Countdown To Halloween Blog Party

Just a quick post today to say how excited I am that I will be participating this year in the Countdown to Halloween Blog Party hosted by The Whimsical Cottage!




I will be kicking off the month by visiting a fall festival at our local farmer's market on October 1st. There will be lots of pictures, of course! Then I will be posting on all kinds of Halloween related crafts, decorations, and fun for the rest of the month. Stay tuned!!!

Mid Autumn Moon party

For years now I have wanted to celebrate the Chinese mid autumn moon festival, after first reading about it on Waverly Fitzgerald's wonderful site of seasonal holiday lore, School of the Seasons. It is considered a women's festival in China, and more of a family tradition in other parts of Asia, but the main theme throughout is that people gather outside during the full moon closest to the autumn equinox and stay up late enjoying themselves while gazing at the moon. In China, it is considered the start of the yin part of the year, when the dark hours exceed the light. Women traditional gather for "moon viewing parties" and stay up late moon gazing, drinking tea and wine, and eating fruits and sweets that symbolize the moon: melons, pears, peaches, grapes and pomegranates. It is also traditional to give gifts of "moon cakes" in beautifully decorated tins to guests. They are round cakes (round to symbolize the full moon) filled with sweet bean pastes and often, a boiled egg in the center. They are special treats and Asian people I have known sometimes refer to this as the "mooncake" festival.

There are many versions of the legend about the Chinese moon goddess, Chang-o, but the basic story goes that this goddess had stolen the elixer of life from her husband, who rules the sun, and they live separately across the heavens now. Often there is a tale that a rabbit lives in the moon with the goddess, and mixes the elixer of life with a mortar and pestle. So rabbits with a mortar and pestle are also symbols for this festival.

I am fortunate in that I have three very good friends that are as interested in other cultures as I am. I decided to plan a small party for us at this full moon, and they were all happy and excited to come. Here are some of the decorations and festivities that ocurred on Sunday night, under the full moon:

This was the moon altar I built outside on our patio. The party took place outside, of course.

There were large platters of fruit. The fruit salad pictured above is held in a hollowed-out honeydew melon that I carved into a lotus shape.

Although I told the ladies not to bring anything, all three brought bottles of wine. There was even a gallon jug of homemade muscadine wine given by one friend's grandparents. Obviously, we were not going to have any lack of alcohol!

in the hammock, after lots of wine

I could not find authentic moon cakes in our town. That was a disappointment. One nice lady at our only asian market said that they used to carry them, but that no one ever bought them so they stopped. I didn't check until the last minute so I had no time to order any. This meant that I had to get creative.  I decided to go with the closest traditional sweet we have here in South Carolina. Check out my "down south" version:

I packaged them in homemade origami boxes I made out of stiff origami paper. These made me laugh out loud when I put them together!  I tied them closed with string and sent them home with the ladies as they were leaving. I hope they got a kick out of them too!!

All four of us had a wonderful time. We laughed, we drank, we stayed outside past midnight. We gazed at the moon (it was beautiful!) and enjoyed each others company.  I hadn't laughed that much in months!  We have decided that this will be a new annual tradition for us.

Happy Mid Autumn Moon, everyone!

Easing into Autumn

I am so happy that it is finally September! I am unusually excited about fall coming this year.

The temperature is starting to moderate. Although we have barely gotten any rain (there was almost none from the recent hurricane, which was a surprise)it is noticeably cooler, especially at night and in the morning. Exercise before work is much more enjoyable now. I am continuing to progress in my quest to abandon my coach potato ways. This morning I walked with 2 pound hand weights, and it felt good!

Ginger is also much happier on our walks these days since the weather is so nice. The air is cool, the skies are deep blue, and squirrels are everywhere in the park. We have also noticed flocks of doves searching in the newly fallen leaves for food. They are almost invisible against the brown dry leaves, then they burst skyward with a start when you happen upon them. There were three flocks of doves in the park this very morning, strolling around in the leaf litter under the big oaks, pines, and sweet gums. There are also pairs of woodpeckers living up in the tallest pines.I love hearing their ratatattat high above our heads! It's a nice park to walk through each day.

I am planning a celebration later this month to observe the Chinese mid autumn moon festival with some girlfriends the night of Sept. 11. We all have interest in Asian customs and holidays and so we've decided to take one of our "girls nights" to celebrate under the full moon. I will be posting pictures and links about the holiday and my little get together as I make plans for the next couple of weeks. I think it's going to be fun! I have always wanted to have a fall celebration of some sort at the autumnal equinox. This is finally my chance! More to follow on this!

Another thing I am happy about with the change in season is the foods that come along with it. The cafe attached to the bookstore where I work is beginning to bake Maple Walnut Scones, Pumpkin Bundt cake, Apple Cinnamon coffee cake and muffins,and is serving more hot chai tea already. It's hard to stick to a diet with all the wonderful smells wafting through the store. (How lucky am I that my workplace smells like new books, coffee, and baked yumminess?!) Yesterday I caved and treated myself to a slice of pumpkin cheesecake. It was sooooooo good! Who can resist such lovely fall treats all the time? Not me, especially while they're still novel. Soon it will be time to make some fall recipe goodness at home, too. I am looking forward most to homemade apple pie and spicy 3 bean chili.

I have also been browsing fall themed magazines and craft books at work. We are already getting in Halloween merchandise, which is the one holiday I don't mind living with for a long time! I love Halloween, and planning for it. Now that it's September, I can begin making plans without feeling too weird about it!

So, welcome September. Nice to see you again. Please linger as long as you like before making way for October!

Tiny Jewels

Small flowers that bloom in my yard each August.
I have no idea what they are, but they sure are pretty!

 

Caught in the act

Mischief is always afoot in my house! After leaving Marco alone on his cage-top gym for literally 3 minutes, this is what was going on when I got back:

See that look he's giving me? He doesn't care what I think!

He marched right over and took a bite off that tomato before I could stop him. Then he had the nerve to growl when I picked him up! (which is just humorous, since he's never been a biter)

He likes to pretend he's a tough guy, and he loves looking for trouble. We're onto him, though!

I still don't care what you think.

Wordless Wednesday~ Late Summer Blooms

1 year

Although I am short on time this morning, I couldn't let the day pass without mentioning that today makes a whole year that I have been blogging!

It's been a fun year. Thank you to my followers for coming along for the ride. Happy Birthday Burning Moonlight!

August already!

The last couple of weeks have been busy for me. I have had doctor and dentist appointments, extra projects at work that needed attention, and the everyday housework/cooking/cleaning that never truly gets "done" at all.

Still, it's been a good couple of weeks. I finally talked to my doctor about the lifestyle changes I'm trying to make and the weight I need to lose. He has helped me pull together a plan to make things happen, and has given me a prescription to help me get started. I am logging my food intake, walking 1-2 miles every morning, and drinking lots of fresh cool water. I have a follow up appointment in 8 weeks to check on my progress, and I am hoping to do myself proud! It feels great to finally feel motivated!

Work is going well. I am feeling more confident in my position and have been working extra hard to get things done and to be an asset to my new team. I think this is the result of feeling better physically. I know that daily exercise helps me to have a positive outlook and less negative emotions.
Years ago, when I exercised (ran!) daily, my stress level stayed under control much better than when I allowed myself to get very overweight and sedentary. I hope I can continue to slowly improve my habits with very little backsliding this time. Being fit and healthy not only improves my stress level, but also my job performance, self esteem, relationships....everything, really. I can't wait until it's cool enough outside that I can exercise more. In August in SC the only time you can stand to go outside and walk is at sunrise or after dark...unless you want to risk a heatstroke!

It's still very hot here, and my garden is officially done. My tomatoes didn't produce much of anything this year. I was disappointed, but we have had nearly record high temperatures and very little rain this year. No one seems to have had a good garden this year. I am getting ready to pull up all my dead plants, weed, and work on making the little garden bed ready for a fall planting of mums and pansies.

I am beginning to look forward to fall. I'm already seeing the first fall magazines, candles, and decor out in the stores! It seems a bit strange to think of it being almost fall when it's 100F out, but it really is just around the corner. The sun is beginning to set noticeably earlier, and the angle of the sun is changing. Soon enough (I hope!) the daytime temperature should become more comfortable which is my favorite thing about summer ending!