My Familiars

fa-mil-iar  /fǝ'milyǝr/  noun  plural noun: familiars

1.  a demon supposedly attending and obeying a witch, often said to assume the form of an animal.

"her familiars were her two little griffons nested in her skirts."

2.  a close friend or associate.

While it has, on occasion, been said of me that I keep familiars of the animal kind, this post is not about such gossipry.

{Asiatic "Landini" Lilies...or not. They may be my "Blacklist" Lilies...I confuse those two.}

This is about lilies: Those steadfast perennials that return so faithfully each year and I welcome them as I would an old, familiar, friend whom I haven't seen for a year.

{Hyperion Daylily}

{"Nettie's Pride" Asiatic Lily}

After such a long absence, I confess that I have forgotten how very beautiful they are.

{"Pink Luxury Lace" Daylily}

{Another Hyperion Daylily, albeit smaller. This one almost reminds me of  daffy.}

So many different faces, but all so familiar.

(My "famililies???)

{"Stargazer" Asiatic Lily}

And then there is this wonderful familiar.  He is, indeed, of the animal kind, and he is, indeed, a close friend.

A very, very, close friend.

{Do you see the orb by the tree? It was so solid it gave me pause.  It almost seemed that Snowdog saw it too.}

My precious Snowdog is struggling these days, but today he is celebrating his 13th birthday.  Well, I am celebrating his 13th birthday.

He got a new bunny (one of his very favorite familiars) and lots of snacks...and maybe pizza is on the menu for dinner.

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While we are on the subject of familiars, I recently finished up The Familiars by Stacey Halls.

It is a historical novel set in 1612 Lancaster, England amid the all-too-true atrocities of the Pendle witch trials. (Yes, before Salem, there was Pendle.)

While it fits squarely within one of my most loved genres, it was somewhat unique in that the main protagonist, Fleetwood Shuttleworth, and other main characters were real people and the novel does an uncanny job at weaving the story around very factual aspects of their lives.

 (Of course I had to go research the "real" people and places and was surprised at the accuracy of some details.  The fictional details, however, are so very plausible, that it makes one wonder how close to actual history they might be.  It also gave me a glimpse into what may have become of the fictional Fleetwood.)

In short...totally loved it and would definitely recommend it.

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Ok, off to see about that pizza.  And maybe a doggie sundae later.

I love that dog.