Spring fever...

Greetings from Ohio, USA! It's so beautiful and warm out today! I've been sitting outside with my bathrobe on, reading a draft of my "book" that I've started writing. My warm fuzzy blanket covered my legs to keep them warm as I sipped on hot coffee.

Keep seeing crows around me lately and I would like to figure out what they represent. I spoke with a Shaman last night and he said crows have different meanings depending on how many appear to you. Usually it's just one, but today there were 3 in a group. They kept coming and going, and flying directly over me! My tears welled up as they did this and I felt the love they were sending my way. After the 3 left, the 1 crow kept coming and going, landing in a large tree near me and calling. Then he would leave again, and come back 10 minutes later.

My willow tree who blesses my pottery studio with her long loving branches has bright green buds already! This makes me very happy. :-) Her name is Gaia and I love to give her Reiki hugs. This helps me connect deeply with Mother Earth.

Just came inside to get something to eat for an early lunch. Opened up all the windows in the house to bring in the fresh air. It's almost 70 degrees (F) already! This is quite a shock for us in Ohio in March!!

Have a wonderful day!
di

Casserole Dish!

I made my first casserole dish and cooked mushroom chicken with yellow rice in it tonight. It worked beautifully! I'm not known for my cooking, but it was fun to bake in a dish that I made myself! (Going to keep this first one for myself because it was my first). My older sis, Debbie has already put in her order for a purple casserole dish for Christmas. Hopefully I can get it done by then. Actually, I'd like to make some baking dishes that are about 1/2 this length for making brownies. But, I've got to work on some new water fountain designs first! They are floating around in my head and I need to try them out. Thinking of more lotus blossom/water lily designs using porcelain clay. Porcelain can be semi-transparent if you get it thin enough and I think this would work beautifully for the petals! Cheers!

Winds of Change--for the better!

Last August 4th, 2008 an incredible thing happened. I came home from work for lunch and saw this amazing, freaky storm system moving in over our town. A surge of energy went through my whole body. There was a straight line where the front ended (or started?) and behind that the clouds were writhing and churning--dark and ominous. I ran inside and grabbed my camera. I've never seen clouds form such a perfect line like that before, and the mass of energy in the clouds that followed scared me. It also reminded me of the film "Independence Day" when the large ships came in. The other odd thing was that there was no wind or rain. It just came in low over us and brought with it a powerful force. So, I took as many pictures as I could to remember this event. When I got back to work an hour later, everyone was talking about it! Someone came into our store and said "You have to see this--come outside!" Everyone was out in the street looking at it. I knew that something important was happening. What I didn't expect was the strong energy that it brought with it to affect me so much! I had been upset that we couldn't take our vacation because of our tight budget, but this "storm" forced me to release it. I spent about an hour crying and releasing this frustration. When the election came in November and the results were so stupendous--I knew then that this storm brought us the winds of change. Now, we have a new President and a hopeful outlook for our country and the rest of the world. Things are changing for the better! I'm just in awe at the massive power of our Creator and feel extremely blessed to be alive at this exciting time! We're in for a wild ride!! Let's enjoy it and go with the flow!

Time to get serious, people!

I stayed up late last night because I took an afternoon nap. Happened to flip on TV and went to check out Larry King Live's show. Well, Larry wasn't there, but Wolf Blitzer was and they were showing live video footage from Gaza where the Palestinians and Israelis are fighting again.

Honestly, I don't understand this conflict anymore than they are both fighting for their Holy Land. I'm not diminishing this terrible conflict; but it really pisses me off! There are so many wonderful, beautiful people being killed in this quest for Holy Land. Enough already!!

Earthlings--what kind of world do you want? I'm sure you've noticed that things are changing. This is the outside reflecting what is on the inside of us. Many of us have not been too happy about how things have been working. Why are there still hungry people in the world when an elite few get a Christmas bonuses in the millions? Why the heck are there still wars and fighting going on?

Everything that was previously in the dark is now being exposed so it can be cleared away. In order for change to happen, material "institutions" such as the economy, government and religions will need to be shaken up. Think about when you clean your house. Things get shuffled around, piles of dirt are collected and cleared away. Our society is changing because we wanted this to happen! So, it seems really scary, but it is for the best!

NOW, as we're in the middle of it, we must remember to visualize the world that we want! Bring love into your heart and it will erase the fear. Love is stronger and it will win. We have to remember that the dark knows it's losing and is struggling to keep control. I believe there is much more love & light on our planet right now than dark. See planet Earth in your mind and just coat it all over with our Divine Mother's pink light of unconditional love! Ask that it seep into every being on our planet!

So, what do you want? "World Peace"...is wonderful, but be more specific! How about humans working together to build a healthy world economy? Sharing their light and love with those who are ill or hungry? Thinking about the other person and how they are feeling? People living life and enjoying it instead of working just to survive? Each person living life doing what they WANT to do instead of a day job just to pay the bills? Healthy, vibrant friends and family? Sharing, caring, honesty, clean & green living? "Think globally and act locally" is one of my favorite phrases!

It's time to get serious, step into our power and blast our love and light all over this beautiful, sacred planet!!

Best Sweet Potato Casserole ever!

It's Thanksgiving Week and I want to share something with you...it's my Mother-In-Law's dish that I feel head over heals for...Sweet Potato Casserole. It's so yummy and filled with nuts and spices that you don't really even taste the sweet potato! This is coming from a gal that HATED sweet potatos my whole life. TRY IT! YOUR FAMILY WILL LOVE IT!

Louise's Sweet Potato Casserole Dish

1 cup milk (to double,-2 cups)

2 cups sweet potatoes (canned is fine) (2x-4 cups)

1-1/4 cups sugar (I use brown, Louise uses white) (2x - 2 1/2 cups)

2 eggs (2x-4)

3/4 stick of butter or margarine (melted) (2x-1 stick is fine)

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (2x-1 teasp)

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (2x-1 teasp.)

Mix all ingredients with electric mixer. Bake @ 400 degrees (F) for 20 minutes or until it's set in the middle. 10 minutes before it's done (i.e. after 10 min or so of baking), add the mixture below on the top.

Topping: 3/4 stick melted butter, 3/4 cup crushed cornflakes, 1/2 cup chopped pecans (double all these if you are doubling recipie).

Let me know if you try it!

Happy Holidays!

Cheers! Diana

Fresh from the kiln!!

Just opened the kiln last night and found some beautiful platters! I've also added some new funky soapdishes...

Check out my Etsy shop for more!

www.dancingdolphinpotter.etsy.com

~Etsy Mud Team--Mug Swap~

Hey! I hope that everyone voted today, BTW! It's Tuesday, Nov. 4th, 2008.

I'm a proud (new) member of the Etsy Mud Team--a group of about 300 potters who sell their handmade pottery on http://www.etsy.com/ They are a great team that provides online mentoring, friendship and group promotion of our creations. I am in awe of their talent!

The Etsy Mud Team is currently holding a MUG SWAP! If we choose to participate, we trade a handmade mug (or mugs) with other team-members. The fun part is that we don't know who is sending us a mug! So, we take a picture of ourselves with our mugs first then upload it to the EMTwebsite. Then we're told who to ship our mug to. When we get our mugs, we then take a picture of ourselves with the mug sent to us!!

I've shipped out my mug and am waiting to get mine---it's like Christmas for adults! Check out this link to see everyone with their pots! http://etsymudteam.craft-sense.com/Challenges/viewchallenge.asp?ChallengeID=14