Do you miss me?

I miss you! Please join my new Hippie-Witch Google group. It is a forum for my new Hippie-Witch website, because I miss your comments and it's lonely over there!

H.W.

http://groups.google.com/group/hippie-witch

Reiki Thursday

Reiki list is up on the new blog!

check it out here

H.W.

Button for the new, improved Hippie-Witch!

I have the new home of Hippie-Witch up and running. It will take me a while to work the bugs out, but it is up  and live! Below is the button code for the new site. I hope to see you all there, and suggestions welcome!
H.W.

<a href=><a href="http://hippie-witch.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="Hippie-Witch" src=" "/><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <a href="http://s79.photobucket.com/albums/j155/bugsmom_2006/?action=view&current=hw-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="Hippie Witch" src="http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j155/bugsmom_2006/hw-1.jpg"/></a></a></a>

Creativity!

"What is that?!" I have heard these words before, and if any of you are so inclined as to create you have heard it too. LOL
Well I'm here to tell you. Don't let that stop you. Creativity comes from many different places. More often than not it is just something that is inside of you that needs release. So let it out.
Since I became a pagan I have met a great many people who are so inclined, and they live it. I learned some great things from most of them. The most important thing is not what you create, its that you create. It doesn't matter if other get it or not. Just that you do. Granted we all want that praise for something that we have made. That does not make it any less a form of praise when others don't see it. If it makes them think or look at things differently, then you have succeeded.
Have an open mind about that. Be open to who and what you create. Others will do the same. It may just take some time for them to see it!
Create! Create! Create!

Lazy Sunday

Hey Kids! Time for Lazy Sunday. The link list is posted on the new site, so head on over there!

Hippie-Witch, the new blog!

H.W.

Not my God...thankfully

Are you kidding me with this?!?

Why is this guy still considered a "Spiritual Leader"? One of the reasons I left the Christian church is I never understood the practice of scaring people into faith. When I found my faith, it was like coming home. My heart and soul seemed to relax, and I felt a sense of finally finding my place, not because I was scared that if I did not do what I was told God would punish me. I am not a 'fluffy bunny' Pagan, my patron Goddess is The Morrigan, not really one to hug it out. Faith, and God, are not all roses and sunshine, I know that. That being said, I am astounded and enraged that a man who claimed to be a spiritual leader, a man of faith, can see dead and dying people and children filling the streets of a devastated country and say they had it coming because they pissed off God. Did the 5 year old I saw on the news this morning getting his leg sewn up with no anesthesia while his mother held him down make a 'pact with the devil'? Did the mother who dug her live children out of the rubble pray harder or better that the woman next door burying her baby? I guess, since we all know nothing bad ever happens to good Christians. To all the Christians out there who have some sense and are praying for Haiti instead of condemning those victims of this disaster, I am smart enough to not judge you by the actions of this man. To me he is not a Christian leader, just a man using his faith and self-righteousness as a club to beat his enemies with. 

H.W.

We're Moving!

Over the next week, I will be moving the blog onto it's own domain! YAY! I hope you will all follow us over there and keep following our Magickal Life! I have it up, but want to play with it a little before I offically move us over there, so please check it out and give me your suggestions.

Hippie-Witch.com

H.W.

Reiki Thursday

Time for Reiki Thursday!

Please, please send Reiki to Haiti, either on your own or by joining in this Reiki share! I have the people of Haiti and those who have gone to help that devastated nation on my Reiki grid sending constant energy and Reiki, and would like to coordinate and effort to send healing to Haiti. I will try to post more information later, but for now if you would like to send Reiki and healing through my grid, please follow these instructions.

Please sit comfortably and quiet your mind. Focus on your breathing, and once you feel calm become aware of the energy in your body as a white or blue shell around yourself. Focus the energy into your hands, and see this energy as a rosy healing light. When you feel ready, send the energy out with intention to flow into and through the Hippie Witch Reiki grid. Focus on the picture of the grid if it helps you. Intend that the energy be gathered there and sent out with love to those in need of healing in Haiti. You may wish to end with a prayer.

The grid is designed to send a constant stream of healing to those in need, and I use it daily as a focus for my Reiki practices. I am opening the grid up for Reiki share because I believe it is the best way to coordinate sending healing for this disaster in Haiti. I thank you all for participation, and please direct your friends here to add their energy, prayers, and healing as well.

Brightest Blessings!

H.W.

New Author on Hippie Witch!

Below is the 1st post from our new author CowboyTiger! Everyone give him a warm welcome, and I hope you all enjoy his posts and insights. Welcome to the cyber-commune!

H.W.

SNOW?!?!?!

This time of year everyone seems to be upset by the snow. Consider me the odd one. I love the snow. I hate the cold. Go figure. But the snow to me is just a wake up call to erase things.
This time of year I go outside a lot. I enjoy walking in the woods and parks. It really is beautiful. A bit bright, but beautiful non the less. :)
I take this time of year and the snow to remember that a new year is starting. I try and let all my stress and negativity to go out in the snow. I leave it there. So that when spring comes and the snow melts it takes all of that with it back into the earth. It grounds me. It also helps with the realization that the new is just around the corner. That this year I am starting with a clean slate.
For most the holidays are both fun and stressful. I look to the spring as the coming of new powerful festivals that will enrich throughout the coming year. So leaving the stress behind in the snow just makes sense.
I wish you all a great year ahead in whatever you do. And remember life is what you make of it.

Kindness Win!

Pray for Haiti

I wanted to post this today as Reiki Thursday. Please send love, healing, and prayers to the people of Haiti. The country is devastated by the quake and needs every thought and prayer that can be directed to Haiti and it's people.  I will post a list for Reiki Thursday tomorrow, but I wanted to try to direct all the healing I can to Haiti today. Thanks and Brightest Blessings.

H.W.

Heartbroken...

I regret to inform you all, that beautiful Bulldog I posted pics of yesterday will not be joining our family after all. Unknown to us and her owner, she is terribly dog aggressive, and after several incidents yesterday (one ending up with me almost breaking my wrist pulling her off my poodle) we have decided Sadie will not be a good fit in a home where so many dogs will be passing through. Luckily, her former owner had a back-up plan and we will be taking her directly to her new person, a friend of the former owner, this afternoon. The back-up plan to that is calling Bulldog Rescue. My entire family is heartbroken by this, as she is great with our kids and we all fell into instant love with her, but we have to do what is best for her and safest for the dogs in my care as a groomer. I cannot risk those dogs being injured, and she cannot live locked away for their protection.  The home she is going to she will be an only dog, and will be able to visit her former owner and her kids alot. I appreceate all of the awesome comments I got about her, and even though she was only ours for 2 days, she was part of our family and will be sorely missed.

H.W.

Why I should stay off Craigs list...

I need to find a way to ban Craigslist from my computer. Don't get me wrong, no moral or ethical problem with Craigs list, but I went on to look for a cheap or free bathtub for the shop, and now have a new family member because I could not resist the ad looking for a home for Sadie, the American Bulldog.

Seriously, don't you just wanna smush that face? The Hubs and I have both wanted a Bully for a while now, and we were helpless against the chance to adopt her.  She is a good girl, needs a little fattening up, but is completely unsocialized to other dogs, so having to keep her separate from the boys right now. I am sure she will adjust beautifully, especially since the stream of doggies coming through he shop should get her used to "strange" dogs pretty quickly! Time to pull out all the socialization tricks I learned working at the Humane Society! Wish us luck, and say hi to our Sadie Lady!

H.W.

Dolly:Refashion style!

For quite some time I have been wanting to use my meager but growing sewing skills to make a doll. Yesterday morning I found an easy (laugh!) pattern in that it was only 2 pieces. Most of my doll projects have been abandoned for the fact they have a lot of tiny pieces to be sewn together or jointed or what have you. So I printed out the pattern, taped it together and transferred to a paper grocery bag and sliced up a pair of torn khaki pants that have been laying around since summer waiting to be refashioned into something.

I cut out my 2 dolly sides and slapped it on the sewing machine. I got it sewn up in about 10 min...problem was I did it watching Days of our lives during lunch break and sewed her little ears to the inside! Luckily I could run next door for sewing advice and she helped me do a little alteration to return dollys ears. I then used colores pencils to draw a face on each side of the head, one awake and one asleep. The little hat covers the face not forward, to you can just turn her clothes and hat back and forth for sleepy time or play time! Neat, huh? At this point, there was a 3 hour delay in doll production while I waited for H.H. to return with supplies he stopped at Hobby Lobby for after his job interview. Sadly, like everything else, the nearest craft store is 30 minutes away! Once I had the necessary items I stuffed her, ties the ribbons on her 'joints' at the legs, arm, and neck, then popped her hair in and closed up the head. We dressed her up in Mojo's outgrown jammies, cloth diaper, and hat. Her name is Melodie, and Jillian has not yet put her down! Now I just need to raid my closet for more fabric and make one for Mojo!
H.W.

Ever Heard of Charity?

I warn you now, this is quite a little rant...I heard this story on the news yesterday and looked it up this morning. Bags and bags of clothes, shoes, coats, and more that could have been donated to charities and shelters by Wal-Mart and H&M destroyed so they would be unwearable and thrown away!

For those who have worked or had family members that work for 'big box' stores you probably knew about this kind of practice. I know when someone I know worked at the Wal-Mart deli they threw out food instead of donating. The explanation given was to avoid lawsuits from possible food poisoning since the thrown out food was past it's prime. OK, I can kinda understand that. But really, are you that unconcerned about your fellow man that you would, as a company, make a decided effort to destroy unsold merchandise that you have already written off as a loss rather than pass it on to those in need? Apathy is one thing, but to send a paid employee to go through garments and shoes one by one, cutting off fingers of gloves, sleeves from coats, and slitting the insoles of shoes is disgusting and disturbing. If they did not want to make the effort to ship them off to shelters or charities, just put them out back for people to go through, or have a monthly 'free store' in the parking lot for charities to come get the stuff. Any charity would have been falling all over themselves to come pick up those items, and the good publicity for those companies would have been immeasurable. Why did they do it? Because they knew they could. The general population will say 'That's just awful! That reminds me I have to stop at Wal-Mart on the way home for milk and bread.' I have been encouraged to see in this recession stories of people reaching out to others, people pulling together to make it through hard times. The bottom line is that the people who would have benefited from those clothes being donated were or are Wal-Mart customers more than likely, and when the hard times hit, they as a company not only did not care but took deliberate steps to keep products they had written off as trash out of the hands of those who needed them.  What am I missing here? Someone explain it to me? My family is broke as a joke right now, and still we donated a van full of old toys to a local church daycare, we donated all the disposable diapers I didn't use for Mojo when I made cloths as well as our clothes when we purge closets twice a year to the mission in town. I don't know much about H&M, but doesn't Wal-Mart set it's self up to be 'moral'? Not selling this CD or that book because it's too dirty or sexy or whatever? Where was that 'morality' when it came to charity that would have cost them NOTHING? I don't live too close to a Wal-Mart, being in a rural small town. It takes me about 30 minutes to get to one, and I have probably been once in the last 4 months or so, so it's not like they, as a business, will notice my absence as a customer, but what little business I give them has just gone to Target, who contributes both money and merchandise to charities each month at least until I can be assured that Wal-Mart has taken steps to be more socially conscious and has donation procedures in place for this type of non-perishable merchandise. This is not a rallying cry to join me, I know some people have to depend on Wal-Mart for jobs and for being the best price on food in a bad economy, but at least think about this story the next time you are in the check out line, and think about getting involved somehow to make up for all those who don't care out there.

H.W.

Reiki Thursday

No list this week, but Dr Oz had a segment on Reiki this week on his show! Here is the link.

H.W.

Thai for dinner

I made this for dinner tonight. It is several recipes cobbled together and tweaked a little. I look at recipes as guidelines and change it up! We enjoyed it, (we ate it all before I thought of taking a pic...sorry) hope you do too.  H.W.

Thai Chicken with Peanut Sauce

1lb Chicken breast

1 Tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce

1 Tablespoon Canola oil

1 Cup thawed frozen or fresh peas

coat chicken in soy and oil and grill in a dry skillet until done, about 6 minutes if cut into strips. Let rest, then dice and mix into peanut sauce return to pan, add peas and warm through (recipe follows) serve over rice with cucumber salad (recipe follows)

Spicy Peanut Sauce

• 4 tablespoons smooth natural peanut butter
• 4 tablespoons "lite" coconut milk
• 2 tablespoon lime juice
• 4 teaspoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 2 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper, or to taste

Whisk together peanut butter, coconut milk, lime juice, soy sauce, sugar and crushed red pepper in a small bowl until smooth.

Thai Cucumber Salad

• 1/2 seedless cucumber, peeled, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced on an angle
• 2 cups fresh bean sprouts
• 1 cup shredded carrots, available in pouches in produce department
• 3 scallions, sliced on an angle
• 12 leaves basil, chopped or torn
• 3 tablespoons chopped mint leaves (4 sprigs)
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• salt to taste
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar or white vinegar

I forgot!

I forgot about Wordless Wednesday until I was posting the picture below. While not 'wordless' it does nicely sum up where I am in my heart and mind right now. All my life I have hated the phrase 'what doesn't kill you makes you stronger'. Hated it with a passion, more and more as time went on and I collected more and more episodes in my life which fell under the 'not killing me' status. I always used to answer that if I was not strong enough by now, it could just go ahead and kill me. I now know why I have had to be made so strong. Some of it I have shared with you on this blog, and some I have kept private, but I now know that I had to be pretty damn strong to be standing where I am today. When I saw that caption on I Can Has Cheezeburger I laughed, hard, and immediately copy/pasted it as part of my LULZ for the week since I am pre occupied this week and not blogging like a good blogger should. Then I kind of thought about it. That is my new motto. I have made a very definate switch in my outlook over the past several months. I have always been, to my self and my friends, the strong one who could handle any situation. I might need a minute to cry and freak out a little first, but I rally quickly and move into action. I am the one who handles it, who cleans up messes and gives great advice. I am still that person, but I feel now that all of that strength is moving into a place of pro-action, rather than re-action. I am acting, not reacting. I am doing, not dreaming. I am fixing what needs work, and throwing out what doesn't, not complaining about the state of my life. I am not waiting for a crisis to bring out the best in me, I am putting my best out there every day. I am not so foolish to believe I have reached my quota and nothing bad will ever happen to me again, nor am I so stupid to think I have my shit together. What I do know, for sure, is that no matter what happens, I have everything I need to handle it, dust myself off, and keep right on moving forward. Although I had that all along, I guess I forgot and had to be knocked on my ass to remember. The lesson was worth the sore ass!

H.W.

My New Motto!

moar funny pictures

Lucky Dog Grooming Grand opening Jan 5th!

We officially opened the shop today! In the hustle and bustle I did not get a pic of the actual ribbon cutting, but I will post the one from the newspaper when I can! Here is a little look at our opening day!

H.W.

Amish Cat

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Going to be a bad blogger this week because of opening the shop...so enjoy the lulz! H.W.

Happy New Year

Just wanted to take a moment and wish you all a safe and Happy New Year. H W and I had a awesome night last night right here at home , didn't need any big ballroom room's or show's just us here as a family was totally awesome. This has been a wild ride thru 2009 but now its over and we welcome 2010 into our lives . Just a side note I went out this morning to get HW and jilly some doughnuts and as I was driving down the road I looked up into the sky and what did I see? The first full moon in the daylight it was after 8am . I told HW about it and she reminded me that it was a Blue Moon last night !!! anyway just wanted to wish you all the best of luck and life in 2010 .

H.H.

New Year

Every year since as far back as I can remember, I have put a lot of stock in New Year. I was always looking forward to it because I was putting all of the bad stuff from the past year behind me and getting a clean slate. This was going to be the year I would get my shit together/lose weight/make more money...you all know the drill, fill in your resolution here and I am pretty sure I made it at some point. There was always a big deal, and a big toast at midnight about new beginnings and blah, blah, blah. It didn't happen this year. First and foremost, it didn't happen because I have been so focused in the last few months on actually getting all my shit together, New Years Eve kind of snuck up on me! I literally realized yesterday morning that it was New Years Eve and I had no plans at all...I didn't even have anything to cook for dinner if we stayed in! I spent the day cleaning and organizing my house, getting ready for my grand opening Tuesday and just generally getting things together. Tearing things up and putting them back together, shaking things up, getting rid of the trash, the things I don't need, want, or are just not working anymore. I have done the same in my life over the past few months. I have torn myself, my life and my marriage into tiny pieces, and have been putting them all back together by seeing where the pieces fit now, not just trying to jam them back where I think they should go. I have learned the lesson that sometimes things need to be cut away for something beautiful to grow. I have learned to accept gifts from the Universe even if they are painful to receive. I have learned that sometimes things need to be smashed to bits before you realize it might have needed fixed. Being the tree-hugging Hippie Witch that I am, I always resisted the fact I was chosen, all those years ago, to have the Morrigan as my patron Goddess. I was not a warrior-Goddess type of girl, or so I thought. These past few months I have learned her lesson, and have realized and embraced the warrior within me. I have fought like hell, and will keep fighting, because I decided I have a lot worth fighting for. No need to have a big party and make a big toast with my friends at midnight about how this year will be the year because I have already been working my big old butt off to make it happen! No need to wish that this year lay an easier road before me, because I don't need an easy road, just the strength to get better and better at navigating it. I would not wish the unfortunate events of the past year on anyone, but I would not change them in my own life, because they gave me the tools to build all the positive things that are happening for me right now. I have a great family, friends, my husband and I are coming through the storm that rocked our marriage hand in hand, I have a beautiful home and will open my own business in just days. What do I have to wish for? What resolutions do I have to make? I rang in the new year with a quiet evening at home with my husband and kids, and once the girls were in bed, the Hubs and I shared a glass of champagne and blessed the work we have put in already to make out dreams happen, instead of longing for them to come true. Happy New Year to you all, I look forward to sharing all the blessings I am building in my life with you, and wish you brightest blessings on your own life!

H.W.