fairy dust

I received some very sad news from my friend John on Monday. I am still having trouble wrapping my head around it.
John's former spouse, Marilee, passed away suddenly last Saturday.
She had stomach issues and was told by her doctor it was IBS. Apparently she was in pain for a while and it got so bad she went to the emergency room. As the doctors were trying to manage her pain and figure out what was going on her organs started to shut down. She had a massive fast growing tumor and it took over her tiny body.
Even though John and Marilee divorced in the 1990's. I remained good friends with the both of them. They were both super special friends that I had known since 1973 when we all took karate together. In my teens, I would make an appearance with a gang of friends from Somerville on Halloween  showing up at their door all dressed in some crazy costumes. They both happily put up with my shenanigans.
She moved to the Cape in the late 1990's and we still stayed in contact. She was funny,spiritual and creative. She loved flowers, the ocean, fairies, her kitties and a good bad joke. She would always send me news articles about seals and other marine life down her way.
One time I went to visit her and we went antique shopping. We found a shake 'em doll of a fortune telling hillbilly granny sitting in an out-house. When you picked it up and shook it, it told you your fortune by it's glass fanny. She bought it for me so I could send it to my sister. I thought it was hilarious!
The last I heard from her was on my birthday in September. She sent me a nice a card and a home-made book-mark of troll dolls. I sent her Christmas card like I usually do every year but I didn't hear from her which I thought was odd because she always responded right away. Sadly, I now know why. It makes me so sad that she had been suffering.
I'm going to miss you dear friend.

trolling along 2

"Tis the season for "special" holiday decorations make an appearance. Yes, we have troll X-Mas stockings.

I had this "classic" Christmas nativity set but I thought it was kind of boring so I revamped it.

Yes, I made a special troll nativity scene instead. Notice the costumes including the custom beards.

 Ah ah! I found a better photo of the troll tree (my husband took this photo!) (Just in case you were wondering I am the one dressed in blue) Although I could easily be mistaken for a troll...

trolling along

Last weekend we went to see the festival of (holiday)trees at Seaglass in Salisbury.
It is quite an event. Hundreds of different holiday trees with various themes filled the upstairs ballroom.. Local businesses and individuals make, decorate and donate the trees  for people to bid on. The money raised goes to our local hospital. I bought a pile of raffle tixs to bid on two of the trees.
This year, there were two trees that really caught my eye.
One was a purple Prince tree. The tree was covered with purple ornaments, purple crowns and Prince's signature glyph. Another one, was a troll tree (I wished I had taken a better photo of it so you could see it in it's glory) It was completely covered with troll dolls. I gasped at the sight of it. Needless to say, I bought a pack of 25 raffle tixs and stuffed both boxes.
Speaking of trolls, I designed and created a new pair of boots. I had a dull black and grey pair of boots that lingered in the back of my closet. I figured I'd bring new life to them by coloring them lime green, redoing the heels in gold, adding pink fur, adding some bling and painting trolls on them.
How cool are these?!? (see above)
 I can't wait to wear them to my brother's house this Christmas!

cupcakes and rainbows

Yes, I saw the troll movie and it was cute, silly and fun.

halloween party 3 mourning tea

Sunday morning, we had reservations for the Halloween mourning tea. Mind you I booked this event 6 months ago because the year before I tried making reservations two months in advance and it was sold out!
It was at the famous Hawthorne hotel. Everyone was dressed in Victorian mourning clothes. High tea was served (coffee, tea, scones, pastries, sandwiches, cakes and other yummies) We started off crafting memorials for our departed. I brought a photo of my Aunt for the memorial and put funny stickers with drawings on it in her honor. For those who wanted to we then stood up and talked about our departed. It was a bit emotional, sad but in a cathartic kind of way. I stood up and talked about my Aunt. I know she would've loved being the center of attention. This was just one way to keep her spirit alive. I asked her to send healing energy to my cousin(her daughter). I told her that "we are having way too much fun. I need her to stay around".
You just never know ;-)
.Maybe some people would think it was "depressing" or "creepy" but being the saint that I am and having the custodial privilege of  keeping souls alive I felt honored to be a part of this gathering.
At the end, we had a lesson on tea reading. I had an "M" in my cup (my Aunt's name is Marie) and two ladies dancing (I'm guessing that is her and her best friend Kay dancing) plus little sparrows (meaning bits of happiness in life's journey)
I loved the fact that my husband joined me as well. Many guys would make snide remarks or be discouraging but he was very supportive. :-)
All in all, this entire Halloween weekend was insanely fantastic.
I just love this holiday!

Halloween part 2 Salem

We met up with Alex and Robo in Salem via train.
 I warned them "be prepared to be embarrassed!" Ha!
I was planning on just having a blast..and I did!
My husband dressed as the pop singer "Sia" and I, as the late great "Prince". We brought a disco ball speaker along with our music. And yes, I danced. A lot.
Alex and Robo went as "American gothic". It was freakin' hilarious. People would yell, "hey Prince" and I would respond with his famous "AAAOWWW!" with a pose or high kick. The little kids had no clue of who I was but knew who "Sia' was. Sia is really popular with young girls. Some millennials  said that my Prince music was,"'soooo ooh retro music.."
WHAT!?!?!?!
Robo and Alex were hilarious and didn't seem to mind my antics. As we were walking up the main plaza were people congregated a "tree' started to talk to me."Hey Prince..I like purple rain.."
I shit you not.
And of course, I performed my dance and called him "Groot" after the tree creature from the movie "Guardians of the Galaxy". I really didn't want the night to end but we had to catch our train.
I had a freakin' blast!

Halloween 2016 part 1

I gotta say, this year was the best Halloween ever! I have to break it up in three parts because the entire weekend we did different things and wore different costumes!
Friday night, we went to Hammond castle's spooky tour with "my friend John" and his lovely wife Kathleen. My husband, Kathleen and I dressed up for the occasion. And of course, "joined in" as a part of the Halloween merry making tour.We were singing the theme for "ghost busters" on the bus.ha! We wore our day of the dead costumes to this event.
 I've never been inside the Hammond castle so this was a first for me. As a part of the tour, you have to park at stage fort park and a bus picks you up.
It was ungodly windy that night. I mean gale force winds. The wind blew my hat off and it whipped down the street. I tried to catch it but is was so fast and furious .I swore a ghost carried it off. It eventually blew off into the sea.
We enter the castle and a "spirit guide" greeted us and lead us through the castle. There were assorted "ghost' prisoners in there and scary freaks that jumped out at you. A black and white scary clown scared the shit out of me!
This was certainly a fun "warm up" to the weekend's festive events!