Mab of Dream

When I first came down the stairs, wearing my Witchgrove t-shirt, Elen took one look and went yampy (in a good way). "Witchgrove! Witchgrove!" Her Mama has a mug with the same design on it. LOL

Ages ago, Shonna and I were canting and she mentioned French Toast. By the time she'd finished describing it, I sussed that she was on about eggy bread. This morning I got to sample proper French Toast. It's not eggy bread. It has eggs in it, but it's not quite the same. It has a LOT more in it. There was a weird moment, as Shonna added vanilla to the mixture, when the vanilla made the shape of a five-pointed star in it. We both stared at it in amazement and I know I told half of Vegas in the afternoon about it.

We ate the French Toast with maple syrup, especially imported from Canada, as Frenchie has very discerning tastes. I've only ever had maple syrup once and that was about three or four years ago. Daryl had seen it on a cartoon or children's programme and asked for it for his pancakes on Shove Tuesday. I did the indulgent auntie thing and promised him it, scutted up Sainsburys and nearly had a heart attack at the price! Still he had his maple syrup, but I haven't tasted it from that moment to this. I suspect I'm now utterly ruined for the cheap stuff after tasting the Gariepy's real maple syrup.

The French Toast was beautiful, though it was only after I'd finished that I noticed that Shonna had butter with hers too. I'm not sure if I should have had butter, but it was gorgeous as was.

After seeing Shonna and Elen off, me and the Gariepy males went to the Mirage, a hotel on the Strip. This was my first sight of the inside of one of these huge constructions and Ian had warned me that I'd be totally overwhelmed by the sheer size. The thing is that everything was already so huge in comparison to Wolverhampton that I was already at the point of taking it in my stride. I wasn't overwhelmed, which is another way of saying that I COULD take it all in. I'm personally glad for that! I didn't want to come away thinking, 'What did I see again?'

Stephane explained that everyone entering the hotel HAS to pass through the casino, wherever they are heading. We walked for miles before we even got to the lifts to the rooms for those staying there! In the meantime, there were pretties everywhere. There were full-height trees planted in there and a water feature like a small lake; whole shopping malls; a fish tank which span the length of a long corridor-like hall, full of fish. The casino was full of flashing lights and the such, on the way through I was looking all around thinking that this is what I thought Vegas would look like - slot machines. On the way back, I was too busy watching William, who was attached to Stephane's front in a carrier. His little face as he saw all the flashing lights was a delight to behold.

Once through the hotel, we were in an area where there were swimming pools and a row of trees. This was the queue for Seigfried and Roy's Secret Garden. But evidentally not that secret, given that there was a short queue of people waiting to go in. close to the front of the queue, I listened to a ticket officer greet a customer, 'Hello, honey! What can I do for you today?' I thought she must be an old friend or regular, but eavesdropping told me that she wasn't. This was my first real taste of American customer service. I'm used to British surly attitudes, over there they treat everyone like they are really glad to meet them. It was a wonderful thing to experience.

Once inside, we were in time to see the dolphins training in a big pool. Both males, they were half-brothers and it was pretty spectacular to see. I'd seen a photo of Stephane with some dolphins back at their house. He explained to me that he had been swimming with the dolphins here a while back. The sun was very fierce and so he had to step back, so that William was in the shade. Standing by the pool nearly killed me in the finish, so I joined him and soon slapped some suntan creme on. I'd got factor 30, because I don't do well in the sun, but I think that that was the first time I put any on!

The heat in Vegas is unlike anything I've ever experienced. I caught some of the temperatures and knew that I'd never be able to have stood that in Britain. You just don't sweat! I was equally fine in shorts or jeans, which is something I can't get my head around. If the sun is directly on you and you aren't moving about, it can feel like a lazor is burning into you, but if you are moving, you hardly feel it at all, even in the desert. At night, though, it can get really cold. I tended to be putting a jacket on or wrapping myself in a blanket, when I went out for a fag at night, soon as I was wise to this.

Anyway, back to the Mirage. We went underneath the pool and that was really great! You could see the dolphins swimming around on both sides, as their mother and another female dolphin were there through another window. There was a short film showing the birth of one of the male dolphins, which was stunning to see, and Stephane explained that the noises in the corridor were actually the sound of the dolphins canting to each other.

We went through into an outdoor part, where the young dolphins were. The youngest was four years old and they looked so tiny compared to those we'd just seen. . Past them, we were into an area where the big cats and an elephant were. Part of me went through all the political protest about zoos, but most of me just shut myself up and enjoyed it. Reading some of the information points told me that some of the animals in here were threatened with extinction in the wild, so it might well be a good thing that they were there.

A lot of speculation went on about which of the white tigers was the one which had paralysed one of the two owners. We reckoned it was the white tiger with a huge pen to himself, rather than any of the four in the other pen. Stephane told me that there was speculation as to whether the tiger had mauled or saved the bloke - if he'd had a stroke, then the tiger was just trying to get him off the stage. Apparently his first words had been an instruction not to hurt the tiger in any way.

Once back onto the bridge, it was the first place where I could have a cigarette. I had one naturally. Something happened there which had the goosebumps right up my back.

It was the third significant hearing of 'Losing My Religion' by REM. On the Monday after Mike died, I'd been outside, at work, having a fag, thinking over everything and basically doing my own head in. Right then, 'Losing My Religion' came on the internal jukebox and I GOT it. The scene is seared in my memory, just sitting there singing it to myself and blaming myself for my failings as a HPS, while questioning everything that I did believe in. I was quite literally losing my religion, as might be evident from the blogs of that time.

Skip forward to the Make Trade Fair concert and that was the song with which REM opened, and my mind kicked to that previous moment. By then, I was more sorted. I'd had some really kick-ass Pagans talking me through the spiritual side; I'd had Kate and Eric take me up the Black Mountains, and I'd found my religion again. By that second hearing of it, I was still in the process of thinking through things myself, but more calmly.

Now this, the third moment. It was playing over the pool, over which the bridge (on which I was having a cigarette)lead. I listened to it, took in my surroundings and all that had since happened, and knew just how sorted I was now. That picture was taken while 'Losing My Religion' was playing, and my hands are over the railings hiding the fag in my hand.

I think that I breathed out a breath that had been held inside for at least two months right around then.

We went inside and I was looking for a cold drink, but something on the board caught my attention: Iced Cafe Latte. Say what?! The two just didn't seem to go together at all! So I had that. I was also a little peckish, so I looked at the cakes and informed Stephane that if I'm on holiday, then so is he, so he looked at the cakes as well. Ordinarily, I'd go for something stodgy. I'm a good Black Country wench, so I grew up on bread pudding! I was eye-balling the flapjacks, when something very unexpected caught my eye - strawberry gateaux. I don't normally do strawberries. I mean, they are alright, as far as fruit goes, but I rarely go there by choice. I went for this and so did Stephane... WOW! That was worth it! I enjoyed every mouthful of that! The iced cafe latte was... an experience. It tasted better once I'd added three sugars and it did the job as far as being thirsty went, but I doubt I'd go there again.

Up in the carpark, I noticed that the registration plates all had the names of states on them. From what I can gather, these plates belong to the dude, not to the car, though I think I was confusing the Hell out of Stephane with my questions regarding MOTs and the such. After that, I was looking out for which states people came from and we started the recurring theme of 'Look! a lost Californian.' Throughout the week, I think the furthest travelled cars we found were one from Alaska and another from Virginia.

Stephane dropped me off at Brianne's house. I think he would have stayed too, but William was screaming to be changed. He was a very hot little boy by then, with no bottle left. I knocked on the door and was expecting either Brianne or Pixie to open it. It was a bloke. By a process of elimination, I figured that this must be either Cameron or Dirk, but it totally threw me. I think I just stood there like an idiot, blushing, thinking how can I ask for a guest in this bloke's house?! That's so out of order! I was halfway through thinking, 'Do I tell him that I spoke to Brianne on the 'phone this morning and she said it would be ok?' When Cameron said, 'You must be Mab.' I just blushed deeper, still having not said a solitary word and wishing the ground would open up under me, and stupidly replied, 'Yes... I was wondering if Pixie was in please.' Just on it, simultaneously Stephane appeared behind me and Pixie called from inside, before appearing behind Cameron and I calmed down accordingly.

Brianne, if you're reading this, please pass on my apologies to Cameron! I am actually quite a shy person underneath all of this fuss and palaver and that was one of the moments it broke free! Either Pixie sensed this and went into the expert Mab handling that she's learned over the internet, or else she's just being Pixie, but she collected me and got me inside, then immediately suggested we went outside where I could smoke.

We proceeded to spend the entire afternoon out there, not entirely sober. Cameron turned out to be lovely and Corey turned up as well. The two were in and out all afternoon, as Cameron fetched Misty, then Luke, and Corey fetched Sean. I must have moved as I took this picture of Pixie, but it so summed up the moment, that I let it be. *grin*

I had to keep moving my chair, as the sun moved and I had the lazor effect thing, but otherwise I loved that afternoon with Pixie, Dirk, Cameron and Corey. There was a hilarious moment too - the night before Dirk and Pixie had gone to Kentucky Fried Chicken to be told that they were out of chicken. This afternoon, Dirk drove to Burger King and returned to say that they were out of burgers. We thought it was a wind up at first, but a look at Dirk's face said it wasn't! LOL They ended up ordering pizza instead.

There was also a very weird moment. There was a power cut, which went for two miles squared. We sat there listening to the silence where before we hadn't heard noise. A deep, deep silence but for traffic on some main road somewhere. But even weirder was the feel of the electricity in the air, which pricked against your skin. I experimented with grounding, touching the floor and actually felt the electricity flow downwards. There was a strange sense of relief that made you realize how heavily electricity and noise plays upon you the rest of the time; but then again another strange of relief, more familiar this time, when the electricity came back on. Suddenly the air wasn't heavy with it and the prickling sensation left.

Dirk had a look at my tattoo and he and Pixie confirmed what I'd thought from pictures, there is a line which goes above, which should have gone below on the triskele. He couldn't see how it could be easily corrected, though he did have some ideas about re-shading it. Unfortunately time ran away from us, so I never did get to see those ideas. I'll probably see them in 2006, when Kate and I are in Colorado.

Instead, Dirk tattooed Corey. This was an Ouroboros , which Dani and Vetch had helped her design. She'd e-mailed it to me, so that Dirk had a picture, so Pixie got her lap-top out to access it. Draig was in messenger and made us to promise to call her sometime over the weekend and not to forget. I told her we would, then promptly called her. :-D The 'phone got passed around and it was great to hear Draig :-D, but it was time for Corey to be tattooed.

Pixie and I were on distracting from the pain duty, which included jigging and a chorus of 'Corey is a yampy git', while Pixie took progress pictures, so Corey could see what was happening behind her. Kudos to Dirk for doing such an amazing job with all of that going on. Brianne returned half way through, with princess tiaras for us all, and a couple of packets of fags as a present for me. Thanks cariad! It was all pretty raucous, but very distracting for Corey, and she was a brave wench throughout it, more concerned with trying not to laugh than not to cry.

Soon, the debates were on the telly and I ran in to see them, having heard so much about them from Kindly Ones. Initially Corey was in there with me and Pixie had given me a slice of pizza to munch on, but pretty soon it was only me and the kids (Luke and Sean). I was doing ok, until the POTUS said something about what the British were thinking, which was so far removed from what the British were really saying (even those supporting the war), that I started ranting at the telly. It occurred to me that what I was saying probably wasn't suitable for the ears of young, impressionable lads and hoped that I'd said it in broadest Black Country, before going to complain to the adults in the kitchen instead.

However, I found them mid-packing up to go up Shonna's. I had vaguely wondered how I was getting back, but figured that that would sort itself out when the time came. I hadn't realized what the time actually was. So we packed up various foods and Corey offered me a ride back. That was funny, because she was so whacked by the tattoo (it sends you floaty with endorphins), that she took a wrong turn and ended up lost. But I was recognizing streets and already fixing myself a mental map of Shonna's 'hood. Between us, we got there.

I made a mistake in my last blog - this was the night when Judi was there too, with that gorgeous pie. Judi is on Witchgrove as well as the Vegas group, but mainly lurks. JUDI! Post more, we only bite occasionally! :-D I hadn't realized that at the time, I'd assumed that she must know me as Shonna's British mate, but now I realize that as we hugged, she must have known me as Mab off the Grove. Sorry about that, cariad. Chelle was also there, preparing to stay overnight, primarily to watch the kids as Shonna and I did a midnight run to the airport, but also for the next day.

It carried on being raucous there, with me sampling a vegetarian gumbo, which Brianne had made especially for me, and us all running around with princess tiaras on. William was upset. I think that he'd just had too many days of a lot of people around and was over-excited, over-tired, so Shonna ended up in the parlour for ages calming him down to sleep. There was also the small matter of the house and Shonna (as priestess) being prepared for the next day, so Brianne, Pixie, Dirk, Corey, Judi, Luke and Sean left early on.

Immediately, Shonna went upstairs to sort herself out for the next day, while Chelle had a tidy up and I went into the parlour with an athame. The energies in that room really were kicking, once I tuned into them fully. The problem being that there's a front door in there, through which everyone comes, so the energies are really swirling around there. Most of what was there was fully appropriate for a parlour, but not for a ritual space. But this is what I do and, as a witch, one end of the realm it could be said I'm best at.

I sorted the room itself quite easily, as Shonna had instructed me on where she envisaged the action taking place. But then I sat and looked around, preparing to be very smug. Wrong. That bloody door area! I strode over to it and REALLY worked at it, but the energies were too disturbed. Call me a perfectionist, but I wasn't happy with it at all. So I solicited Chelle's help. I had in mind me and her stabilizing them between us, but soon as I explained the problem, she had an herbal solution in mind and got on the case with that. Next thing you know, she's outside the door with her herbs and I'm inside the door with the subtle knife. It looks and feels much, much better when we've finished with it. Understand this - those energies weren't bad, they were just busy. Way too busy for a ritual space. After that, we could be smug. It all felt much more settled, though, it being a front door and all, it was always going to be a temporary solution.

We got talking about the energies of things and I remembered that on Monday I'd been afretting. (No! I hear the peanut gallery cry. You afret! Never!) I'd had it in mind that I was never going to see my Wolverhampton again and what happened if I was halfway across the world and I got hiraeth really bad? I'd spotted stones at my feet, swooped one up and put it in my bag. Then forgot about it. I scutted in my bag and there it was. Covered in congealed soil, but there it was. By now, Shonna was back down, looking as calm as her parlour, and she had it off me to feel Wolverhampton. She told me that it looked like malachite! Next night, I handed it to Bella and she confirmed that it was uncut, pure malachite. :-o I've left that with Shonna to put around her front door, but we were all pretty stunned that at my moment of panicking about hiraeth and needing protection, Wolverhampton just handed me malachite from herself. I didn't even know that malachite was part of the geological make-up of my hometown!

Chelle had already sat in the parlour and concentrated upon her feelings for this house and family, then channelled those feelings into the room. I sent Shonna to do the same. Over the course of the next few hours (including the next morning), I was sending a procession of people to do just that. Though I was simply telling them about it and figuring that they would, there's the potential for Chelle, Shonna, Stephane, Georgia, Anna, Pixie, Bella and some of the Vegas people to have all done that. I should imagine that that parlour is just brimming with love and security now! I even got Elen on the case. She'd been at the desk and had dropped her crayons. I went to help her, simply so we could cant in there. I asked her if she liked this room and what she thought about it, she told me; then I told her that she was very, very loved by her Mummy and Daddy, and by auntie Chelle and me, and by all the people coming to her house tomorrow. She got a huge grin on her face and I got her canting about her Mummy and Daddy and little baby William. She was so enthusiastic! I even took William in there and got him giggling. :-D

But back to that Friday night. It should have been winding down and time to think about bed, but instead there was another BIG adventure. Georgia, then Anna, were flying into Vegas! Shonna and I got caffeine down our necks and I tried out my new wetting solution to rehydrate my contact lenses. Georgia, I was really looking forward to seeing, though I thought I might get a smack up the back of my head for not letting her into the secret when she was in Britain! That week nearly killed me for not telling her!

Anna, I was looking forward to meeting, but also really nervous. Before I'd left, Kate asked me who I was the most nervous about meeting and I'd said Shonna and Anna. Shonna because all of this is for her and I'd be in her house; Anna because... well... she's Anna! Not only were we all gatecrashing what was originally the only time in a year when she gets to meet up with her best friend from way back; but she is one of the four who have moderated various groups together. I spend half of my life wondering if Anna likes me, then deciding that she does and relaxing. Having met her, I'll now just relax for the rest of my life. ;-)

By the time Shonna and I were in the car going to meet them, we were wide awake. We stopped at the coffee place for drinks (where the Boobar went off in Shonna's bag... LMFAO!) and went to wait... and wait... and wait... Georgia was half an hour late getting off the plane, because of the other planes waiting to unload, by which time I was absolutely knackered! My back was hurting and my legs were getting shaky, but that all disappeared when Georgia's finest meandered on out of the gate. She's a gorgeous wench, is our Georgia! This was the first time that Shonna had met her, so that meeting was amazing to watch. I LOVE STUFF LIKE THAT!

By the time we'd been to baggage, it was time to go back to where we'd started to meet Anna. I nipped outside, first off to have a fag, but also because I realized that there would be precious little time for Shonna and Georgia to be alone. I think I was right, looking back, because there would have been at least me and Anna there throughout the rest of it. This was me giving them time. A lot of time, as it happened, because I got lost finding them again!

It seemed like forever that we were waiting for Anna too and the knot of nerves in my stomach getting bigger. I needn't have worried (which is the story of my life and one day I will learn that lesson...). I was the last person to hug her, but it was the hug of me and Anna finally meeting. :-D That was pure magic, the four of us in one place, at the same time, for the first time ever. And yes, it was precisely like being in the Mods lounge (except the huge hole that Roxanne left by not being there), particularly when we were back with Chelle.



Shonna, Georgia, me and Anna at Vegas Airport!



I might have been tired before, but I was downright hyperactive and over-excited by the time we were in the baggage area again for Anna's stuff. I'm glad that these are three of my best friends, because they would have watched me go through about three personalities within the space of one airport and one journey home, via the Strip!

We got back to over-excitement with another meeting - Chelle with Georgia and an historic moment in time! I did what any good British wench would do in the circumstances, put the kettle on. But by the time I'd made it, Georgia and Anna were abed and the rest of us weren't far behind. I crawled into the room, in the dark, and just hoped that I didn't wake them and that I'd find the camp-bed alright. I did, though the gits had nicked my teddy bear. Huh!