A Witches Jug

The sun finally broke through the clouds at 11:24 yesterday morning, as I was walking back home; and my heater came on at 11:35.... We're still a bit on the cool side, here. Today was the first time in over a week that I've been able to see the Flatirons without clouds and fog - and I could actually see the peaks of some of the Back Range this morning. They are streaked with snow, because while it's been raining down here, it's been snowing up there. I had a marvelous time walking the red kids yesterday - and the kits were very happy to have me home the rest of the time. I caught up on my mail, paid all of my bills, and took a nap. I was distressed to hear of the death of actor David Carradine in Bangkok yesterday. The police there are now saying it might have been accidental, and not a suicide.... And a good friend of mine, Darmina Bailey, lost her father to diabetes complications this week. He went into a diabetic coma several weeks ago, and was in the ICU at a local hospital, and he'd been moved to a step-down unit this past week. Darmina says he was his usual self on Saturday and Sunday, and the family was extremely happy. But his heart failed late Sunday night/Monday morning, and his family are now without him. I've told Darmina that I'm here for her, whether she needs a shoulder to cry on, or someone to shout at in frustration...

Yesterday evening I sat with my feet propped on the radiator/heater and was deeply engrossed in playing a game on my PC. I felt little cold toes on my foot and said, "Hello, Lovey," without looking. There was suddenly no movement on my foot - so I looked, and there was Gimpy, wanting some peanuts... of course I gave him a nice little pile of them. The grass that has been planted got it's first mowing yesterday - from inside the apartment, one sees a pretty carpet of green; up close, one sees a lot of black dirt and a lot of very thin blades of green grass. and that means that Lovey is constantly coming in with mud and dirt on her feet - I swear she delights in spreading it all over me, my desk, and the apartment... Rex the Shiba Inu dog that was taped upside down to a refrigerator has been adopted and re-named Yoshi, which means Lucky One. There have been no further reports on the three dogs who joined in killing the elderly mare in northwest Boulder. - And a hiker in a park on the east side of Boulder found a red bundle beside a trail; opening the bundle, the hiker found the remains of a bald eagle that had been be-headed, and had its talons and tail feathers removed. There were quite a few comments, but I stopped at the second one which read: "Do they suspect fowl play?"

If you're interested in history, religion, and witchcraft, you might want to visit the British Archeology website to find out about a "witch's jug" which was found intact near Greenwich. The jug was apparently buried in the late 1600s - and the stopper was still in place. The contents have been examined and found to be human urine (which contained nicotine), several nails, brass pins, 10 human nail parings, human hair, a leather patch cut in the shape of a heart and pierced by a nail, and what appears to possibly be belly-button lint. There are several written recipes, from apothecaries at the time, describing how to make a witch's jug to ward off evil. Most people have laughed these recipes off, stating that no one could possibly believe that it would work.... Here is proof positive! And the jug itself was a salt-glazed jug from Holland, made about 1625. Have a great weekend!!