Saturday, June 29, 2013

True Blood- the MS house


If you’re a fan of True Blood you probably recognize this house as the Mississippi home of Russell Edgington. (who has now met the true death) While it appeared as an elaborate multi-roomed mansion, that’s not really the case, as many of you may know. The house is actually the historic Longwood Plantation in Natchez, MS. Longwood Plantation, also known as Nutt’s Folly, began construction in the 1860s. It is a very different looking plantation building when compared to other plantation homes in the area. Rather than the usual Greek Revival style that was so popular in the South during that era, the builder chose to create a multistory, octagonal, Oriental Revival style home. The house is six stories tall, 30,000 square feet, and has a large byzantine styled dome. Dr. Haller Nutt began the building of the home and a Philadelphia architect named Samuel Sloan designed it. Before the house could be completed the Civil War broke out and construction halted. The workers were needed at home, so they left the house in an unfinished state. The exterior of the house was complete but the inside was never finished. The house has 32 rooms, but only 9 were completed. In 1864, Dr. Nutt died. His wife continued to live in the first floor of the house. The first floor still has many of the original furnishings and belongings. Even through years of neglect and abandonment, the house survived. It is well known as one of the most beautiful, as well as the largest, of the octagonal houses. If you’re ever in the area Longwood is open for tours as are many historic homes in Natchez.

Sunday, June 2, 2013

And then there were three!




Zoe 4 months after adoption. 



So, recently we added to our min pin posse by adopting a new female min pin estimated to be six years old. Here’s a bit of her story. Zoe (previously known as Sondra when rescued) was pulled by the Mobile SPCA from dreadful conditions. (Thanks SPCA!!) She was living (if you call it that) with fifty other dogs in a house trailer. I’m fairly certain she’d never been outside. So guess where fifty dogs use the bathroom if they don’t go outside. The yard is a strange place to her and she prefers using the bathroom on the concrete patio rather than the grass, or inside the house. We're working on housebreaking, but it's slow. You don't break a six year habit overnight. The first time I put her down in the grass she didn’t seem to know what it was and she still doesn’t really want to walk in it. She’s apparently lived in her own filth for quite some time. I was amazed when she urinated in her own bed and continued to sleep in it, but I guess that’s all she’d known. I'd never known a dog that would soil it’s own bed. So every day we washed beds, blankets and dog hoping to teach her the difference between clean and dirty. 4 weeks later she finally learned to quit soiling her bed. She looks like she recently had a litter of puppies. She’s spade now so no more worries with that again. Zoe’s a challenge, but hopefully she’ll learn how to be part of our family like our other dogs are. Just a few weeks ago, when we were sure she had learned not to pee on a whim at night, she made the move from her bed to ours, where the other two dogs are.  (I know, I keep saying we're going to get them out of our bed but we just never do.) And that’s Zoe’s story. Just a note, spay and neuter your pets!! Adopt whenever possible and please don’t buy your dog at a pet store or in a parking lot or street corner, or from a puppy mill. If you don’t know what a puppy mill is it’s a place where dogs are kept in cages and used for nothing but breeding. They don’t live with their owner. Often the owner of the mill breeds several different varieties of dogs. If you’re buying a dog GO VISIT where the owner has them. Dogs in puppy mills spend all or almost all of their time in a cage. PLEASE don’t support this. If you have a heart of any kind you know this is no way for an animal to live. Yet, I see people who are touted by local media as businessmen or women and their business is a puppy mill. REALLY!!!  When you buy and don’t SEE where the dog lives you’re probably supporting and encouraging people like the one who had Zoe.  Check out a breed rescue. They often have puppies and young dogs too. If you’re looking for a specific breed you can get one there and not support bad situations. (Whew! Stepping off soapbox now.) This is a picture of Zoe and her sister Sassy who we adopted in 2008. Sassy was also rescued from an abusive situation by the Louisiana SPCA. Toby, our male min pin didn't want to have pictures made. Mr. Grumpy! 
Zoe and Sassy

  

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Wicked

So we had a fun day Sat. May 25th.  We rode down to New Orleans (in the Jeep with the top down because the weather was soooo nice!!)  We had brunch at Court of Two Sisters on Royal Street then went to see Wicked at Mahalia Jackson Theater. We enjoyed the musical. But for me the second half was better than the first. Now I have to admit, I was drooping during the first half and a little sleepy, maybe it was that huge brunch. Or maybe I just liked the second half because to me it was much darker than the first half and well... we all know I like the dark stuff. But either way we had a great day. Recommend it to anyone. 

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Kenaz


I'm waiting for my second werewolf book to come back from its first set of edits, but I wanted to make another rune post. In my new werewolf book the rune Kenaz becomes important to Alexis. Kenaz traditionally means torch. Kenaz’s element is fire. It is the rune of burning light, heat and warmth physically.  Mentally it is the rune of an awakened and enlightened mind. In a reading it may shed light on an unknown or unacknowledged aspect of the person, as it does for Alexis. If reversed Kenaz may indicate an impending loss or the arrival of darkness on an important path. Depending on what other runes Kenaz falls with the loss may be temporary or more permanent.  I loved this pewter pendant of Kenaz. You can find it at Kaboodle. http://www.kaboodle.com/reviews/rune-kenaz-pewter-pendant-on-cord

Monday, March 11, 2013

The rune Mannaz




In my first werewolf book Marked, the werewolves had marks that appeared on their arms in the midst of their transformation. The marks revealed an important aspect of the werewolf. In that book I described the marks but didn’t identify them as runes in the story. I only described the shape of the symbols, though I based all the descriptions on runes seen in the Futhark. In my second werewolf book I use the runes more. Admittedly, in my own made up way!! Mannaz was one of marks described in my first book.
Mannaz – man: humankind.  Can indicate self, family community, relationships:
Mannaz represents humanity, and thus Midgard. More generally speaking it can represent our personal connections, from our immediate circle of family and friends to the wider community around us. It also represents our connection with the Gods and with nature, through the two Norse myths of the creation of humans; the first where they sprang from Ymir's body, and the second in which they were created from two logs by a river. Mannaz is home and all those whose lives we touch. 

Monday, March 4, 2013

Werewolf Book 2


Just an update! I finished my second werewolf book and sent it off to be edited a couple of days ago. I'm excited to be working with an editor on this book that I've worked with in the past. Sending the book to be edited of course means it's not finished, only finished for now. In the mean time I've read a couple of books that I've had to put off reading while trying to get my own books done and now it's time to get to work on another book while I wait. I've got one that I had started that it's definitely time to get finished. I'm hoping for this werewolf book to be out by June, but it will depend on what my edits look like and how long it takes me to get it done.

Friday, January 25, 2013

Runes


In doing some research for my second werewolf book I’ve been reading about runes. In my book Marked the werewolves had symbols on their wrists when they transformed and I based the shapes on runes. My second book will have a bit more about runes in it so I decided to share some of that information here just because it was interesting to me and might be to someone else. DISCLAIMER!! I do not profess to be any kind of EXPERT in runes or even have much knowledge about them. Actually I have NO knowledge except what I’m beginning to learn now. I’m just gathering some general basic information and that’s what I hope to share.

No one knows EXACTLY how old runes are. Evidence of them can be seen as far back as 1300BC.  Runes have names which have meaning indicating they had some magical or religious significance. The word rune itself comes from the Norse word Runa meaning secret or mystery. Runes represent objects, gods, people animals, concepts and occurrences. They are frequently felt to have a symbology that is a powerful form of communication. There is believed to be a link between the power of the mind as well as other magical properties which are represented by the symbology contained within each symbolic letter.  Rune stones are set of 24 ancient alphabetic symbols although the number of runes was somewhat fluid over time.  The basic 24 are called the FuThark which comes from the sounds of the six letters. The 24 Runic signs are arranged into three families of 8 runes each.  Later I’ll share more about meanings of some runes.