"But what is it?"

Dear Diary,

Some people who visit my house notice the purple ball hanging by the front door, most don't.  But the ones who do notice it, after commenting on the pretty color, often say, "But what is it?"  It always makes me chuckle.  These are sometimes called a witch's ball.  It was thought that the strands of glass inside would capture any evil energy that approached the house.  It is a talisman of sorts, as is the St Brigid cross that hangs on the door.

I am not an overly superstitious person as a rule but I still throw a bit of salt over my left shoulder if I spill some as my grandmother did and I would never walk under a ladder.  But black cats?  To me they are the best of luck!

When I visited China the group spent time with a Feng Shui master and it was fascinating...and very complicated.  Someone asked him at the end what was one easy thing we could do to keep the positive energy in our homes and he said, "Keep the toilet seat cover closed!"  That made me chuckle too but I make sure I do it to this day.


I am a great believer in “energy”.  The natural flow of which fills our body.  It is the basis of acupuncture, something else I learned about while I was in China.  I was able to have a treatment while I was there and it helped my cranky knee.  I’ve added a photograph of me getting my treatment in a Beijing hospital back in 2002.  I could sure use some treatments now!