Today is one of the nicest Spring Days that ever did happen, the sun is shinning , the Birds are chirping ( and we even have the Hot Birdchick out today so we even know WHICH birds are chirping ). Just got back from checking on the Bees. There is something truly spiritual and quite magic , about tending Bees, I think. I’m not sure how to put it, but I feel so connected to every bit of the earth, and to everything , every time we work with them.

The girls are doing pretty well, I am sure Sharon will do a complete post on exactly WHAT they are doing over at Birdchick.com. I know we found drone cells today and that the drones are the boy bees and they do NOTHING except eat and find a Queen to mate with.

( nope, hee-hee, I am not EVEN going to go there….Too easy! )

We went down into the hives, and looked for ( and found ) Funky Comb. By the time we were getting done we were getting Bonked pretty frequently. Being ” Bonked” is Bee Talk for ” Get the heck away from my honey!!!!!!!! ” And it’s what they do before they sting. It’s kind of freaky and louder than you would think. ( so so wish Malena was here for this! She would LOVE BEEing! I can just see her, the little goofball, talking to them, and singing to them and wanting to take them home and keep them for pets! )

The garden is finally done. ( well, as ” Done ” as a garden ever gets, it is IN at any rate ) Here’s Terry, the Wonder Gardener, and I doing American GOTHic. ( I slay myself! )

The various Things that have been grilling outdoors seem to be done now. So I am going to sit under a tree and contemplate Bees and Gardens. I hope whatever you are doing this Holiday weekend is as nice as mine is turning out to be.

Love and Bee Magic,
Lorraine

Help needed!!! I have pictures now of two little Bengal Kitties and I need to choose ONE to bring home and love! How can I choose??? They are both so very sweet!!! I would take both in a heartbeat, but they are pricy little bits of sweetness, and Misty-girl might not like having two new friends. I think Misty will like the kitten, as she used to live with other cats, and New Kitty will be so very small….

So, what do you all think???

On another note, I am taking care of Boss’es new Dog, who is a joy and a delight, and I have never really been a Dog Person, but I had him out this morning out at Boss’es, and was talking to the Landscaper about things when Dog took off like something launched from a cannon. ( a bird , I believe ) Well, he took me with him, like something out of a cartoon, I flew, which was fine until I landed.

Head, hip and shoulder went down in the drive like a bang. ( fortunately for the gig tonight, on the left side ) I am beyond bruised and man oh man, in some pain. I felt more bad about the poor Landscaper than anything else , as he looked so stricken and kept saying OH MY GOD ARE YOU OK??? All I could say was TAKE THE DOG, in a weak voice…

Dog is good one, and it was my fault for being distracted and Dog is going to Dog Class every week and he really seems to want to know what to so and do it, but I think I will be more sore tomorrow! Thank the Gods for Hot Tub!

( I may have to do an Ellen Degeneres and do the show tomorrow night from a BED, hee-hee )

Very fun show tonight,( needed help on and off the stage but, hey, one makes do..) made lots of new friends , especially a Small Person who came up and played violen for us. Made the night for me she did, born performer . Pics will be up on paulandlorraine.com soon….

Love and soreness,
Lorraine

Ok everyone, this is some BIG news…….

I just heard on NPR that our ever so delightful government has lifted the ban on importing Mangos from India!!!!! Apparently , the Mangos we have been getting in this country are derived from the Indian Mango , which is, by all accounts, supierer. ( which goes a long way twards explaining why , when I was in England I had the best Mango EVER )

The report went on to say, in an interview with the first importer of Indian Mangos, that when you cut one up and ate it, you hands would then smell the delightful smell of Mango for the rest of the day and they are so lovely that hostesess in India will use them for centerpieces and display. I am all for eating the little darlings. Often.

So, if you ever want anything and wish to sweeten the request, it’s now Indian Mangos all the way! I love them more than BEES, gardens, pasta and Malena ( wait, scratch that last. I truly do love her more than Mangos. I just got carried away with delight for a moment . Sorry, Div!!!!! )

I am feeling a little reflective tonight. I just got a letter from a friend of mine who is, apparently, again in Iraq. She joined the Nationial Gaurd to help pay for college, and now she is over there, worried, scared, bored , and finding out more about really really weird insects than she ever wanted to know. I have always thought this war was a Bad Idea and that it was a Not Good thing, and I have seen the posters and stickers saying ” Support our troops ” but it never hit home before.

Now it’s my friend who is a Troop. I remember her as the sweet girl who was a Morris Dancer and would go for long walks with me thru the desert at night in Arizonia, leaping cactus , coyote and all. I can’t imagine what she is dealing with right now.

I sent her two boxes today , filled with comics, books, coffee, strange toys and soap and powdered Gatorade and citronella candles.

I want her to come home.

Mangos and Absent Friends,
Lorraine

CUTENESS!

Miss Fabulous sent me the cutest box of goodies. We are celebrating her hair, since she is the only one out of the two of us who can use color. My hair is stubborn black. It doesn’t color, it just goes pumpkin orange and falls out. Back in high school I wore every color in my “Bruise Pallet”. These days, it’s plain black. So we must look to Fabulous Lorraine for our hair fashion tips. He ehee.

Check out the t-shirt! Dead and Cuddley!!! That’s me!! I have worn it for 3 days now. I already managed to get blood on it, but hey it’s a goth chic shirt. I figure it will add to the charm.

I AM dead after this last shoot. Wait till you see my rodeo queen photos. Ye ha baby. I wore Fablo’s pink wool cowboy hat for the full effect. I even had the rodeo wave down, much to Miles surprise. (I did come from the wild west, much to people’s surprise. No exotic blood here really, just a Welsh wench.)

The city mouse has learned much from her fire haired country friend. Thanks to Fablo, I don’t run from bees anymore, I grow my own lettuce and tomatoes and I can make brownies from scratch, well kind of. (I have the book that tells me HOW, I haven’t actually done it yet) We mice are getting our gardens ready. Hers is filled with edible things, mine is filled with poisonous things, mostly. Not the roots, just the leaves! wink, nudge.

Here in the “city” everyone gets burgled or robbed. Somehow with the arsenal of swords, guns and knives we own, not to mention both of our tempers, I’m not to worried. (But explaining that to our neighbors without sounding like skin head nut jobs is another story.)People in the new age community ask me if I’m afraid of the “spiritual energies” Miles draws and “brings in to our home”. What? Like he’s channeling Satan? Sorry no, Satan lives down the block and designs brat doll movies. (seriously, his real name is Bob Lizarraga) http://www.lizarraga.net/ I like saying hello to him using his nickname though. Almost Everyone over 50 turns their head with worry. If I did see a scary TEVES “energy” hanging out here, I’d tell the dude to guard the house!

We went looking at houses and I told Miles when we get our “compound”, I want a 20 foot cement wall with razor tape on the top and a sign that says, “unannounced visitors will be tortured and shot”. He disagreed. He thought a tribe of Aboriginal warriors with blow darts would be more fun and less traceable. For now, the life size Darkness Bust saves us from most pushy missionaries and “Good lord, you need saven‘! ” types, not to mention the minions of Satanic Beings just flying around the neighborhood waiting to be discovered by Miles Teves. Right? Amen sister. If they only knew what kind of people we really were, they would be so disappointed. But then, there would be nothing to gossip about. So, I’m happy to provide constant entertainment for the fear-mongering idiots of the world. I mean, what would Vampira say?

Shake it…. says Malena
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Lorraine the Red Haired Gardener here……
I have just enough energy left to add to this before falling into bed.Had a long hard far away gig last night. Some gigs are magic and wonderful and everyone is into you and the music is on on on and the people are as much a part of it all as you are. And some gigs are work. I worked last night. ( tho at one point a Party Bus of women pulled up, all dressed in Sombreros and such, with a bride to be. We played Mexican music for them. Irish actually, but hey, like at that point they knew the difference???? They were fun anyway. )

Today my belly dancing horticulture friend Gretchen came over and planned Yard and Garden. Also planted three huge lilac bushes, one unknown tree which MIGHT be a plum or a crabapple, a Clematis Vine and a pot of Pansies, and hung up twp purple petunia baskets. I am not so very into Grass as the main feature of Lawn. I want all sorts of wild and magic spreading things and lots of Garden and Bushes and , oh I don’t know, weird things. It is going to be all wild and Fey in the back and very lovely in the front.

Between Dog and Garden, I no longer worry about workout. Just staying awake and upright, or heck just upright, for work and gigs. ( which , as I mentioned, are sometimes work. )The Veggies are all doing all one could hope for too. Country Thing that I am. I haven’t quite got Malena’s Style down , when it comes to Gardening, no high heels and corsets, but I think long black dress and top hat pictures could very well be showing up here soon.I love my Witchy Little House on the Hill!!!!!!!!!!( and even tho they are not needed here, where people hardly ever even lock doors, I think the Warriors With Blow Darts would add a certain something to any establishment!)

Love and Gardens,

Lorraine

Bees are truly more wonderful fun than you could ever imagine! I always swore I would have NOTHING to do with Bees every time my Boss would wistfully mention how much he wanted Bee Hives. Fine, I would say. Go get a Beekeeper. Enter the Hot Birdchick, a Bee Class, and a couple of boxes of Bees and now I am having so much fun, I’d never believe it if it wasn’t me!

I want more hives! More Bees! Honey for Everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, I will settle down. Chris has told me very very soon he will get me what I need to go back into the studio and finish up the violin parts for the Hidden Variable cd, we are getting really close. Adam Stemple, who has produced every cd I have ever made, is coming in with me, largely to say things like ” That was very nice. Now do it again ” Ah, the studio…..

Malena has new pictures up on her blog So lovely! So elegant! Tres Chic , that one is! And in leather too, no complaints here, hee-hee . And , man, can she SING!

My garden is wanting to get planted, so far spinach, onion, three kinds of peas and radishes have all come up. The beets are the great underachieves and have done NOTHING yet. I am hoping to get the rest of the little guys in this weekend. Not the tomatoes, it’s still too cold for their little leaves, or the hot peppers. ( I have about 15 kinds of tomatoes, all colours, and 9 different peppers. I REALLY like salsa! )

And my Boss got a Dog. A very cool dog.

Love and Bees and Dogs and Strange Kitties,
Lorraine

PS. Someone, I won’t say who, wants me to add ” Maddy is Cool.”

Happy May Day All!!!!!! Even if it is almost over….Well, it was a pretty busy day.

I hope that everyone had a wonderful May Eve, or Beltane or Fire Night or however you want to call it, and did appropriately Witchy type things. I have always loved May Eve, it seems like such a magic night where anything can, and probably will happen . I have a hill that goes out into the woods in my backyard, and it always seemed to me that if there WAS going to be a door to the otherworld, that would be the place for it. I kept hoping one would appear, as one does on May Eve , but nothing much seemed to happen, so I thought nice thoughts , gazed at the moon and went back inside and bought a cat.

Which is a pretty Witchy thing to do , if you think about it.

My kitty is only two weeks old. I won’t be getting her for another 10 weeks or so. There are six in the litter and three are girls. She is a Bengal. Bengals are the coolest cats ever. I am sure of it. I have wanted one for years, but we always seemed to have too many cats, strays all, for me to go out and intentionally acquire one, but now that I have my own house, I am going to make this dream come true. If you click HERE you can visit the website and see pics of her Mom, Asia, and some pics of the kittens individually. This is all the little guys together, I think the three on the top are the girls. Wildest cats since Hera’s Brjann appeared on the scene….

There didn’t turn out to be a door into Faerie for me last night, but I acquired a cat and have a feeling that Kitty is going to be pretty darn magic all on her own.

Love and Kittens,
Lorraine

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Malena here. I started off Beltane with a bang. Banged Out Productions came over to check out my house. We are going to shoot a scene in my lovely chair Miles bought for me.
It’s a beaut! I can’t wait for this (confidential process)to be over so I can blab about the project. Ahhh!
In other news, we did a Alter Ego shoot Sunday night. I can honestly say even I am happy with the photos. MIRACLE. I am a perfectionist from hell about my own photos. I am still pooped. My little skinny modelas, Beth and Corinne, are coming next weekend to do the sexy stuff Mrs. Teves can’t or won’t wear.

As for May Day, I will be building a LA style bonfire. (A 3 inch caldron with some herbs in it) I wouldn’t want to be a “fire hazard” which in LA could be two people smoking. On a more positive note, here’s a well written article about
Beltane. And here’s a ritual I found.Due to my budding career I won’t have time to write you one myself this year. Oh well. When the new CD, The Hidden Variable comes out, you will have all the magic you will ever need.

I will be out in my courtyard relaxing tonihgt. I planted all my witchy herbs today. I can’t wait to use them. Rue is my latest treasure. It’s growing like a weed, but all herbs are weeds really. I will be praying for all of you, so send your wishes out into the universe and together, we can make things happen. I see magic happen all around me all the time. You just have to look for it. Like when I go to the post office, which in LA means bullet proof glass and a line out the door. I always get a nice teller who speaks english. Small miracle! Or when I think of Lorraine and I go get the phone to call her and it rings. (It’s her)

So tonight as you get ready for bed. Think of what you need in your life and ask the universe to send it. It’s better not to get too specific. In my acting, I always ask that I get hired for gigs that will benefit me AND my family. That way, only the jobs fit for me will come my way. I don’t focus on the specifics because God knows better than I about what’s good for me in the long run.
Photos on the way shortly.

Music and Magic,
Madame M