Sara C. Snider's Blog, page 4

Victorian Beauty Tips

I never would have thought it, but Twitter has turned out to be my favorite social media outlet. It turns out that if you follow interesting people on there, then it’s really quite easy to find interesting material. I’ve come across fascinating articles and beautiful artwork I probably otherwise would never have found. Like this Memoir of a Stomach.

The downside is I sometimes fall into rabbit holes as a result, like when I came across an article called “Ten Dangerous Beauty Trends from the V...

A Graveyard House

Well, here in Sweden the trees are already starting to turn. The summer has pretty much come and gone without much to show for it other than high vet bills. Sally Kitty is doing all right, though I can’t really say she’s doing well. Her latest blood work has shown her kidney function has worsened, as has her rather severe pancreatic inflammation. Yet even for all that, she’s pretty chipper, affectionate, and eats well. So, that’s something, at least.

Anyway, aside from visiting the vet every...

Checking In

So, apparently I’ve tumbled down into my hidey-hole and am finding the climb back out… laborious. Things were going OK. Ronel the Mythmaker nominated me for the Mystery Blogger Award, which was cool and I intended on accepting and even started the post for it. Then I found out my elder cat’s health is declining, resulting in numerous, (and still ongoing) vet visits, and it was like the air was sucked out of me.

Motivation, right now, is seriously eluding me. Even with writing, which is usuall...

A to Z Reflections 2017

For posterity, this year’s A to Z Challenge will henceforth be known as, “The Year I Fell Behind on Visiting and Commenting and Never Caught Up.” Catchy, yes?

It started off well enough. Probably because it was a Saturday, and I was able to spend a fair amount of time that first weekend visiting and commenting. But then Monday rolled around, and it pretty much went downhill from there. That’s not to say I didn’t spend a fair amount of time visiting and commenting the following weeks. I did. A...

Hazel and Holly — Heart Fire

Previous: Fastened Friendship

 

They waited a few more days to allow Hemlock time to recover, then made the journey back to the Grove. Hazel had mixed feelings about it all. On the one hand she was glad to be returning home, but on the other she was afraid she wouldn’t recognize it—or herself—once she got there. Other than undoing her mother’s geas, nothing had gone the way she had expected. She hadn’t ever thought she would turn to necromancy—she especially never thought she’d find beauty in...

Hazel and Holly — Fastened Friendship

Previous: A Future Found

 

Tum toddled down to the common room as Holly trailed after him. Hawthorn sat at a table, sipping some wine, and Tum clambered onto an empty chair beside him.

“Of all the empty tables,” Hawthorn said, “you have to sit right there? Go find somewhere else.”

“It’s rude to let someone sit alone, you know. Tum’s nothing if not polite.”

“Oh, I can think of a few things that Tum is.”

“Don’t bicker,” Holly said. “It’s nice that we’re all back together, isn’t it?”

Hawthorn m...

Hazel and Holly — A Future Found

Previous: Aggravated Acceptance

 

The journey back to Sarnum was largely spent in tense, exhausted silence. When they weren’t all sleeping, that is. Hemlock slept the most. Holly spent a good portion of her waking hours staring out the window, her expression pensive and distant. Hawthorn expended his energy avoiding Hazel’s gaze. She couldn’t really blame him, after all that had happened.

They reached Sarnum late in the following day. The acolyte that served as their driver dropped them off a...

Hazel and Holly — Aggravated Acceptance

Previous: An Unadorned End

 

A chill settled in the room—wintery, just like the silence that accompanied it. Hazel didn’t know what to say, and so she said nothing, standing stiff and unyielding like a frozen tree.

Holly fell to her knees and into tears. Hazel told herself to go to her, to comfort her, yet she couldn’t bring herself to move. Instead, Hawthorn walked over and gave Holly a handkerchief, put an arm around her, whispered words that Hazel couldn’t hear. They must have been comfort...

Finishing Up Hazel and Holly

Time flies, eh? It’s been almost two years since I started serializing Hazel and Holly here on the blog, with the first post going up early September, 2015. How was I supposed to know that what started out as a flash-fiction story for the 2015 A to Z Challenge would end up being an epic novel of about 150k words? It was, essentially, an experiment. To see if I could do it. To see what would happen.

It’s been interesting, to say the least. I managed to keep my schedule of posting every Friday,...

A to Z Herbarium: Zhi Zi

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Zhi Zi

Love, Peace, Healing, Spirituality

 

Chinese-named herbs to the rescue again! This time, zhi zi = gardenia.

Fresh gardenia flowers placed in sickrooms will help with healing. The dried petals are often added to incenses and healing mixtures. Dried gardenia is also often used in Moon incenses, and scattering dried gardenia about the room will encourage peaceful vibrations.

Gardenia is used in love magic, and will attract benevolent spirits during rituals.

Drinking gardenia tea is g...