's parties, even if I didn't comment on all of them. So...THANK YOU! ~ Heathen

Welcome party goers!  If you've just found my site, I'm very pleased to meet you.  Please feel free to wander around a bit.  For my contribution to today's Mad Tea Party I've created a digital collage...Tea in the Garden. click to enlarge It was inspired by this... I hope you all enjoy.  I'll be blog-hopping around to check out all your Tea Party posts today.  To follow along with the madness, click here and visit A Fanciful Twist for more partiers! Thanks to Vanessa for hosting her annual Mad Tea Party!

The Summer Solstice, also known as Litha or Midsummer, is the longest day of the year.  After the Solstice the nights gradually begin to grow longer again.  Litha is a fire festival and a classic time for magic of all types. Customs and Activities: spend the day outside wear the colors of the Sun lighting a blaze (or candles) on Midsummer's Eve and maintaining it until midnight brings luck and blessings to the home Colors: red, orange, yellow, green, and white Decorations: sunflowers bees lanterns or twinkle lights wreath of ivy with yellow & red flowers or ribbon intertwined Foods:  due to the Summer heat in FL, I like to serve a light meal that doesn't require the oven. summer veggies grilled meat, poultry, or fish Sangria anything lemony or citrus Spellworkings: love divination protection inspiration any fairy magic

To all the Dad's out there in Blogland and the great wide world! Enjoy your special day!

Next Sunday, June 19th, is known in the U.S. and a lot of other places around the world as Father's Day.  Every year on the 3rd Sunday of June we honor our fathers or father figures. So what do you give the man who has everything or wants nothing (and doesn't need a tie)?  That all depends on the man in question.  In my experience, most men don't really like the spectacle of receiving gifts in front of other people.  It seems to makes them feel awkward.  So instead of wrapping up a pretty gift, consider doing something for or with the man of honor. Host a backyard barbecue for the family and you've got a nice Father's Day for both Dad and Hubby.  Give Hubby the weekend off from that honey-do list and let him spend his time on the computer, or in front of ESPN, or whatever it is he likes to do.  Take your Dad out to breakfast, just the two of you. If you don't live nearby, send him a book you read or CD you listened to that you think he would enjo...

We all know about the horrible economy and we're all feeling it's effects on our wallets.  For a lot of us, this means skipping the traditional Summer vacation.  So instead of leaving home, try taking a vacation from something you normally do.  Things like television, your computer, the news, or driving.  Sound too hard?  What about taking a vacation from the things you don't really like such as complaining, whining, demanding, or judging.  Don't get defensive, we all do these things. Or... take a vacation from work but stay local and pretend to be a tourist.  Do all the things someone visiting your town would do on vacation!  A lot of times you can even get discounts on the "touristy" things if you're a local, it never hurts to check. The point is, don't skip your vacation...we all need them.  But you don't have to spend a fortune or uproot the family to do it.  Enjoy your Summer Vacation! ~ Heathen Living Life Seasonally

Finding inspiration can sometimes be a daunting task.  So what to do when you simply have no new ideas?  First, you have to realize and accept that these things cannot be forced.  In fact, the harder you try, the less you'll get.  Sounds counter-intuitive right?  But it's not.  The truth is, a lack of inspiration mainly stems from an overload of information.  Your mind needs time to process, and most of us are going/doing/thinking way too fast for that to happen.  You have to slow down and stop, just for a bit, and essentially "re-boot" your mind.  Haven't you noticed that some of your best ideas pop into your head while doing something routine or absolutely nothing? Consider these examples: Newton was loafing under an apple tree when he saw an apple fall and got the idea of gravity.  Galileo was sitting and watching a great swinging lamp which triggered the idea of a swinging pendulum as a means to measure time.  And Watt was ju...