Soul sister Connie Sutherland is putting in her fall garden of pumpkin, squash, tomatoes, basil, sweet potatoes, spearmint, peppermint, thyme, radishes, kale and spinach. I envy her time to do that! For ten years I’ve apologized to friends for not having time to play. I’ve come to realize I’ve created a career that morphed into a lifestyle that, to some, appears to have limited social contact. But that’s not true. I talk to friends all day long. The nature of my business is such that the authors, advertisers, publicists and readers of Horizons Magazine often become friends as we share many of the same interests.  Some I speak to or email or text with every month, some every few months, others only every few years.  I feel as close to some of them as I do my own in-real-life friends.  With rare exception, at least six hours of every day is spent talking, texting and emailing for business.  But since my “business” is a lifestyle of discussing mutual interests with friends, it’s a job I do not need a break or vacation from.  I wouldn’t want it to be any different. Not right now anyway.  Stay tuned.

Sometimes it’s not so easy. You think those people are interrupting your spiritual practice? Those people ARE your spiritual practice. Honor and cherish your darkness and derailment because it puts you on the path to where you really want to be.

Honored and delighted that Science of Mind Magazine used my quote in their Sept 2014 issue: “I want to look back on my life and be giddy with joy that I was the one who got to live it.”

Immediate upgrade! I wanted a padded swivel barstool with a back and got one

A huge shout out of gratitude to Ed Mondazzi and Chris Wilson of Book And Bead Outlet for not only the coolest psychic fair ever yesterday, but for gifting me this awesome swivel barstool for my art studio. I last week told the bf I needed a padded swivel stool, so the Universe and Chris and Ed conspired to drop it in my lap. Ok, plus I asked for it. Always ask for what you want. Plus live your life happily enough to vibe in a good place to attract generous, loving peeps like Ed and Chris.

The future is crystal clear

It was another awesome psychic fair at Book And Bead Outlet today.  I got to see old friends and new, thanks to everyone stopping by and saying hi in person The next fair is November 9th.  Today’s hits included several real estate transactions, a cruise, an extended vacation, a home remodeling, an overseas trip, a mate who stopped paying support, a childhood friend coming back into the life (x2), cinematography as a profession, in school for design and fashion, hip surgery, knee surgery,  new business partnership with friends (x2), home size of 3500 sq.ft., son moving out, son moving in, tax matters, issues in new biz with licensing requirements, moving and switching schools. I’m sometimes surprised at how much info comes in during a scattered 10 minute mini reading, especially if they are not asking a question.  I always suggest asking a question so I can spend 10 minutes giving them a complete answer on the topic they care most about.  Today, only 3 had a question. Tough crowd.

I spent a few hours today cutting palmettos and grapevines as I opened up another area of the yard. Since the tree cutters came and changed the landscape here, I’ve taken the opportunity to make some changes of my own.  I usually let the natural trails in my woods grow over during the summer and starting cutting them as the weather cools.  I like a winding path to the firepit, and I re-route grapevines to create walls for privacy. The neighbor behind me used to have a real attitude about my yard being so wild.  He didn’t like the wildlife that came out of the woods, nor the mulberry and loquat trees that they fed from. He was rude and vocal. I let my yard grow wild so I didn’t have to see his house or garage. The past few years he’s been quiet, so I’ve slowly been opening the yard back up, cutting back the palmettos that border the property and run all through it.  I like to keep it wild so it’s a nature corridor for the wildlife. We’ve got all kinds here.  They lived here before I did, so it’s only fair. I feel I’ve got twice as much property as I had last week. I’m already planning where to place the tent and chiminea for those cool autumn nights when I want to pretend I’m in the deep woods.

I can see the sunrise an hour earlier now

I went outside predawn yesterday to water in the back garden area, newly cleared by the power company tree cutters. It was my first sunrise in the new space. Usually I don’t see the sun until it rises over the treeline to the east, which is generally a couple of hours after sunrise. Yesterday I got to see it while it was still low on the horizon, something I’ve never done before in this house I’ve lived in for 30 years. Not only that, I felt the breeze from the east, something else I seldom feel in this yard.  I’ve got three lots of woods each to my east and west, so a breeze has to break through some dense oaks and pines to get to me.  With the area cut open under the power lines for as far as the eye can see, I stood watching the sunrise and feeling the wind blow through me and it felt like a glorious new day.  Continue reading →

In the meantime, something pretty to look at

This morning I got to work a few hours in the new garden area, cleared under the power line by the tree cutters. I did it as a form of blessing the new space.  I pulled miles of potato vine, greenbrier and Virginia creeper that got exposed in the cut.  I took my pruners and went over every cut they made to the smaller trees, bushes and vines, with a prayer of thank you, and leaving them with a kinder cut.  Experience has taught me to honor my place as a steward of the earth by embracing change when it happens. I transplanted a dozen loquat saplings, plus 20+ cuttings from my arbicola and turk’s cap, clipped two days before the tree cutters came in.   I gave thanks to Mother Earth, to the Great Spirit, for leaving me with such a big beautiful new garden space.  I smudged with sage and sweetgrass, cedar and tobacco, to carry my prayers on smoke and wind.  I haven’t decided yet what I’ll plant. It’s the perfect place (and planting time!) for an herb garden, winter squash, celery, greens, beets, brussels sprouts, carrots, onions.  We’ll see.  I’m entertaining different ideas.