Homemade Soap!

I recently became interested in making soap. This was something I wanted to indulge myself in and I've seen some of my favorite Youtubers make them.

I don't have the kitchen nor the space and equipment to deal with making soap from lye. But I saw there's a melt and pour soap base for those of us that rather not deal with all the weighing and mixing. 

I bought 5lbs of goat's milk with glycerin off if Amazin. I also got my oils and silicone mold there too. 

I used a double boiler method to melt my soap then added my mixture of oils, dried lavendar and fresh ingredients to the melted base.

I then poured it all into the mold. It took about 4 hours for the soaps to hardened. 

I love them! Feels great on my skin and it's exactly the fragrance I want! I may put them in Etsy later :)

More Yarns!

People really responded to my high contrast colors. I may have to work more of those! 

https://www.etsy.com/shop/JumpingCowCat

New Inventory: Yarn

After a summer off I finally got new inventory in and got straight to work :) 

https://www.etsy.com/shop/JumpingCowCat

Pics of my latest color ways 

All Things Wool!

I have become a wool/ yarn enthusiast, well the enthusiasm occurred two years ago. I'm no expert BUT what I do know I accomplish with to the best of my abilities.

I spin yarn, I dye yarn and I create cool useful things with it. I, like many people who share in the love of yarn, have open a shop to sell what I love.

I started my hobby just crocheting simple things and to keep my hands busy. After retiring from the Air Force I found myself becoming antsy and generally upset over the lack of things to do.

I became OCD over the house, the lawn and my car. Back then I lived in a suburban wasteland, no real space or ambition to do much. It took too much planning to get places in San Antonio, especially as far out as we lived. My daughter came home after spending vacation with her grandparents. Her aunt visited her and taught her how to crochet. She then taught me how to do it.

Over time it evolved to dyeing my yarns to selling them when I could. I also took up spinning which was a lot easier than I thought it would be. I still need to learn to be more consistent with thickness but I will get it eventually.

Being able to create your own blankets, hats, scarves and socks can bring a sense of empowerment. Creating something from raw materials means not being dependent on retail stores and malls nor paying hundreds of dollars for something you can easily teach yourself how to make. Perks of being about to do this is making what you want the way you want it to look for a lot less than  you would pay from a mall. Well probably not cheaper than Walmart or Target but you can make things that have your inspiration made reality. Also, yes, you can find cheaper in those stores I mentioned but how long would it last? Would it survive long enough to pass down to loved ones? Would your family appreciate that handmade scarf less than one you bought from a store? If the answer is yes, then keep it all to yourself LOL. Or sell!

Here is the link to my shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/JumpingCowCat

I will have new inventory soon!

Oh Crap on a Stick

Yesterday as I was tending to my garden and debating about when to check my garlics. They haven't been looking good for a month now. I wasn't sure if they were dying or reacting to something in the dirt.  I watched a couple of videos on Youtube to see when to harvest garlics. They just informed that once the foliage starts dying back to dig them up. My foliage was limp and somewhat yellowing at the tips.

The garlic stalks on the videos looked nothing like my poor wilted puny garlic stalks. I was bummed at the possiblilty they didn't form bulbs. Sure enough, I dug them up and nothing. Only a small little bump at the end then some roots.

I watched more videos with expert garlic growers and found out I had planted them all wrong. I guess they need a cold spell before they will grow properly. Next month or in September I will retry perhaps with some elephant garlic if I can find some.

I did just throw them in dirt without research, I wanted to see if they would grow at all and they did. Just not in the fashion I was hoping.

I did use the puny garlic stalks I dug up and cooked up a rack of pork spareribs with them. My house smelled so yummy :)

So all was not lost :)

I would post a pic but I didn't think about grabbing my phone. My hands were dirty, they way I like them!

My Journey Towards Spirituality PT2

My time spent readjusting my mental processes was a long one, still is but things are looking on the up and up. However well I was feeling something was missing, something I needed in my life to make all the ends tie up.

I love the notion of witchcraft, I just never really looked into it till a about a few months back. Wiccan, hedge witches, kitchen witchery and green witch craft; I found so many blogs, Tumblr posts, Pintrest posts (let's not judge here) and IG things. I found that world so keyed on empowerment, not to destroy or hex someone like how most media views us but on a divine level. Teachings on love, thankfulness and protecting family units.

Witchcraft is a very personal and very internal thing. It's about the power of spirit, positive and focused mental agility and realizing we are part of nature. Honestly, I believe humans forget how incredible life is and where we came from.

It has gotten me to release my negativity and on really bad days it has been a safe harbor to immerse myself in. It's taught me patience, creative thought and to keep busy with constructive hobbies like gardening.

I began looking up spells, the meaning of colors, the ancient meanings and significance of herbs. I found that you can make the tools of your rites and spells from anything you find. there's no need to go on Amazon, Etsy or any other shop to find items to start practicing. Let the items find you! Seriously, its free and it will have more meaning =)

I needed an alter, a place of clean sacredness to perform spells and charge my items. I love going to the beach and here in Okinawa there is plenty of  things to pilfer at the beaches. So I went combing and found a plank of wood, my wand and many shells and sea glass that I use as offerings, vessels and part of spells. The wand took a few days to deliberate on, I found mine in a big pile of twigs and drift wood on the beach. I picked up all would be prospects then placed it all where I found them and went home. The twig that stuck with me the most was the one for me. Two days later I went back to the beach and found the one. You can find all that you need in a park, beach, forest...etc.

The only items I do buy are candles and incense, I splurge on those things. I do sometimes use herbs instead when I have serious work to do.

I perform a lot of candle prayers, charm making, and rituals to cleanse and protect my home and family. I don't really do much more other than lighting candles to honor my grandmother and the goddess. I make offerings when I can and meditate as much as possible.

I think most people would be disappointed to find I am a rather plain and boring witch.

I don't dress up in robes, I don't carry bottles and charms on my person and I don't advertise what I do in my home. It's all very personal and only meant for me.

The path of the witch has enhanced my application of The Secret. It's like this: positive thinking has taught me that instead of thinking of "Oh I need, Oh I want" to instead think of in terms of "I HAVE, and I WILL HAVE" or "the Goddess will provide". The kind of signals you send out into the universe and how you feel will only return you more of what you are outputting.

I use witchcraft to give me a physical tangible thing to my adjusted mental thoughts. Performing a ritual or spell gives me strength and self awareness, a moment in time where I am different, better.

I sleep better, I feel better and I do what I can to make the world around me a good thing. No, I'm not perfect, I am human like everyone else. I can, however, change what is under my control and not wallow in whatever misery that has plagued me for the small moment.

My Journey Towards Spirituality pt 1

B

I would like to first start out that when I was young I was forced to go to church, mother was a Catholic. Yes, as most kids in my time the word "forced" was common.

I can't say I ever felt moved or enlightened. Even though I loved looking upon Mother Mary statues and think how nice she looked I knew that couldn't be a real person by no ends.

Then my mother remarried to my current step father and became Baptist. I call even more bullshit on more organized religion pushing. The pastor and his wife were mean as spit. They were also "family". I got ridiculed and berated for being a hefty teenage girl also got called slut and whore for wearing makeup. The two months I stayed with them because we were homeless, was the worst. They were the worst family for my mental well being.  Physically, my stepfather took the gold medal on that. But that is just an ingredient to how I became a disbeliever of anything religious. Good people that followed organized religion were bad people in my eyes back then. Everyone had secrets and everyone had fake smiles. Silently judging and saying "God bless you" through clenched teeth.

I was fortunate to get out of that environment. It took a hasty and desperate move to join the military to set me free.

My time as a young adult in the military I did as I liked. Slept in, read tons of books and never once cared about church on Sunday.

I did pray every now and then but for the most part I never practiced spirituality on a normal basis. Fast forward 22 years, I was found by the Goddess and the universe. Yes, those two specifically, let me explain.

I'm not what you call a positive thinker. (present tense because even now I struggle but I think I can get better) I'm a true pessimist and doom sayer, I think if my current friends saw me write that they would think I was spouting some lies. I just keep that shit to myself and always hope for the best. I struggle with making and keeping friends already, being a nay sayer would be my one way ticket to being divorced, my kid hating me and being alone in a house full of cats and fleas till I died.

So I been toying with the idea of meditating to silence my thoughts. To lead my thinking on a path without my mind trying to insert a random crappy thought. I made mental notes on how often a crappy thought and feeling creeps up on me. The frequency was an alarming once every five minutes on a good day.

I went on a search for methods of thinking positively. I ran across people talking about "The Secret". This interested me greatly, people turning their lives around by keeping their thoughts positive on the now and future. I bought the book and read. I found forums and read. I followed it on Facebook and read. I then applied this notion of living in a mental state of 'have and will have" instead of "never and I wish".

Over time I noticed things, things that were changing positively in my direction. Things that I KNEW I will get and KNEW I have. I started getting these moments, things and situations. I started having peace. Thoughts directly affect my material worl and I know the consequences of going back to my unchecked negative thinking. When I feel something creep on me I wrangle my thinking in and practice a cleansing of sorts.

I started a zen tangle journal to train my mind to be blank and also to give thanks for all that I have. Thirty minutes or so of focused thoughts or clarity of mind while drawing repeated patterns. I felt myself transforming and I felt better.

I feel awake to my own thoughts and actions. I learned to recognize miracles that happen around me. I then give a moment of praise and reflection. I would urge anyone I meet to read this book, assess your thinking and work on mental well being. It works.

Next installment I will discuss witchcraft.