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www.themagicsleigh.blogspot.com

The Magic

IN THE MOMENTS OF OUR LIVES
BOTH THE JOYOUS AND THE TRAGIC
IF THE TRUTH IS TO BE TOLD
WE ARE ALL PURSUING MAGIC

AND THE MAGIC THAT WE SEEK
AS WE’RE SURE YOU HAVE DISCOVERED
CAN BE FOUND IN CERTAIN PLACES
FAR MORE EASILY THAN OTHERS

IN THE SAND BENEATH THE SPHINX
IN THE DREAMS OF CANDLELIGHT
BUT THE SUREST PLACE OF ALL
IS IN THE FORGIVING WORLD OF NIGHT

AND OF ALL THE NIGHTS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR
THAT COME AND GENTLY LEAVE
NONE HOLD THE DREAM OF MAGIC
LIKE THE EVENING, CHRISTMAS EVE

-Paul O’Neill

Christmas Eve and other Stories

Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Merry Christmas from Kira and Scampi!

Yes, I am Virginia….

“I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge — myth is more potent than history — dreams are more powerful than facts — hope always triumphs over experience — laughter is the cure for grief — love is stronger than death.”-Robert Fulghum

I actually received some complaints on
this quotation. Some people do not understand that these are thoughts and wishes. Like faith, without a little faith, we tend to die a little. live a life a little less fulfilled. My favorite quote ever seems appropriate now.

“DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old. “Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. “Papa says, ‘If you see it in THE SUN it’s so.’ “Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus? “VIRGINIA O’HANLON. “115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET.” VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except [what] they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge. Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished. Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world. You may tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding. No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

Custom Orders

Today is the last day I can accept any more custom made figurines for the holiday season. While I will do theses year round, can not guarantee that they will be completed by Christmas after this date. To get your own custom ornament or figurine, the following must be provided, photos and or description of your pet, including any unique characteristics, (white tip at end of tail), that may not show up in photos

From your photo, I will make a dog or kitty in your choice of pose- Sitting or rear up,
and style.

Choose from -
-Angel
-with a candy cane

-with a ball

-with ribbon

-with bow

-with toy (please specify)
-with lights (lights do not light up)
Figurines can also be made with no ornament hook and a favorite toy or pose added,
dogs or cats can be made with any of the poses or styles

Please be aware that due to drying and firing times of the porcelain clay allow 3 weeks for your item to be finished,

Link to my Etsy Store for custom ordering

$20.00 plus $5.99 shipping

Dog Tuna Training Treats

Tuna training treats for Dogs (Cats love them too!)

This tuna cookie is a great reward for teaching your dog something new, It stays soft so it is a easy and quick reward. This is a really great training treat. It has a perfect texture so it’s firm,  Works well in a bait bag during agility or obedience training.
You will also notice our pets hanging by the the oven door waiting for the treats as they have a distinctive odor while baking… forwarned!!!

Ingredients

• 2 (6 ounce) cans tuna (do not drain)
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients with an electric mixer until well blended.
2. Spread mixture into a greased, (I spray it with Pam) cookie sheet. Roll out or flatten with fingers until 1/2″ thick
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes covered and then another 15 minutes uncovered. .
4. Let cool and cut into slices or bit sized pieces, I use a pizza cutter, works great
5. Store in refrigerator or freeze in ziplock bags, make sure they are labeled, Hubby and kids don’t like Tuna treats!

Alterations and Disclaimer!

Make sure your Pet has no allergies to any of the ingredients, For dogs that have allergies to wheat , you can replace the recipe with gluten free rice flour, which also works.
the garlic may be omited, I have made them without the cheese, with no problems, they may be a little drier, but my dogs haven’t noticed or really care! I have also used salmon or mackeral instead of tuna.

Uptown Altamonte Art festival

I will be at this art show, this weekend come visit me!:

Art on the Boulevard in Uptown Altamonte

Saturday – Sunday, November 22 – 23, 2008

Show Hours: Saturday – Sunday 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM Free, no gate.

Uptown Altamonte in Altamonte Springs, Fl.

Suncoast seabird sanctuary

Thank you to all of my wonderful customers this month, I was able to donate enough to

Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary to Adopt -A-Bird this month.

(More details when I get the info from them.)

The Spirit, Refreshed

I remember now… my spirit has been renewed. I look at life once again through the eyes of a child on Christmas Eve. That is how I need to remember why I do what I do. The look of a smile, when someone picks up an angel to hang on their tree. The sparkle, the lights, the glow from within. This is why I make Christmas ornaments, all year. This is why I love what I do. I create for others, to make a little magic. To bring a little joy, to remember what it feels like to be a child, laying under the Christmas tree, looking up at the lights, the sparkles,  glowing…

How did I bring back my spirit? It really just needed refreshing, it had been a bad week or two for me, things were not going real well..I had tickets to see my favorite Christmas band, The Trans-Siberian Orchestra. That is all it took. I think this was the 8th time I have seen them in concert, every time it brings tears to my eyes and joy to my heart and ears! Think about the power of music, Music is a gift from God

“It’s every gift that someone gives Expecting nothing back It’s every kindness that we do Each simple little act…

And so it’s good that we remember Just as soon as we’ve discovered That the things we do in life Will always end up touching others”

-Paul O’Neill

Christmas Eve and other Stories

Trans-Siberian Orchestra

“..Equal parts The Who and Charles Dickens….”-The St. Petersburg Times

Explosion

You can’t have any successes unless you can accept failure. ~George Cukor

Just when I thought things were going well, sales were picking up for the holidays, had many custom orders, I was actually ahead of schedule…..
Having a bad day. It happens to use all. Sometimes things just go wrong, it just sees to happen a lot recently. I think that the computer on my kiln reverted to the last program I used, which was a quick , fast gold firing, instead of the very slow bisque firing I usually do. I expected the kiln to fire around 100 degrees in an hour, I returned to check on it in and hour and a half and it was over 700 degrees, with this result.I am trying desperately to stay upbeat. I stayed up late last night night working on the orders that broke. Many of them did, some, miraculously survived. I lost around 3-4 days of work in this small disaster. Life goes on. I just have less time than I thought. After all tomorrow is another day….

I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work. ~Thomas Edison

About blogging and learning

About blogging…. there are many things I don’t know, many things I usually do wrong. I am very new at this, and so are a great number of people. Some days i write about things nobody wants to read about, or cares to read, some days I ramble on for I am sure it is like hours, other days I am stumped as to what to write. I have tried many things, talking about my sculpting, with photos, promoting other artists. I have found that I really need to set up a pattern to make it easier on me and my readers, but how why where am I going to learn about this…
Anyone who wants to learn …..I have found where! A great group of fellow artisans has a Blogtalk Radio program. It is on Monday night at 9 pm EST. You can listen to this at anytime by clicking the radio link I have provided,all prerecorded, or join us in a chat room and listen in live on Monday’s and chat with others as they try and explain life’s mysteries to us all. This has great information folks, Learn how to make money, promote your blog, shameless self promotion and loads of fun, come and chat, listen in and just have fun.

This is a link to his blog about the show.

For more information click here Blockhead Radio

Link to the shows

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/blockheadrod

Memory and Remembrance

One of the greatest casualties of the war in Vietnam is the Great Society … shot down on the battlefield of Vietnam.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.

After I wrote this morning’s post on Veterans Day, I remembered something that I did several years ago. My son was a boy scout, My Dad, my brother were both Eagle scouts. To get my son motivated to continue scouting I decided to become a volunteer with his troop. I was working on an upcoming court of honor for the boys, it was around this time of year and we had a meager number of awards to present. So I did some reseach and discovered one of the boys Dad was a Veteran. We decided to do a veterans Tribute during our Court of Honor and asked the Dad if he would like to speak after the tribute. He accepted. All was going well during this Court of Honor, we played patriotic music and had all Veterans, including grandparents, family members, saluted by the boys and everyone attending. At this time the father came up to speak. He started thanking everyone for this honor, talked a bit about his experiences and broke down. He said this was the first time EVER he had been honored for being a veteran. As a Vietnam veteran, there were no parades, no prayer vigils, no yellow ribbons for these troops who were drafted into this unpopular war. He had never even been thanked for his service to this country until this day. What an eye opener for these boys! It made a huge impression on them and everyone sitting in the audience. To this day, I remember this man, and what our simple little tribute meant to him, and to all of us. It touched my heart more than any award I have ever won, I feel that this was one of my proudest moment, to bring tribute to someone who had never been thanked, or even acknowledged for his contribution. I received a wonderful thank you note from him a few weeks later, it was simple but sincere. I think my little tribute made a difference to one man. And that was enough.

Veterans Day

I think of a hero as someone who understands the degree of responsibility that comes with his freedom.

Bob Dylan (1941 – )

U.S. President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed an Armistice Day a legal holiday; “a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as ‘Armistice Day’.”

Remember veterans you know and you don’t know. Think of all of the sacrifices they made for you and your country. My Dad is one of them; he is a Korean War veteran. He is one of our country’s many heroes.

This recent election has made a lot of people proud of their country. Proud to be an American. Hope for the future. Pray for everyone in harms way today defending our country, whether or not you believe they should be there, they need to be in our thoughts and prayers, these are the Veterans of tomorrow. They are sacrificing themselves, their lives, their families, to protect us, our country, and our way of life.

Remember

Christmas Dreams

Inspiration comes in many forms for me, a painting, a song, this song reached out and touched me when this album first came out. For those of you who don’t know Trans Siberian Orchestra, please check them out Stories of hope and inspiration and belief of a better future for us al

WHILE SHE AWAITS EVER PATIENT

SHE AWAITS RARELY SEEN…

…AND A TEAR FALLS UPON HER SNOW-WHITE HAIR

AND IT RUNS TO THE END WHERE IT LINGERS THERE

THEN IT FALLS THROUGH THE AIR OF A WINTER’S SKY

TILL IT CAPTURES A DREAM AND IT’S CRYSTALIZED….

Captured Dreams

l.

Please click daily, Save a Life

If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man.

Mark Twain (1835 – 1910)

Please support the following sites, it doesn’t cost you a penny, and you can be saving lives!!

www.TheAnimalRescueSite.com

The Animal Rescue Site focuses the power of the Internet on a specific need — providing food for some of the 27 million unwanted animals given to shelters in the U.S. every year. Over 10 million animals are put to death every year in the U.S. alone because they are abandoned and unwanted.

Each click on the purple “Click Here to Give – it’s FREE” button at The Animal Rescue Site provides food and care for a rescued animal living in a shelter or sanctuary. Funding for food and care is paid by site sponsors and distributed to animals in need at The Fund for Animals’ renowned animal sanctuaries (including Cleveland Amory Black Beauty Ranch in Texas and The Fund for Animals Wildlife Center in Southern California), pet shelters supported by the Petfinder Foundation, North Shore Animal League, and other worthy animal care facilities supported by the GreaterGood.org foundation.

http://www.freekibblekat.com/

http://www.freekibble.com/

Freekibble.com’s primary mission is to provide good, healthy food to dogs and cats to those shelters who are working so hard to see that none of them go hungry – they need our help. In addition to providing free kibble to the Humane Society of Central Oregon, we’ve added 10 new shelters to the program (from Oregon to Florida!) and plan to expand the program to many more! Thanks to everyone for supporting freekibble by playing the trivia game – every piece of kibble counts!

We’re very happy to say that we’re partnering with Castor and Pollux to feed these hungry dogs and cats a very high quality, all natural kibble – a very decent dinner!