PhenomeGNOME BLOG

Happy New Year 2009

Merry Christmas - “Political Correctness”      
         
I have made a conscious effort to wish everyone
a Merry Christmas this year …
My way of saying that I am celebrating
the birth Of Jesus Christ.

So I am asking my email buddies,
if you agree with me,
to please do the same.

And if you’ll pass this on to
your email buddies, and so on…
maybe we can prevent one more
American tradition from being lost in the sea of
“Political Correctness”.

To one and All…
Jesus is the reason for the season!

Merry Christmas - “Political Correctness”

The Meaning of the Song “The 12 Days of Christmas”

This is the one Christmas Carol that has always baffled me! What in the world do leaping lords, French hens, swimming swans, and especially a partridge in a pear tree have to do with Christmas? And although I hate to say this - I must admit this song is also my least favorite Christmas song of all time. However, now that I understand it and it’s TRUE meaning – I will think differently the next time I listen to it. I shall listen to it with an open mind and an open heart.

From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their faith openly. Someone during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics. It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church. Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality which the children could remember. Here we go!

-:¦:- The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ.

-:¦:- Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments.-:¦:- Three French hens stood for faith, hope and love.

Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy.-:¦:- The eight maids-a-milking were the eight beatitudes.

Gentleness, and Self Control.-:¦:- The ten lords-a-leaping were the Ten Commandments.

So there you have it! This knowledge was shared with me and I found it both interesting and enlightening. Now I understand how this strange song became a Christmas Carol – pretty ingenious I must say!

¸..• ´¨¨)) -:¦:-

¸.•´ .•´¨¨))

((¸¸.•´ ..•´ -:¦:-

-:¦:- ((¸¸.•´* Merry (12 Days of) Christmas Everyone!

The Meaning of the Song “The 12 Days of Christmas”

The Naughty Gnome Drink

Well, well, well — looky what I found just in time for the Holidays!
A wonderful drink called:

“The Naughty Gnome”

Container: Old-Fashioned Glass

Ingredients:
1 oz Captain Morgan Private Stock dark rum
4 oz Vernors Original ginger soda
2 dashes Angostura bitters

Instructions: Pour the rum into an old-fashioned glass with ice.
Fill with Vernors ginger soda, add a dash or two of bitters, and serve.

MissGnomer loves Captain Morgan!  What a great drink to try out the next time I decide to throw back a few with the Wee Folks!  Anyone out there tried it?

The Naughty Gnome Drink

The Naughty Gnome Drink

 Sylvia Browne talks about seeing a real live fairy!

Any Sylvia Browne fans out there?  I just love her! 

I can not begin to tell you how THRILLED I was to find out that Sylvia has actually seen a real live fairy. I have always been a “Believer” — and now, in my opinion, I have a very credible back up to my beliefs.  Take a moment & read below about Sylvia’s very own fairy sighting experience. 

Or better yet —

Double click the arrow to hear Sylvia talk about her fairy encounter.

S E C R E T S   &   M Y S T E R I E S   O F   T H E   W O R L D

Chapter 8 - The Fairy WorldFrancine says that there’s a subphylum of creatures that helps Mother God keep the world in balance as much as She can: fairies. Now, I’ll buy a lot of things, but trust me, I’ve never bought into fairies. I think everyone has a right to their own beliefs - and I’m also aware that almost every country except America seems to believe in elves, gnomes, little people, leprechauns, or fairies. (It does seem strange that so many cultures share tales of creatures such as this. Why would they all exist in various cultures as pretty much the same type of creatures?) So I’ve always said, “To each his own.” It’s certainly helped my skepticism over the years to never say never. I guess it’s like Jesus said: “Blessed are those who have not seen yet have believed.” Then in 1977, I went to Ireland. I was riding in a horse-drawn jaunting car in a beautiful park near one of the Lakes of Killarney when I happened to catch something out of the corner of my eye. Lo and behold, it was a fairy - with wings and all - on an oleander bush. She was beautifully formed, had golden hair, and wore a wonderful blue gossamer dress. I blinked and looked again; she didn’t pay me any mind, but instead went gently from leaf to leaf and flower to flower. I screamed at the driver, “I just saw a fairy!” He looked back at me as if I were the stupid one. “Of course,” he replied, “they’re all over the place.” My second husband, who was with me at the time, was of Irish descent and used to tease me about my lack of belief in the little people, fairies, and the like; I’d always tell him that he was nuts. I looked over and saw this “I told you so” grin on his face…and promptly whacked him one. I’m sure that everyone remembers reading about what happened years ago when they tried to build an airport runway across fairy circles at the Shannon Airport in Ireland. Everything went so badly for months - machinery broke down or just wouldn’t work, and people got sick and injured - that they abandoned the project and went in a different direction away from the circles…at which point everything progressed quite smoothly. If you discuss this with the locals who live near the airport, they’ll simply admit that you shouldn’t mess with fairy circles. In ancient times, fairies seem to have been more evil, but as time has gone on, they’ve morphed into kindly, mischievous, and caring little people. There was nothing evil about this sprite I saw; in fact, if she’d been bigger, I would have thought she was an angel, thanks to the golden-white glow around her. Francine told me later that I’d actually seen poor, defamed Lilith herself (who I’ll talk about in a bit.) I know what I saw; even now I’d take a lie-detector test because I just don’t go around seeing things (unless I’m asked to tune in on a ghost or happen to bump into one). So be my guest, and take or leave what I saw. Personally, I’ll always cherish this beautiful visual, which proved the old saying to be true: There are more things in heaven and earth than humans can even imagine.

If you have never heard of Sylvia Browne - I suggest you check her out! She is a very gifted and respected psychic.

Below is a short bio on Sylvia:

Sylvia Browne is the #1 New York Times best-selling author and world-famous psychic who appears regularly on the Montel Williams Show and Larry King Live, as well as making countless other media and public appearances. She is also the president of the Sylvia Browne Corporation, and founder of her church, the Society of Novus Spirit - which celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2006.

Sylvia Browne talks about seeing a real live fairy!

Happy New Gnome Year!

 Indeed another year has come and gone and I must say it has been a wonderful year for PhenomeGnome.com!  The Forum has blossomed with a terrific bunch of folks who all share and understand the magic of the Wee Folk!  We’ve had a lot of fun this year — and as we say goodbye to 2007 let us ring in the 2008 New Year with happiness and joy and….  “Gnomescaping” — of course!

 My wish for you is that you discover the whimsy and magic of the Wee Folk and Give a Gnome a Home in 2008.  A special thank you to all my beloved Forum Members — because without YOU — none of this would be possible! 

I will be in South Dakota visiting my Mom for the next few weeks.  It is my understanding that my very own Mother is also a gnome enthusiast — and seriously I had no idea until my brother Mark told me about her garden gnome!  Can’t wait to see what her “gnome taste” is like and I’ll be sure to snap lots of pictures of my little gnome “TJ” as he travels with me to the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota!

Happy new gnome year!

Gnome Christmas Decorations

Yesterday I showed you pics of our Granddaughter Taylor Ann and her Gnome ornaments we gave her for her very first Christmas.

Well — Taylor has a little sister this year to share in the fun.  This little cutie is our 2nd Granddaughter, Addison Bailey.  Addy was born in August 2007!  And guess what Addison got for her first Christmas ornaments?

And so it begins…  another little Gnomer is born!  Merry Christmas Addy! 

Gnome Christmas Decorations

Gnome Christmas Ornaments

When our first Grandchild (Taylor Ann) was born July 2006 – I told my step daughter Jessica that I wanted to get Taylor a special ornament every Christmas.  This is a tradition that Jessica’s Gramma had done for her so that when she was grown and ready to leave home — she would have all her own special ornaments to decorate her tree with. 

We wanted our Granddaughter to have the same experience as her Mommy did.  I remember Jessica looking forward to seeing what her “this years ornament from Gramma Anne” would be.  I hope that Taylor Ann feels the same way as she gets older.  I was so excited to send off her ornament for 2006 that I forgot to take a picture of it first! 

The kids aren’t able to spend Christmas with us this year - but I asked Jessica to snap a few pics for me to post here.  (((Jessica)))

It should be no surprise to anyone that Taylor’s very first ornament for 2006 was– you guessed it – this little pair of gnomes.  Grandma is starting her out young!  Look she’s a natural Gnomer!  Merry Christmas Taylor!

Gnome on little one!  Gnome on!

Gnome Christmas Ornaments

Fairy Houses for Sale

Previously I was blogging about my fantasy to be an artist.  I still worked my “regular job”…  (webmaster, writer, editor) and when I have some spare time (LOL!) I crank out my little fairy houses.  It was slow going at first.  You have to have a decent number of feedbacks on eBay before anyone will want to buy from you — yadda yadda.  But I did sell every Fairy House I listed — maybe not as quickly as I would have liked or for as much as I would have liked — but they sold.  And my eBay buddies told me that was a good start.

As with anything - you need to stay on top of your market.  It was difficult to work a full time job and try and make sure I had enough items up for auction so that I could build a clientelle.  I made some very dear friends along the way out there who keep encouraging me to continue on and branch out (((Deb, Barb, Liz)))… because there were times when I just wanted to hang it up completely.  For those of you who have never tried to sell anything you have poured your heart into to make — you don’t know how it feels to just put it out there for the whole world to either “accept or reject”.  Lots of mixed feelings — ranging from excitement and adrenaline to reservation and disappointment and everything in between.

Just when I was about ready to ”hang up my Artist hat”…  I get this email from someone who bought one of my fairy houses in the very beginning.  This is what she wrote me:

“Hi Mary -
Just wanted to send you a quick note and tell you how much I love this
little lighted teapot fairy house I got from you a couple of months ago.
Even my husband (an engineer, i.e., not much artistic know-how) commented
that he liked it. I have it in the bathroom as a nightlight with an orange
Christmas bulb in it - looks great. During the daytime I can see the
wonderful purpleish flowers and at night the whole teapot glows.
Thanks again,  Jean Brady”

Sniffles… no, thank YOU Jean Brady — for making me want to “go on”.  I hope you enjoy your fairy house for many years to come.  And just as the sign above your fairy house door reads — I too “Believe”

Fairy Houses for Sale