iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Madelon @madelon3.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

Yesterday I made a batch of black salt following the instructions from Cat Heath in her book, Elves, Withes & Gods. Cat says this is a powerful apotropaic--it wards off evil. I wish I had enough to wrap around the world. #witchsky #black_salt #Heathen_magic #apotropaic #ward_off_evil

Maiking protective black salt with iron filings, ashes, and salt ground in a small mortar and pestle. A small black cast iron cauldron was the source of the iron filings. The resultant product will go through a black funnel and into a decorative glass jar. Black salt is said to ward off evil.

070 0

Madelon @madelon3.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

Things will probably pick up now that we are done with the winteer holidays I thought of you and your goth-decorated x-mas ornaments this season. Do you know the Suriel?

000 0

Madelon @madelon3.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

It looks like a pillar of ice to me. This is so interesting. I always "hug" my pillar candles so that they won't burn unevenly.

110 0

Madelon @madelon3.bsky.social · 24/11/2025

Time to staart the Advent wreath. I have had this wreath for decades, and have especially enjoyed it since my friend @tee1959.bsky.social introduced me to the work of Beth Owlsdaughter. www.owlsdaughter.com/the-2025-adv... #Winter_Solstice #Advent

A round, brown candle holder holds 3 violet and one pink candle for the rituals counting down until the Winter Solstice. I have decorated it with fake gold evergreen branches and red holly berries. A small cauldron is on the side burning homemade incense. A squat green candle burns in the middle of the wreath. The idea is to light a candle every Sun-day leading up to the Solstice. Join us in this lovely practice.

020 0

Madelon @madelon3.bsky.social · 03/11/2025

Awww. I am glad you have that friend. What kind of dog is he? Pluto is a boxer/Lab mix. Some people call them boxadors and tout them as designer dogs that are particularly great for families. He does love children.

110 0

Madelon @madelon3.bsky.social · 17/10/2025

i.pinimg.com/originals/19...

000 0

Madelon @madelon3.bsky.social · 15/10/2025

We are full into autumn now in Wisconsin following a record-breathtakingly hot summer. Peppers liked the heat and they went crazy. I just harvested this entire plant and will pluck these slightly hot peppers from them and freeze them. # Midwestgardeners #witchsky

This is my kitchen where I have a really great rack from which hangs my Le Creuset pans along with a basket full of garlic and peppers and a big stainless steel measuring cup.

An entire pepper plant loaded with mildly hot peppers is hanging from a hook on the rack, waiting for me to beg them up and freeze them.

Sometimes I dry peppers in my dehydrator.

030 0

Madelon @madelon3.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

Another hawk sighting yesterday. I have not IDed this one yet, but I think it is different than the sharp shinned hawk I spotted at the entrance of this park recently. I’m happy to see predators in my neighborhood. #witchsky #raptors #hawk

This is a very fuzzy picture with a hawk in a field launching while gripping onto a dead squirrel. Another person walking through the park said that he heard all the squirrels screaming out a warning. I have not been able to ID this hawk yet., but it appears to be one I haven’t seen before. This neighborhood is absolutely overrun by squirrels and rabbits, and as a gardener I am happy to see a hawk make a meal of one of these pesky creatures.

160 0

Madelon @madelon3.bsky.social · 02/10/2025

This year‘s garlic planting seemed a little more intense than the last couple of years. It might be because I dug compost in. I was very sad to have to pull up a lot of zinnias, but the growing season is definitely coming to an end. I laid down chicken wire to keep the rodents out of the planting.

On the right are the remaining zinnias— big, colorful, flowers of pink and red and yellow. The row is marked by two wooden steaks with yellow string connecting the stakes to mark the row. I laid chicken wire over the entire planting, and I’m holding it down with landscape Staples. I’ve had an explosion of pesky varmints this year, and I just know that they would dig this up because that’s what they do. In the lower left-hand corner is a splash of bright reddish orange marigolds.

Here were my favorite zinnias of the season: a vibrant magenta color of jumbo zinnias that resemble Dalias. Is it these are probably my favorite flower because theyare so easy to grow and are so rewarding. Also, it’s very easy to save seeds from these beauties to plant next year’s display.

000 0

Madelon @madelon3.bsky.social · 22/09/2025

Blessed Autumnal Equinox! Today is my late brother's birthday. My dad's was the 19th, and mine is Wednesday. "Live as though all your ancestors were living through you." ~This is either Susan Cain or Kristin Neff. #autumnal_equinox #balance #ancestors #harvest

Autumn Equinox. A new red candle with little golden knobs sits on a violet (the flower) plate of my grandmother's. In front is my journal open to pages I wrote in an online gathering with Juliet Diaz, literary Bruja. A pen and a trimmer sit on the open pages. The pen is for writing prompts provided by Juliet. The trimmers repesent the harvest and the act of letting go as we go into the dark time of the year. The table is littered with plant bits.

140 0

Madelon @madelon3.bsky.social · 18/09/2025

Part of my working around this is to be very connected to what I see in nature. This week I have seen the largest river Birch ever, a murder of crows high in a oak tree, a sharp-shinned hawk, and a small flock of tree swallows. Then today, a trunk of a Cottonwood tree in the nearby park broke.

000 0

Madelon @madelon3.bsky.social · 14/09/2025

You’re called Una, that most ancient plant.  You defeat three, you defeat thirty,  you defeat venom, you defeat air-illness;  you defeat the horror who stalks the land. ~Anglo Saxon Nine Herbs Charm #witchsky #heathen #Odin #novena #mugwort

Up close and personal with a fully mature mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) plant. We have a field full of mugwort near my house. It is a distinctive silver-green color, raggedy and full of thousands of seeds. A Canadian goldenrod (Solidago canadensis)is blooming golden in the mid-left of the photo. A green hill and blue skies with white clouds are in the background.

110 0

Madelon @madelon3.bsky.social · 12/09/2025

I'm doing a novena for Odin this week.

I found a striated candle in autumn colors at the thrift store. I carved several runes into it. It sits on one of my grandmother's plates. A tiger's eye heart rests on the plate with a limestone hag stone (Stone with a hole in it) in front.

000 0

Madelon @madelon3.bsky.social · 29/08/2025

Time to take Pluto for his walk before I have to go get my hair cut. I started the day with a doctor appointment and I asked my daughter to drive me. This helps me and gives me time to spend with my favorite person on the planet. I'm trying to relish in whatever is good in these hard times.

A close-up of the flower on a wild clematis (Clematis vitalba) vine. It has ivy-like leaves and the flowers are white and wispy--like silky threads. Plants never cease to amaze me.

010 0

Madelon @madelon3.bsky.social · 23/08/2025

I’m finally getting around to harvesting some, although most of it has already gone to seed. I like to combine the dried mug wart with a native sage and use all for smudging.

This is a close-up of a very large mug wart plant. In the front and positioned horizontally and forward are stalks with countless seeds.

000 0

Madelon @madelon3.bsky.social · 22/08/2025

Hey Witches— Check out this offering under a giant cottonwood tree. Maybe those alleged witches in the neighborhood are doing something other than buying crystals. Who knows. #witchsky #witchmadness #fairy

This is the back view of a fairy/elf doll that was left as an offering to a giant cotton wood.

I came across this little offering at the base of a huge Cottonwood today. Apparently somebody else in the neighborhood is working with fairies as well.

050 0

Madelon @madelon3.bsky.social · 10/08/2025

Whoo hoo! I just found both things that have been missing for weeks: my everythiing journal and an overdue library item. I have those Ikea cube shelves, and both items had slid behind the books on the shelf. I am very excited about these finds! #witchsky

Navy blue leather journal with a Celtic design. It features Celtic scrolls and a big oak tree of life. I bought myself this beautiful Oberon journal for my 50th birthday, and I use it for an everyday place for notes, quotes, gardening notes, bits of conversation that are meaningful for me. I can put new notebooks into the leather cover, so it's kind of a perpetual journal. I used to record divination, astrological notes, and ritual notes. I no longer make the distinction between "magical" and "mundane" information. It's all magical.

130 0

Madelon @madelon3.bsky.social · 10/08/2025

OK, so I am still in the corn dolly phase of this summer. I spent Friday afternoon and evening with my youngest granddaughter and we had so much fun with this project. We purused Pinterest a bit and watched a couple of videos. Mostly, we winged it. #lammas #lughnasa #witchsky #folk_art

Vivienne's corn dolly, featuring calendula hands, winter rye, and Canadian wild rye. I love this.

Rye straw for the project. Some of it is yellow and ripe, and the Canadian wild rye is still green. Both kinds have the seed heads. I tried braiding some of this straw, and let's just say I have a long way to go.

020 0

Madelon @madelon3.bsky.social · 10/08/2025

Well, look at this. After years of looking for Monarch caterpillers on my property, here I have one on my sole red milkweed (swamp milkweed, Asclepias incarnata). Go Mama Milkweed!

Closeup of a Monarch caterpillar working on a red milkweed plant. The caterpillar is white-ish with black and yellow stripes.

010 0

Madelon @madelon3.bsky.social · 08/08/2025

My P accompanying the warning siren. #dogsofbluesly

020 0

Madelon @madelon3.bsky.social · 04/08/2025

OK. I did it. Yesterday I made my first-ever corn dolly from the native Canadian rye grass (Elymus canadensis) in my back yard. Pluto had smashed these plants with his big, leathery feet. I love the wild seed-heads this species forms. I know this is inelegant and simple, but I like it. #witchsky

This is my version of a corn dolly in honor of Lammas. The head, arms, and skirt of this dolly are made of native Canadian rye grass (Elymus canadensis), which produces straight, wild-looking seed heads. I used the seed heads for the head, arms and hands, and skirt of this dolly. She is wearing a cobalt blue silk dress and looks quite wispy indeed.

2161 0

Madelon @madelon3.bsky.social · 19/07/2025

Today my dear friend came and taught my granddaughters and me to make fairy houses. Between the two of us, we had the best stuff! Granddaughter Vivi helped herself to some of my best stuff. I guess I was done with that amethyst crystal. #fairy_magic #witchsky

A very cute little girl with brown hair and lots of gaps in her 8-year-old mouth holds aloft a little house for fairies. That girl wields a mean hot glue gun and she attached moss, birch bark, crystals and a couple of wooden buttons that my grandmother painted.

I'm not nearly as cute as Vivienne, but here I am with my fairy house, replete with birch bark roofing, multi-color stars, a bird on the roof, and a crystal "ladder" on which potential fairies can climb to get into the house.

060 0

Madelon @madelon3.bsky.social · 18/07/2025

Pluto and I took advantage of the cooler, drier weather to take a walk in the country yesterday. The boy had the best time. #dogsofbluesky #native_plants

020 0

Madelon @madelon3.bsky.social · 12/07/2025

My 16-year-old grandson has been helping me for the last few weeks on a major garden project. Spurred by the necessity to get rid of an invasive species and by my weariness of the ginormous currant bushes, it now looks pretty tame, and I am planning what plants I will put in this space.

010 0

Madelon @madelon3.bsky.social · 11/07/2025

Here’s a pallet cleanser. Olbrich Gardens, Madison, Wisconsin

010 0

Madelon @madelon3.bsky.social · 08/07/2025

My zinnias are blooming! I am trying a couple of new varieties this year and this one is called the crazy mix. #bloomscrolling #midwestgatdeners #zinnia

Closeup of a yellow zinnia with a red center.

050 0

Madelon @madelon3.bsky.social · 03/07/2025

The Queen of the Prairie (FILIPENDULA RUBRA) is very happy. I love the pink flowers.

Close-up photo of a flower from the Queen of the Prairie (Filipendula rubra) The composite flower (made up of hundreds of little flowers) is pin, whereas the foliage is feathery. It has spread throughout my rain garden with much vigor. This photo also has a glimpse of a yellow calendula in the upper left and an orage calendula (Midwest).

000 0

Madelon @madelon3.bsky.social · 02/07/2025

The $2300 eye drops arrived by FedEx today. After jumping through various hoops, I was not only able to obtain this, but I was given a waiver, bringing my price to zero dollars. I am grateful. Every time I go through one of my health thingies, I think about people who have far less resources than I

Here is a photo of some extra extraordinarily expensive prescription eye drops. I had to make countless phone calls and juggle many factors to get my hands on this prescription. I let the photo be fuzzy simply because I don’t wanna go into a long exclamation explanation about what is wrong with my eyes. I wouldn’t wish this condition on anybody unless his name was TACO.

100 0

Madelon @madelon3.bsky.social · 28/06/2025

It’s hot and oh so humid today. I am having a fibromyalgia flare and really don’t feel like taking a walk in this heat. We’ll go out after the sun goes down. In the meantime, Mr. P is checking out the shade in the backyard. #dogsofbluesky #dogsky

090 0

Madelon @madelon3.bsky.social · 27/06/2025

Not a lot of people grow sweet potatoes this for far north. I wanted to concentrate on some super nutritious foods in my garden this summer. We had an exceptionally cool spring and then when June came it got hotter than Hades. These taters like the heat. #midwestgardening #zone5b

010 0

Madelon @madelon3.bsky.social · 27/06/2025

Pluto and I were able to visit one of our favorite county parks this morning because it was actually cool enough to bear being outside. I wouldn’t wanna be out in this weather wearing a black fur coat. They have planted many echinacea palladia (purple coneflower). It’s so graceful. #bloomscrolling

We had to take many breaks for Pluto in the shade on our urban walk yesterday. P is getting older and he just can’t tolerate the heat. He has certain trees that he has to lay under. The photo is of a big black dog wearing a black harness and a raspberry collar prone on the grass. He’s ok - just taking a rest.

Here are prairie coneflowers (echinacea palladia) where we went to walk this morning. These elegant flowers are more delicate then the more commonly recognized echinacea purpurea - the cheerful upright, purple cone flower that we all love. I have been working on establishing palladia in my garden, and they are finally beginning to spread. Purpurea is getting ready to bloom for a coneflower party.

1100 0

Madelon @madelon3.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

Colorful in this part of the garden. Poppy mallows are blooming in concert with the ripe June Osborne berries (Serviceberries, Amelanchier canadensis). I just ate a bowl of berries. So good! #Midwestgardeners #zone5b

A close-up of reddish-purple serviceberries (Amelanchier canadensis) hanging from a branch in a cluster with purple-wine cups (poppy mallow, (Callirhoe bushii)). Some blue-green poppy seed pods (Paperver somniferum) are in the background. The June Osborne berries and winecups are native and should be moved to a sunnier location.

Serviceberries and poppy mallows from a different angle. The June Osborne tree is so full of fruit the branches droop. The birds think they should have all the berries. In the lower right corner, purple-pink winecups are intermixed with black eyed Susans (Rudbeckia), which have bright yellow flowers with a dark brown center. Tucked into this blas of color are Coreopsis tinctoria, dainty yellow flowers with a red center. In the background are opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) seed heads from flowers that have dropped their petals.

031 0

Madelon @madelon3.bsky.social · 25/06/2025

Grandson and I conquered the clove currant bush. Clove current is a native and is therefore considered desirable by people. But I never liked it all that much and it went rogue. Became quite invasive. So Beckett dug that thing out along with a lot of other stuff in that area. #midwestgardeners

My boy hugging his gnome of a grandma under a crazy kiwi vine. We also have yellow daylilies, firecracker, marigolds, and a raised bed full of lettuce and pepper plants. My garden is an explosion of colors and textures.

010 0

Madelon @madelon3.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

The elderberry (Sambucus canadensis), my spirit plant, is in bloom. We have had a very successful long-term relationship. So much folklore! We are expecting severe weather tonight and I fear that so many of my beautiful flowers, including the ones on this shrub, will be flattened. #bloomscrolling

Elderberry bush (Sambucus canadensis) in bloom. The flowers are white and grow in clusters that will later turn into umbrels of blue-black berries. Those berries are full of antioxidants and the tincture I make can help in warding off a cold. Folklore links this plant with witches and elves. I adorre these bushes.

060 0

Madelon @madelon3.bsky.social · 23/06/2025

Sour cherries and June Osborne berries (Amelanchier) ready to pick. The birds will likely get most of this fruit, because my grandchildren are going out of town and I need their help to pick them. I don’t mind because I have kind of a bird paradise here. The robins are particularly fond of the fruit

Clusters of ripe serviceberries. They are red with a little purple tint to them. They are so tasty.

Clusters of ripe tart cherries – the kind that go into pie.

010 0

Madelon @madelon3.bsky.social · 23/06/2025

The poppies are still going strong. Papaver somniferum. #bloomscrolling #midwestgardeners #zone5b

Four red poppies with fringed edges and purple centers. They love the heat.

060 0

Madelon @madelon3.bsky.social · 16/06/2025

Woke up to the bloom of my fist opium poppy of the season. They are so beautiful. #midwestgardeners #bloomscroll #zone5b

An opium (breadseef) poppy in bloom. This gorgeous flower has fringed petals of bright red with an inner circle of purple surrounding the pistal. Amazing!

040 0

Madelon @madelon3.bsky.social · 16/06/2025

She is a woman of strongly held convictions, and I respect that. But when she starts punching down from her perceived moral superiority, she is insufferable. I'm a Witch. I will not tolerate someone dissing me.

From Thorn Coyle:I cuese you with justice, and with so much compassion your heart cracks wide open.

A red triangle with a broken heart in the middle.

110 0

Madelon @madelon3.bsky.social · 15/06/2025

Pluto loves the nice fluffy mulch I am laying down. He probably thinks I’m doing this just for him.

Large black dog raises his head, indicating that he is a very fond of the fluffy new mulch I have laid down. We are in the backyard, which is Pluto’s domain.

010 0

Madelon @madelon3.bsky.social · 14/06/2025

Blessed Barack Obama Day! assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com/hub/i/r/2020...

000 0

Madelon @madelon3.bsky.social · 11/06/2025

Native bees (They are tiny.) working goat’s beard (Aruncus dioicus). Turn up the volume.

010 0

Madelon @madelon3.bsky.social · 08/06/2025

Here in our neighborhood park, the Cottonwood trees are spreading their seeds that look like snow. These trees are very dear to my heart as they grow along the Platte river in Northern Colorado, where I am from. Bald eagles love to make nests in these majestic trees. #hug_a_tree

000 0