Misty Acres

A Walk

Published January 15, 2011 | By Juniper

From my Journal

January 2009. Misty Acres, near Greenwood, British Columbia:

My little plastic children’s sled, which is the colour of a perfect summer sky, slices into the snow with a slippery, rustling, skittering sound that repeats with each foot step. Sssshhhhhhhkthh … Sssshhhhhhhkthh

I lean forward into my momentum, gripping the black cord around my waist for added strength and stability. My black boots slip into the layer of fresh powder snow to shin deep before finding the hard packed stuff beneath.

My breath puffs out before me, like a steam engine. Falling snow finds its way into my eyes every time I glance up, leaving me half blind. I do not need to see. My feet know their way along this narrow path from my mother’s home to mine.

Along the long driveway past the horse pasture, then a sharp turn off the ploughed area and onto my little trail in the winter landscape. Then I scramble my way up the first bend on the steep incline of the mountain. I am bathed in moonlight; on my left side is the slope of an alpine meadow, to my right the forest pushes in close to my trail.

Upon… Continue reading →

Posted in About Juniper, Hearth & Home, Life of a Hedgewitch, Musings About the Land | Tagged About Juniper, dogs, Life of a Hedgewitch, Misty Acres, Nature Witch, Wheel of the Year, Wildwood, winter

The Way it Goes

Published December 23, 2010 | By Juniper

Off and on I have delved deep into practice, into doing … no more than that, into really living my practice. I have lived on many acres of land, living a fairly simple lifestyle and also living off the land to a certain extent. I was also having a go at traditional lifestyles as well, doing it the old way.

I carried water up a mountain side everyday (sometimes twice or thrice) so I could cook, clean and drink. I learned the value, the sacredness, of every single drop. There are few things in the world that can teach you to truly understand that water is indeed the lifeblood of the Earth (and everything that lives on and within Her) than being a small, barefoot woman, thirsty to the point of parched, dragging 30 pounds of water up a rocky mountain side under a blazing summer Sun.

I dragged (and later carried as I grew stronger) hay bales about the place to feed horses and livestock. I wishpered prayers to Epona everyday … and more as I tried to tend a wound on a half-gentled young filly.

I spent many long nights up to my elbows in blood and birthing… Continue reading →

Posted in About Juniper, Community, Hearth & Home, Life of a Hedgewitch, Musings About the Land, Paths & Traditions, Practice & Learning | Tagged About Juniper, Community, dogs, hedgewytch, horses, inspiring, Life of a Hedgewitch, Misty Acres, Nature Witch, Paths & Traditions, pets, Wheel of the Year, Wildwood, Witchcraft

Ahhh, Yes.

Published November 26, 2010 | By Juniper

I am going back to school in the spring to start my path to owning a kennel or doggy day care or animal hospice. This last year living in the city with Bren has been a big change from the previous few years living on the farm and working with animals and in rescue. I was digging through old emails looking for something else when I found an email in which I described what it is like to be on a homestead, caring for animals who often had been abused.

It’s a 24-hour job, you have to get up at night or at sunrise or both.

It doesn’t matter if it rains or is 40 below; you still have to do the rounds.

It’s the fact that you can’t just take off camping on the weekend spontaneously, you have to find someone to watch the dogs and trust me, its easier to find a babysitter than a farm sitter.

Its being woken up by barking dogs every morning.

Its skipping meals to make the time to feed animals.

Its blisters and calluses and dirt under the fingernails.

It’s dashing out of the shower to check on barking dogs, every time… Continue reading →

Posted in A Sense of Humor, About Juniper, Everything Else, Life of a Hedgewitch, Musings About the Land, Practice & Learning | Tagged About Juniper, dogs, funnies, inspiring, Misty Acres, Nature Witch, Paths & Traditions, pets

The Price of Food

Published November 18, 2010 | By Juniper

Costs come down when people buy from small & organic farms and not buy food produced by feedlots. So that the small & organic farms can makes ends meet without having to jack up prices.

Costs come down when people support local or nearby farms and not food transported from foreign countries.

Costs come down when people eat food that is seasonal and not demand to have pineapple in February.

Costs come down when people learn to cook for themselves from scratch in large batches and to preserve and store food.

Costs come down when people grow vegetable gardens in their yards and not monoculture grass lawns. When they grow fruit trees in yards and parks and not imported ornamental species of trees that produce no edible fruit or nuts.

Costs come down when people eat at home and not at restaurants.

Costs come down when the government supports farmers and not large scale corporations, packing plants and fucking McDonalds.

Costs come down when people realize they don’t need super-sized meals in order to eat well. Portions eaten today by folks in Western society are double the size they were even 50 years ago.

Costs come down when people don’t… Continue reading →

Posted in Everything Else, Musings About the Land, Rantings & Ravings | Tagged ethics, farm, food, Misty Acres, Nature Witch, values, Wildwood

Update: Workshop

Published August 8, 2010 | By Juniper

I am working on getting the workshop I did on at the Fest called Building a Personal Divination System up on the website and here on the blog. But I have discovered I need photographs to make it make sense. Must have visual aids! I also work weekends! So in the meantime, here are inks to some of the articles I have written on the subject so far and some other links of interest.