Happy Samhain - And The Winner is........

First off I would like to wish all of you a wonderful All Hallows Eve... It is an absolutely beautiful day here... I have been busy with all sorts of things.... I had to go outside and enjoy the sunshine as well as the warm temperatures.. It is Halloween and I saw wasps, butterflys and ladybugs... wonderful...... My back porch was covered in willow leaves from the days before when the wind blew like winter... of course I had to sweep them off....

I prepared my apples for the cemetary.  I am some distance from any of my relatives to visit them so I decided to go out and give the Wright babies (Jackie Moon story) each a little something this Hallow Eve.  A nice little apple with a marigold tied with a red ribbon.  I don't get many (if any) trick or treaters so I figured I would do this instead. 

I am also busy preparing the food and such for this evening... Roasted corn, acorn squash, Halloween Pie (sheep herders pie with charmed potatoes), and fairy cakes with homemade whip cream... It just all sounds so yummy... I can't wait to eat it....

Also finally got around to carving 2 of my pumpkins... The 2 tall ones from Tennessee.  Also planning on making some roasted pumpkin seeds .  I still don't think I will be able to bring myself to cut the others.... they are just too nice looking... Although eventually I know that the rot will get them... I plan to harvest the seed though and plant them for next season...

Lastly I am sure you are wanting to know who won the giveaway.... I tried to get one of my cats to help with the drawing yet they could not be more interested in such things, so I decided to have my handsome husband help me out.  He was nice enough to lend a hand and pull out a name for me from the all the entries.  I am pleased to say that the winner of my very first giveaway "A Little Tonic Before Bedtime" is  D Suplicki from Whimsical Cottage  .   Shoot me your mailing info and  I will get the package in the mail to you first thing Monday morning... I added lots of extra little goodies so enjoy.  Be sure and also watch for my November giveaway.  I will post all the details on Monday November 2nd.  This one is dear to my heart I am quite excited about it. 

Lastly I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend fill with magic and good times.  Thank you for helping make this a very special October for me.... Blessings

Jackie Moon Update

Many of you will recall an entry I wrote some time back about Jackie Moon.  I had been at the local cemetary attempting to get some photographs when I ran across an odd headstone.  It was made of concrete and placed in what appeared to be an old barrel.  The name and dates had been scralled into the concrete and antique colored marbles outlined the edges as if in an attempt to add some decor to the oddly fashioned marker.  Its oddity has grabbed me and the curiousity of you has deepened it even more. 

I had to go back to investigate further... In closer examination I learned that it was not a barrel yet a hollowed out radio speaker that housed the monument for Jackie.  I could still see where the wire which covered the front had been cut away leaving sharp edges around the outside.  The stickers were still fierce there and I had once again forgotten my small garden spade I had planned to take to clear the ground before the face to see if I could find any further information in regards to dates.  Thus I will have to once again return to Jackie to investigate further.

I did however find another mystery or possibly just a further tangle to the web of Jackie's story.  Surrounding Jackies stone are 5 other stones.  All except two made of Concrete with the information written as if with a rough instrument.  All 5 of the markers of that of children, infants or toddlers and all from the same family (Wright).  In seeing this I was even more perplexed than before.

First at the tragedy that one family should suffer the loss of so many children in such short of time.  It appears that the deaths begin December of 1926 and ended March of 1943.  Although this sounds like a large span the tragedy can be seen when you realize that the losses were aproximately every 6 years.  The childrens ages range from 1 day to 9 months.  Thus it is easy to see the grief that must have accomanpanied such loss.

Yet still the question even more to me... why do these tiny markers surround an even larger mystery... That of who is Jackie Moon.  Yes believe me  I am curious and have been trying to research this as best I can.. Yet so far I have not found much to help me out.  Yet I am not one to give up easily especially when it is something that I find so intriguing.

Although I will say this.  I do not think that the finding of Jackie's marker was an accident for me.  I beleive things happen with a purpose, especially meaningful things.  These 6 people have become part of me... I can not just turn my back and think no more of them.  The cemetary they reside in is older and not tended well.  Stickers and weeds grow wild and the markers  can be easily hidden.It is apparent that no one comes to visit them or if they do it is on rare occasion.  

I learned today that in some countrys they believe in 3 deaths. (actual death of the body, burial into the ground, and when you are remembered no more).  These 6 have encounted the first 2 yet not the 3rd.  They still are alive in my memory as well as in the ones of you who have pondered on their story.  And for this I am thankful.