yay! my witch had sent me an e-mail to "watch my mailbox early next week!" but i was not expecting it to be delivered yesterday, so i didn't bother checking the mail until this morning. and there was a box! a heavy box! with a return address in portland... how curious!

who can resist the allure of a sealed mystery box? not me! so i tore into it pretty quickly. and just as quickly my cat pounced on the box and let me know that there was something in there for her. it was hard to get a good photo of her flailing all over the place with this small cloth bundle with fringe. but here is the best of the dozens i took:

she then took it over to the box (which is also now hers) and combined them into a cat in the box toy. hard to describe i suppose, but she is very thankful for the gift!

so the first thing i noticed when i opened the box (other than my cat jumping on top of it) was yarn! yarn! lots of yarn!

these are all vintage from what i can tell, all from companies i don't recognize! this is just the sort of yarn i go nuts for. there were three hanks of what looks to be a handspun yarn. it's got a wonderful drape to it. and a cone of fuchsia laceweight yarn that looks to be... mohair maybe? the sticker on the inside doesn't say. yeah, so i'm pretty much snuggling these for a while. at least until i figure out what to make from them!

there were lots of things buried in with the yarn but the first thing i pulled out was a small bag just stuffed with perfume. so stuffed, i could barely get all the perfume out. witch you are spoiling me with all the wonderful smellies!

a partial bottle of agnes nutter & a bottle of slate junco from cobalt blends. bpal imps of goblin, imp, shanghai, black lily & nocnitsa. bpal decants of: the ifrit, the norn's farmhouse, julia stone, pumpkin 3 2007 & pumpkin 3 2009. samples from other retailers: haute love from possets, pyramid of khufu from nocturne alchemy & bohemia from happy housewife. so much goodness.

i then gathered up everything else in the box... wow...

okay, witch, that recipe book is exactly the sort of thing i was talking about on my questionnaire: full of kitschy recipes that i would never ever make but which get me to smile just by reading them. though i'll admit, there is one recipe in there that i'm modifying becasue i want to try it and see if it's yummy...

there are candles, both tapers and votive (the votives are 'honey butter' scent, they smell like frosting) a compact disc called 'her song' which i'm saving to listen to on my baking day (tuesday), a box on incense and... a bundle of... tamarind? i'm not certain what the pods are. they are so festive though, they went right on to my desk next to all my autumn leaves.

so many goodies! so much to keep me busy and inspired! thank you ever so much!