Spring beginnings

Hello all!  This spring has been truly a time of rebirth and new beginnings here at the Hippie household.  As you may have noticed, we now have a flock of chicks and ducklings, and have started building the coop for when they can no longer live in the shop, as that might be slightly distracting to the doggies being groomed! :-)  Business for my dog grooming business has started to pick up, and the Hubs is about ready to begin his second job, which we are praying becomes his new career.  We are also still on our long journey back from the mess our lives were there for a while last year. The only, and I mean only, good thing about your life falling completely apart is that when it's laying there in pieces on the ground it is easy to really take a good hard look at it and make decisions about what not to put back. That puzzle is beginning to come together, and is looking beautiful. Naturally for times of high stress, I have spent time reevaluating my faith and beliefs. I had a little bit of a personal rumspringa and have been contemplating other beliefs to incorporate and help me move forward on my Path.  I have recently been spending a lot of time at Camp Chesterfeild, which is only 30 minutes from me. Both my husband and I have been there many times over the years for readings, events and fairs, the Hubs more than I because his mother was a regular there all his life for readings, but we had never been to a service.  I have been twice in the last two weeks to services, and went to a lecture on cleansing a house of undesirable spirits, and am thinking of taking some development classes there.  I have always loved the energy there, and have been recently very drawn there.  I REALLY need to find my still camera and post pics of the Camp...beautiful there! I don't know that I want to 'convert', if that is the right term, to Spiritualism but I am looking very forward to learning much more about their beliefs and practices. Before the services last night, we as a family walked the labyrinth they recently put in. I was so moved by the experience, such a long journey in such a small space.  It was so important to me to stand in the center with my family as we all said out own prayers and blessings in our heads.  We walked out again as a family, and it will be a memory I know I will treasure. The garden is planned out, seeds are started or waiting to be started, and our trees and raspberry bushes will be going in the ground soon.  Much to do, much to grow, much to learn...sounds like spring to me!

H.W.

Flock update week 1

Hiyas all! I wanted to post an week 1 update on our ducklings and chicks. We are really liking it so far...especially the ducklings daily swim in the shop tub. The ducklings are not as social as I hoped, and seem to kind of hate us, but the chicks are very sweet and like to be held by us. It is amazing to me how much they have changed in the past week, especially the ducks who seem to have grown a lot in such a short time! The chicks have all lost their egg teeth and their combs are starting to come in. I am still figuring, based on internet research, that we have 2 cockerels and 4 pullets...which means we will be able to keep 4, since our city ordinance is no roosters. We will have to see if our predictions come to pass. The neighbors lost one chick. They said it seemed weak from the get go, and they tried to nurse him along but lost him. They will be butchering last years chickens this weekend, as they got 'mutt' chicks last year at the feed store and did not get 1 egg out of the bunch of them. The Barred Rocks are supposed to be good layers, so we should be set for eggs as soon as they are old enough. That's all for now, I will post an update weekly, and am going to try to start blogging again regularly soon. Lots in the works! Blessings!
H.W.

Hippie Chicks

I posted yesterday about the ducklings, well today we got our chicks! We have 6 Barred rocks, only 2 days old.  Judging from the information I found at Backyard Chickens they are 2 cockerels and 4 pullets. We had planned to keep them in the brooder with the ducklings, but the ducklings are bullies and they had to be separated.  Click the link below for a video of the new flock, and if you missed it, click the link in the above post for Ducky bath time.  I will post pics later, but right now can only find the video camera!

Click here to watch Hippie Chicks!

Soon we will start construction on the "chicken tractor", so check back!

H.W.

The Adventure Begins!

We picked up two ducklings to begin our 'flock' today. We are waiting to heat from the farmer about chicks, will be this weekend or next. The ducklings are settling in and had a nice swim in the tub...enjoy!

Ducky Bath Time!

H.W.

Blankie

As I have mentioned before, my current crafting fixation is knitting. After a year of sporadic work, I recently finished a very sloppy but awesome scarf for Jiji. Now I want to make a blankie for Mojo.  I started one, with a simple basket weave pattern, but because I can only work on it a bit at a time I lose count and get lost in the pattern.  My solution? Squares! I have found several super-awesome patterns for "dishcloth" squares, so I can make them one at a time, and when I have enough, whipstitch them together.  I know myself well enough to know several small projects work better than one looooong one...I lose patience and interest.  As I was browsing through the free patterns on Ravelry at 2:30 this morning while trying to get Mo back to sleep, I found several interesting patterns. Great sigils like a Pentacle, Trefoil, Raven, Moon and Stars, as well as ones that are meaningful to our family like a lady bug, a honeybee, and a 4-leaf clover. So I am going to get started today on a Pentacle square, and just make up a bunch, then when it is assembled Mojo will have a Magickal blankie to snuggle at night. I will keep you posted on progress.

H.W.

Diaper 3.0

Mojo is now 8 months, and her diapers are getting a little snug.  I have taken all I like and hate about the diaper design I made for this batch, threw it together with my growing sewing skills, and viola!  I have what I feel is an awesome, functional, and super-cute pocket diaper which should be adjustable enough to get her through to potty training...or at least close. 

There is a layer of flannel against the skin to wick moisture away, and the fleece is hidden inside and covered by the CUTE bee fabric!  They actually work well as a pocket diaper, not just a cover like my last batch turned into. Pretty proud, I must say!  I am so proud I am going to be selling them, along with hand made ring slings and nursing covers.  You can coordinate your whole baby stash LOL. 

Swing by the brand new and growing store at Hippie-Witch.com and see what I have been up to.

H.W.

I'm back...kinda of

I have decided to move my blog back here to Blogger. I miss you all and I miss the comments and feedback!  I am keeping that site, and have a lot of great plans for it, but will be back here, starting today. Please comment your heart out, and zip over to Hippie-Witch.com every once in a while too!

H.W.