The Turtle Who Deposed Yertle

Do you remember Dr. Seuss' tale of Yertle the Turtle? 


Yertle the Turtle was the king of the pond. Unsatisfied with the stone that served as his throne, he commanded the other turtles to stack themselves beneath him so that he can see further and expand his kingdom. 

However, the stacked turtles were in pain and Mack, the turtle at the very bottom of the pile, was suffering the most. When Mack asked Yertle for a relief, Yertle just told him to shut up. 

When Yertle decided to expand his kingdom and commanded more and more turtles to add to his throne. Mack, now being squished by an even bigger pile of turtles, again asked for relief. Again Yertle told Mack to be quiet. 

Then Yertle noticed the moon rising above him as the night approached.

Furious that something "dares to be higher than Yertle the King", he decided to call for even more turtles in an attempt to rise above it.

 However, before he could give the command, Mack decided he'd had enough. He burped, shaking the stack of turtles and tossing Yertle off into the mud, leaving him "King of the Mud" and freeing the others.

This is Max. The turtle who dared to burp.

 

Go, Max.

Max is carved of rose quartz, and carries a water lily -- which is a lot lighter than a stack of turtles and Yertle.


He's a pendant.  He likes to hang out around your neck.  Right now he's hanging around on etsy.

Poppies for Vets

Poppies for Memorial Day

100% of the sale price for these charms goes to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans. The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans (NCHV) — a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization governed by a 17-member board of directors — is the resource and technical assistance center for a national network of community-based service providers and local, state and federal agencies that provide emergency and supportive housing, food, health services, job training and placement assistance, legal aid and case management support for hundreds of thousands of homeless veterans each year 

Story of the Poppies

In the World War I battlefields of Belgium, poppies grew wild amid the war-torn landscape. How could such a pretty flower grow wild while surrounded by death and destruction? The overturned soils of battle enabled the poppy seeds to be covered, thus allowing them to grow and to forever serve as a reminder of the bloodshed during that and future wars.

The poppy movement was inspired by the poem "In Flanders Fields" written by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae of the Canadian forces in 1915 before the United States entered World War I. Selling replicas of the original Flanders' poppy originated in some of the allied countries immediately after the Armistice.

   

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Poppies on etsy

Poppies on eBay

Remember.

Love Among the Moons

The Mirror, the Cat, and the Moon Love Spell

On May Eve, coax your cat to go with you to a pond or a rushing stream, and take with you a mirror, a man's silk handkerchief, and a white candle with some tinder to light it.


When you reach the water's edge, light the candle, hold it up to the moon, and intone this rune:

Lovely Freya, Queen of the Moon
Bring my true love to me by the month of June.

As the moon rises, call puss and let her study her wide-eyed face in the mirror for a little while. Then turn your back to the water and hold the mirror aloft so that it reflects the moon, and also her reflection on the water. Place the silk handkerchief over your face and count the number of moons which appear in the mirror. If there are but two, a twelvemonth must pass before you are wed, but if there are more, their number represents the months which must pass before you are wed.

If your cat is strong in magick, your true love's face will appear in the mirror, as still as the reflection of the moon, just for an instant.


More cat magic


More magical cat earrings


Moon mirror by www.terraplume.ca

I'm Being Followed by a Moonstone Shadow

Moonstone is a stone filled with lore, and believed to hold many special properties.  Among them, it is said that Moonstone: 

Brings good fortune

Assists in foretelling the future

Enhances intuition

Promotes inspiration

Brings success in love as well as business matters

Offers protection on land and at sea

All with a pair of earrings.

Luck be a Ladybug Tonight

Bug

by Bruce Lansky

In the window of the washroom

At our school yesterday,

A little bug was crawling

In its little buggy way.

I whispered in its tiny ear

To not make any noise;

because it was a ladybug

And the washroom is for boys.

Adopt some ladybugs on etsy. There are enough ladybugs on this to eat all the lampwork glass aphids in your garden, and then some!