~ Spring Equinox ~

The blackthorn is 

beginning to bloom,

and the hawthorn is 

showing the tenderest 

of new green, as its buds 

slowly give birth to its 

Spring foliage.

::

::

The collared doves send coded messages

of coo~ing love to one another,

and Sol climbs higher

and burns brighter

every day.

18th March 2013

~ Happy Imbolc ~

The light is back....wahooo. I love this day. The snowdrops, daffodils and crocuses are all promising us their blooms very soon. Two brave and hardy primroses are already cheering us with their pale yellow flowers, and we had sunshine this morning.

We were told recently that the Buddha said: 'the time of the dawn is when it is light enough to be able to see the lines in your hands and the green of the grass'...isn't that beautiful. This morning that was at 7:30, and this evening, the light lingered until 5:30....ten hours feels great....and it is going to get better and better :~)))

With fire and candles lit, and the little hearth alter in place as usual to honour Brigid....

Happy Imbolc.

Cariad Mawr.

H. x

~ Saint Dwynwen's Day ~

The card I made for My Man for St Dwynwen's Day

I like that it takes four M's to make a star ~ his name begins with an M and he is an astronomer :~)

We went out to celebrate Diwrnod Santes Dwynwen a day early this year, as the weather was kind and the next day was forecast to be wet and windy...which it was! We take note of these things since we've had the bike.

We went to The George's ~ the very best in Haverfordwest.  I had a mocha coffee and My Man had red berry herbal tea, and we were really happy to see they had Honeybuns cakes,

as he has gluten and dairy allergies. We had stopped going to cafes because it was no fun eating something delicious in front of him, and as it is one of our most favourite things to do together, we were missing it. So this was very happy~making indeed :~)

We had a lovely conversation with the lady who works there about the bees in Lesley's walled garden, and whose honey and wax candles they have on sale in the shop.

They were very proud last year, to have won the prize for best honey in the Newcomer's category, and the first prize for the wax sculpture ~ a skep.

The shop is full of goodies and treasures and goes back, and around and down into little secret places where you might find crystals, and books and gem and silver jewelry and eco clothing and footwear and lots lots more....as I said...the best in Haverfordwest.

 

My Man caught me talking with my hands as usual.....

and writing...

but, sadly, he wasn't in the mood to have his photo taken....so here are a few that I love of him

he too is always writing

reading

dreaming

and because it was the Welsh day of Love....

Cariad Mawr
H x 

~ Snow ~

We've had a little snow :~) Not much this far over in the South West, and so close to the sea, but I am happy to see even this little amount.

Robin has been visiting for some food and posing nicely for the camera.

This evening at sunset

This is where the serious snow falls....Cwm Cerwyn....the highest 'mynydd' in Pembrokeshire....and this is how we see him in the distance, from our kitchen window...about 15 miles away.  My heart often flies over there ~ racing on wings to get to its wildness....and Tilly and I used to walk it with our friends, Jude and Dilwyn. I will be joining the two of them again this year, and I'm sure Tilly will be there with us in spirit.

I hope the weather is doing exactly what you want it to where you are.

Cariad Mawr
H x

~ Winter Solstice Cloth ~

I started this cloth in 2011 in Jude's class ~ Magic Diaries 1.

 I wasn't happy with the centre piece....

....so, thinking of Jude's courage when she cut Magic Cloth 2, with heart-in-mouth, I cut it out....

and replaced it with a very dark purple silk velvet.

  

I left it for months after this....

...until a few weeks ago, when I started again, with Jude's reindeer and Cernunos as inspiration. 

The reindeer also fit in with a story I was excited to come across as I was working on the cloth, of 'Elen of the Ways', a Welsh and Scottish antlered goddess. I was fascinated to learn that female reindeer are antlered, the only female deer to be so, and I loved that Elen is the Welsh version of my name. I wonder why, seeing as the language we spoke in our house was Welsh, my parents didn't choose Elen instead of Helen....

Elen means fawn or doe and is said to shine like the sun, which was perfect for what I was doing here. It just felt so right for me to be stitching her as a female. 

I enjoyed working with this Horned Goddess and the Sun on this year's Winter Solstice, though my heart was in my mouth again a lot of the time, as I did not draw the antlers on and did them by eye. I was so pleased with the effect of the 'magic-thread', and a single strand 'split backstitch' was so fine to 'draw' the face.
 

I took away the moon on the right, as it did not fit in with the sun. I am not sure what to put there yet, though I have drawn in some acorns.  It needs balance....a pulling together, and I don't know what that is....so, I will just look for a while....

The centre spiral will be changed. The outer spiral took me a few days to accept, as it was off course....but I've promised myself not to get caught up in the idea of perfection any more,(as you can see from the shape of my leaves!), and now I love its elliptical path.

I fell in love with thread beads when I did the snowy field....it's the first time I've really used them for effect like this, and I was grinning in my heart as I worked.

This was supposed to be posted on the day of the Solstice, but I was too busy stitching, and time ran away with me.....so now I have had time to add a tree in that top right corner. I am waiting for the centre to tell me what it needs, and then with a few finishing touches I think this will finally be finished....it might just take until this year's Winter Solstice! Goodness I work even more slowly than I thought.

Cariad Mawr

H x

~ A late Happy New Year ~ and ~ Senses ~

I enjoy reading Monica's blog over at Ink and Chai,  and today I feel like joining in with her Senses Shared.

read: Stan Rosenthal a Biography
create: a story cloth
taste: homemade Mulligatawny soup
see:  The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
touch: massaging a dog friend
hear: the chatter of Starlings
think: simplicity (my word for this year)
feel: light, hopeful
smell: patchouli

I am hoping to take part in this regularly, though I do not seem to spend much time on the computer these days. I did do a great thing this week....deleted my Facebook and felt so free afterwards.

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg was stunning...we enjoyed every moment.

I have been working on the Winter Solstice cloth....even wrote a post about it, but did not quite finish it in time and so, there it waits! I might post it anyway soon.

I would like to wish everyone a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda from our little corner of Wales. It is good to feel hope again...I've missed it over the last year. Wishing everyone joy.

Cariad Mawr
H x

~ The Moon, Rainbows and Shadows ~

The Moon and Jupiter have been dancing.

November Full Moon and Jupiter

I have a ritual; each night before I lay my head, I go out to say goodnight to the night....this is what I saw in the wee small hours of this morning.

.....a ring around the moon. Jupiter in attendance.

November has been a month of Rainbows...

Crow and Rainbow

and RAIN!

We have our faerie lights up for all of the winter...they bring cheer to the dark, grey days and lift our spirits.

Dragonfly Faerie~Light Shadows

There are so many miniature stories contained in our printer's tray.

and another rainbow