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Enter Midnight at the Grove ... if you dare!

January:  Time for the Apple Wassail

1/6/2018

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Apple tree in the Grove
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Apple Tree Man, Illustration by Sandy Nightingale, 1996

The Apple Tree Man, the spirit of your orchard, lives in the oldest tree.  Here's an old rhyme which I believe is meant for him:
 
Huzza, Huzza, in our good town
The bread shall be white, and the liquor be brown
So here my old fellow I drink to thee
And the very health of each other tree.
Well may ye blow, well may ye bear
Blossom and fruit both apple and pear.
So that every bough and every twig
May bend with a burden both fair and big
May ye bear us and yield us fruit such a stors
That the bags and chambers and house run o'er.

— Cornworthy, Devon, 1805

January is the time of year, whilst your apple trees are resting, to practice the Apple Wassail ritual, and thus encourage a good crop for next year!

We have incorporated this English custom into the Grove for the last couple of years for our apple trees ... hey, a little bit of magic never hurts!


Here's what you do:

On an evening in January, take your last mug of cider from last year's crop, add a bit of cinnamon, a few cloves and some honey and then simmer gently in a pot on the stove.  (Your home will smell wonderful!) Pour the wassail mix at the base of the oldest tree (or all of them if you are so inclined or able); so it seeps down to the roots.  Wish the tree well with an apple wassail song or rhyme to encourage good growth.

~ Note:   If you don't make cider with your apples, you could substitute applesauce or piece of leftover apple or apple peels - the point here is to include a physical representation of the literal "fruits" you wish to bring forth - it is a form of sympathetic magic ~

Incidentally, sympathetic magic is used the world over.  Recently I learned a Native Canadian tradition of returning the bones and a little flesh from your communal salmon meal back to the stream, in order to encourage more salmon to spawn.

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Apple tree in the Grove
Meadow Sweet Grove © V. Buchanan 2018 / edited 2019 & 2020 & 2023
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Chapter 6:  Creepy Cinderella ... The Dark Side of the Year

11/22/2017

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It's the dark time of the year, growing darker each night until Christmas, when, if we can raise enough good cheer, it will start to roll back towards the light.

In the meantime, the cats have figured out that those dark rainy afternoons are purr-fect catnap times!  The efforts to restore Creepy Cinderella must be working, as she seems to have found a new friend, who thinks she makes a very cozy companion.  I often find these two curled up together!

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Before - down & dirty
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After - Wow!
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Before - dirty fingernails
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Before - dirty creases
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After - cleaner cuticles now!

Isn't it amazing what a little soap and water can do!!      
                                                                        

Meadow Sweet Grove © V. Buchanan 2017 ​ 
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Chapter 5:  Creepy Cinderella ... Saving a Lost Soul

11/9/2017

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It's been a while since I've had a chance to work on restoring Cinderella.  But it seems that on this day in early November, with the rain absolutely bucketing outside and the incense burning for All Souls Day; it might just be an appropriate time to get back to work on rescuing this very old soul!

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Right Leg Before
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Right Leg After
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Left Leg Before
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Left Leg After

It sure was tough going.  I only managed to finish her sturdy legs and wee feet today.  Lots of warm water, soap and scrubbing with an old toothbrush.  I could almost hear her giggling when I ran the toothbrush over those little toes - I rolled her over and one of those "sleepy eyes" gave me a wink.  But we didn't have any real success until we broke out the loofah!  I think the results are pretty decent though ... upper body next week!

Meadow Sweet Grove © V. Buchanan 2017 
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Chapter 4:  Creepy Cinderella ... Gets a Shoe Shine

9/15/2017

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Poor Creepy Cinderella - Her shoes are so, so incredibly dirty from the long, lonely years of storage.  They appear to be made of rubber and are so sticky; they must be disintegrating.  First, I carefully removed the yellowed laces and placed them in a cool water soak with gentle Avon Soft Pink Bubble Bath.  Then, with cotton swabs, and a minimal amount of the bubble bath mixture, I gently rubbed the bottom of Cinderella's Slippers.  Nothing.  Used an old toothbrush - it just smeared the grime around a bit.  But, when the toothbrush was rubbed into a bar of soap (coincidentally Avon's Aloe Vera Soap) ... Voila!  It worked wonders and white was almost immediately revealed.  Actually, the shoes are a soft plastic - vinyl?  After lots of scrubbing with the toothbrush, and only one daring dip in the water to rinse ... just look at the difference!

Cinderella's Shoes Before ...
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... and After; the difference speaks for itself!
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Now our Creepy Cinderella can truly put her best foot forward!
Meadow Sweet Grove © V. Buchanan 2017 / edited 2019
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Chapter 3:  Creepy Cinderella ... Cinderella's Cleaning Commences

9/2/2017

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Of course, in all the fairy tale versions of Cinderella; the most important item in her transformation was a new dress from her Fairy Godmother.  So we decided to start the whole cleaning process with the clothes.  The dress is actually in good condition.  Pink and white lace overlay with buttons and bows (all in good condition) over an attached pink slip.  Hook and eye closure at the back are okay.  Hair band solid and elastic still has a bit of stretch, but seriously discoloured ... and the smell!  Okay, so atrocious - I can't even begin to describe it, but worse than the smell was the feel of these clothes.  They felt stiff, sticky and "crunchy" if that's possible to imagine.  So, so much dirt.  So into the tub they go!

Here is the whole shebang in cool, sudsy water.  We used "Avon Bubble Bath - Soft Pink" for an extremely gentle clean.
The water turned black almost instantly.  These pictures don't really show just how much dirt literally came out in the wash!
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After two or three rinses, the water finally ran perfectly clear - here we are drying in the sun!  The clothes turned out pretty good actually - still discoloured (especially the socks and hair band) but the contrast is considerably more subtle now.  Best of all they feel soft and smell sweet!

Tune in next week when we'll try our hand at cleaning those dreadful shoes!

Meadow Sweet Grove © V. Buchanan 2017 ​

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Creepy Cinderella's Arrival at The Grove

8/4/2017

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Chapter 1:  Creepy Cinderella's Arrival at The Grove

This dirty dolly entered the Grove recently.  Dirty, deteriorating, sticky, smelly -- she seemed perfect for our yearly Hallowe'en display.  I had not intended to alter her charms at all - except maybe, a bit of red splattering on her dress.  I mean, really, she has changed colour and is literally disintegrating; if she had been stored properly, the story would be different ... and you have to have some fun, right?  But as the littlest fairy in the Grove carried her 'round and 'round the thrift store, some magic must have happened.

I looked back to see her holding the doll close to her chest.  "Mom!  She's Made in England!"  Well, that's gold.  "Really?"  I said.  I flipped up her sticky hair and there it was on the back of dolly's neck.  A bit more looking around and I kept reiterating - she can't live in the house, she is just too far gone - she must live with the Hallowe'en decorations and only come out once a year.  But eventually I glanced down to see a loving gaze at the doll and heard the words, "I love her Momma". 

So the challenge is on to restore Cinderella, so named for her brand of shoes, "No. 3 Medium Cinderella".  This and the following information, is all I have on her so far:


  • Made in England - on the back of the neck
  • 15 on her torso
  • No. 3 Medium Cinderella on her shoes
  • She has a rubber head, arms and legs.  Body is solid plastic.
  • It does seem to me that she is wearing her original clothes & shoes.

If anyone knows of good sites to research this dolly - I would love to hear from you.  The amount of information on vintage/antique dolls is absolutely overwhelming!  Next week we will start to clean Cinderella - a change for this fairy tale character, who usually has to do all the cleaning herself!

GIF Doll Knife Halloween

Meadow Sweet Grove © V. Buchanan 2017                                                                                          (gif courtesty of animated images.org) ​
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Disclaimer: Many of the items sold are vintage or pre-loved. Quality of vintage items vary with the manufacturing methods available at the time of production. They are not made to current standards of manufacturing ... and in my opinion, that is usually a good thing! They tend to be higher quality, last longer and include more attention to detail than today's products. However, safety standards do change over time, items do deteriorate with age, and it is up to the customer to decide how they will use each product.
All rights reserved. No part of this website, including but not limited to written articles, photographs, graphics, videos or animations, may be reproduced, in any form, written or digital, without the express and prior written permission of the author: V. Buchanan of Meadow Sweet Grove. Requests for said permission may be directed to: meadowsweetgrove@hotmail.com. (GIFs graciously provided by: animatedimages.org & R. Buchanan)
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