~ Happy Beltane ~

A daisy ritual for the heart sampler on Beltane Eve.

The bottom left wanted to become a balloon ~

I'm still avoiding working the heart edges and am waiting

to understand why that is.

Preparing a 'playground'. The darker shade is linen from a pair

of thrifted trousers and the paler one is heavy, open weave cotton

from a thrifted shirt. They both feel so soft and good. The base

material is very lightweight cotton from curtain lining material

that I keep finding in bootsales, and enjoy working with.

It's going to be a cosy winter in my studio after all :~)

There was a lot of jumping up and down in the bootsale this morning when 

My Man spotted this little wood~stove made from a gas bottle.

We had one very similar in our camper van when we lived in her years ago.

We called that one Alice and I've decided to keep the same name for this one.

That hotplate is going to allow me to have tea or coffee right

there in my workplace....and that bain~marie will be keeping wax

 melted for all sorts of artwork....oh! and I might get to make creams again....

I'm thinking of painting her Jotul Green.

Later, I used Alice to honour Beltane Eve. I carried her out to the garden and lit a fire in her from a pile of prunings that have been drying out since the autumn. We had willow, rosemary, Elder, hibi, blackthorn, and bramble billowing their inimitable aromas over us and our garden  in a giant smudging ceremony.

We boiled water on the hotplate and had ginger and lemon tea...I had meant to get wine, but we drink so infrequently I forgot!

Throughout our little ceremony, until darkness fell, we had the company of one of our sweet friends
who live in our pond. Later we heard the 'plop' as he jumped back in :~)
It was rather apt that he be there  on this night due to frogs' association with fertility.
 Mr Blackbird also serenaded us until dark, then the stars and the bats
 (miniature dragons to the medieval people) came out to play.
My Man softly strummed his guitar and we said 'hello' to Taurus, Gemini, Leo,
The Plough, and Saturn...who looked magnificent through the telescope tonight.

 Earlier I had watched, enthralled, as Mr Frog had climbed out of the pond and sat under the sorrel and red campion leaves with such patience, and in complete stillness, until his dinner had flown or crawled  near him,
then moved his head and flicked out his tongue so quickly, it was almost too fast for my eyes to keep up.


We have had a lovely Beltane Eve with the four elements of earth, air, fire and water represented, and the powerful medicine of frog, blackbird and bat surrounding us.
  Have you done anything to celebrate Beltane Eve?

~ Gardening, Stitching, Car Boot Sale Goodies, A Saved Basket, and A Misty Walk ~

The garden is bursting into life with:

the first Welsh Poppy to bloom this year,

Lady's Smock which most welcomely

self~seeded here a couple of years ago

and has now spread to the whole length

of the garden,

the five cauliflowers I planted in the greenhouse back in the

autumn are growing little hearts...so so cute :~)

The sage has big fat promises just waiting to open into blooms

for the first time since I planted her.

I found Lesser Celendine, only two days after saying I didn't

 have any, in two pots that had 'just earth' in

them in the greenhouse. I planted them out in the garden

and they are doing well...next year there will be green hearts

and little yellow stars reaching up happy faces to

the big star in the sky.

Also in the greenhouse so far, lettuce, courgettes, 

 peas, basil, and runner beans have sprouted 

and I'm still waiting hopefully for the cucumber.

Mama Blackbird has been coming to feed a mere four

steps from where I sit with my studio doors open.

Her partner sings to her and us all day.

Stitching is coming along, but it's time to start other heart whisperings too....

I found a face. I'm trying to embelish the eyes, eyebrows, nose

and mouth with stitch and finding it a little tricky. Eyesight

changing from 'I-can-do-really-close-work' myopic, to, well

I'm not sure what exactly, but I can't see close up like I used to :~(

Car boot sale finds have been varied and interesting. I gasped when I saw this

gorgeous reel filled with copper wire.

Also found that day were this oh-so-lovely wooden box and

Cat ~ in CD and vinyl ~ I've been singing along and dancing

ever since!

The willow basket,  bag from Equador and vintage pan and brush

set were just too beautiful to resist, and the top, I bought for the

material and its mother of pearl buttons, which I like to

collect....

This great, strong willow basket, perfect for logs, was saved from a pile

of rubbish waiting for the refuse lorry to collect it on Wednesday!!

How I love recycling what other people throw out.

On Sunday, Tilly and I went for our monthly walk with our friends

Jude and Dilwyn again. This time it was coastal and we were warmly

enclosed in mist for most of it. It created a deep quiet and stillness,

making us speak in hushed, reverend tones.

The gorse scented the air with its coconut smell, redolent of summer

and hot sunny beaches, and patches of bluebells and wood anemones

told us that this was once woodland. Sea campions and violets were at their best.

An otherwordly sound; a haunting base~note floated to us, carried on the foggy 

dew~drops, making the tiny hairs of neck and arms stand on end.

It came again, and then again, calling to us, drawing us closer.

We recognised the eerie cry of a mating seal.....no female

could resist such longing, such a compelling summoning.

We certainly couldn't and we were rewarded with the hazy

forms of a few of them as they languished on a small rock

in the sea far below us. It made for a magic day, that settled

deep into our bones and will stay, a reminder of how beautiful

an island we are so very fortunate to live on.

~ A Little More Sewing ~

Inspired so much by Jude

I think it's finished, but then maybe not..... It's the back pocket off some jeans and a ragged piece from a cushion cover.

Like many people I love the moon. She inspires so much ~ poetry, paintings, stitchings, love, howling; and tonight I went in to our bedroom and found our bed bathed in her light. What better way to drift off to slumberland than on wisps of moonbeams. 



A day of sewing and sowing

Sampler in green with a few spots of purple for courage

I took a deep breath, gathered my courage, (that is my word for this year after all), and signed on for the wonderful Whispering Hearts class....my very first e-course....with Jude of Spirit Cloth. I have been breathing deep ever since, as I listen, watch and read. I work slowly, so it took a week of mulling before I started.  Today, I was rummaging in our bedroom and a scrap of deep green velvet silk was on the floor....you can't really tell from this picture, but that's it, bottom left. It made me decide to look for other scraps of green fabrics I have and see if they worked together. 

The centre heart is one I had prepared a long time ago. I've been carrying these little squares and cut-out hearts with me wherever I go for a few years. It's great if I have to wait anywhere for any reason to just pick them up and....well, sew! The material is from a shirt I found in a charity shop. It has panels of that green with purple spots you see here, purple with green spots, light blue with dark blue spots and vice versa. It is probably the most garish shirt I have ever seen, but I loved it for use in my sewing.

 I was really pleased with the way the green and white stitching, (Jude's magic stitch), turned out, and as I slowly stitched I was wondering why I chose green today. I rather liked what came to mind...

Green

because it's Spring

because it's the colour associated with the heart chakra

for the Irish in me

and because I am so thrilled that I can wear it at last :~)

Stitching the hearts in place comes next ~

Today I also spent a couple of hours potting compost and sowing seeds in the greenhouse, singing happily as I worked. We now have more lettuce and cucumber, as well as courgettes, peas, runner beans, basil, and a lovely, (I hope), salad and herb mix. Can't wait to be grazing our own salad greens again.

The weather has been glorious. Sunny, blue-skied and warm. I have had such a lovely Sunday with Big Mama Bumblebees coming in to the studio to say hello, Blackbirds singing the sweetest songs all day, and Mrs Wren busying about just outside the doors ~ mere steps from where I was sitting....oh! I love Mrs Wren.

Oh!! and I nearly forgot....I found one of these at the bootsale yesterday ~ for £1!!! Tra~la~la :~) Ours is bright sunshine yellow though, with the faintest blush of orange at the bottom....can't find an image of that colour online anywhere.

Hope you are all having a happy Sunday too.

Cariad Mawr

H x

Farewell Winter ~ Hello Spring ~ and....

.....words about some of my experience with herbs ~

Starlings have flown off ~ with our Winter 

and Spring has arrived in our garden

 Rowan  ~ a little sapling I planted last year. It brings to our home

protection against enchantment, protection of ley-lines, highest pure

magic, healing and success.

Incenses made from the ground-up leaves and berries help to dispel

negative energies. I shall be trying that this year. The smoke from its fire

was used by the Druids to call up spirit guides and magical spirits.

Its bark and berries give a black dye

and

most important of all

song birds adore its fruit.

Blackthorn blossom in the hedge at the bottom of our garden

~ where the faeries live.

As well as providing berries for making sloe vodka or gin, it

brings to our home a powerful means of cleansing and the purification

of any negative attitudes we may carry within us, working deeply

on the psyche and allowing us to be free to create.

(It grows just a few steps from the doors of my studio,

so I'm relying on it to live up to its promise).

Birch ~ a little sapling I planted two years ago.

She is slowly gaining in strength and height.

She brings to our home a means of purification, cleansing

old stagnant habits and allowing a flow of new ideas.

I love that here in Wales, it was customary for a young 

man to present a birch garland to the womon he loved,

and she would give him one in return if she felt the same way.

The young leaves are effective in healing any urinary complaints, 

and giving relief from rheumatism and gout.

The bark of the birch is so beautiful, though our little one has

many years to go before we may use hers. It is like paper, and

its magical parchment was used to write on from ancient times.

Always ask permission whenever you wish to use any part of

 a tree (or any plant); and show respect to all trees, as

this 'Lady of the Woods' gets very angry if they are abused

and may whip you with her slender branches! 

Rosemary blossom ~ just outside our front door. 

 Its symbolism brings to our home love and loyalty, friendship and

remembrance. It is well known for its ability to strengthen the memory,

and is considered a wonderful tonic for the heart, brain and nervous

system as well as being useful in strengthening the immune system.

I have used it in its essential oil form for many years to help clients

with sore, tense muscles, arthritis and rheumatism, though never on

someone with high blood pressure (hypertension) due to its hypertensive

actions. Conversely, the herb as an infusion, is used to control a

headache brought on by....hypertension! The essential oil of any plant is 

a powerful powerhouse in a bottle and much more concentrated than the 

fresh or dried herb.

Recently, builders were working on the outside of our house and they

were not careful with our rosemary bush, breaking off several branches.

Of course I was upset that people are so uncaring and disrespectful of

growing things...in fact I growled...I'm good at growling, but the damage

was done, so I added sprigs of sage and made smudge bundles from them.

The smoke has cleansed and warmed us through the cold month of

February and continues to uplift and cheer as the warmer weather

comes to visit.

Lesser Celendine leaves (not in our garden ~ yet)

This is the very first herb I wildcrafted, way back when I was nine or ten

years old. There is a story attached to it -

A wise farmer's wife who lived near where I grew up was visited by

a Romany lady selling pegs and lace. Mrs T. had no need of these

items, but wondered if the lady knew of any herbs that would get rid

of haemorrhoids. The lady duly went off, and came back with a

clump of roots that had a little of the shape of haemorrhoids to them 

(think Doctrine of Signatures here). Mrs T. was instructed to wash

the roots, and eat them raw in a sandwich once a day.

When the lady had been thanked and paid and gone on her way,

Mrs T. thought she would like to know for herself where this plant

had been found. She walked in the direction she had seen the lady

go and kept looking for disturbed earth. On finding it, she identified

the Lesser Celendine (Ranunculus ficaria) for future use, in case of

haemorrhoids.....which came in useful for my father when he suffered

this painful condition. He knew I was familiar with the wild plants that

grew in our fields and the bordering woods, so I visited with Mrs T.

for her to show me what to pick, and from then on, every Spring, I

would go and dig roots of this plant for my father to put in a sandwich.

Years on, I found out that it is not recommended to eat the roots raw!!

It has never harmed my father, who is still fit and well at, soon to be 79

but I would not recommend anyone to take them without first checking with

a qualified medicinal herbalist.

Reference source for trees: 'A Tree In Your Pocket' by Jacqueline Memory Paterson

I love this little book. It isn't one I would use to identify trees....there are plenty of others for that....but not so many that delve into the folklore, magic and pure joy of these rooted friends.

~ Mother's Day and New Moon ~



I'm happy to say that Our Boy isn't seduced by commercial hype,

and this sweet little note taped to a cup of tea he brought me ~ along with

two slices of lemon drizzle cake ~ means more than any shop-bought card

he might have purchased :~) It will be glued into my daily journal, bringing
a smile to my face and filling my heart as I do it.

He made a little Welsh rhyme at the end of the note for me too:

'Caru Ti Mam Bach Fi'

doesn't rhyme in English, but it translates as:

'Love you my little Mother'

It is the hardest, most rewarding, gut~wrenching, emotional~roller~coasting, testing, tear~my~hair~out~frustrating, filled with so much joy, pride and love, work I have ever done.

I wouldn't change it for anything, and I love, love, love being a mother to this young man of ours....

.....though I still call him Our Boy and probably always will.

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers, whether it be to children, cats, dogs or goldfish :~)

Cariad Mawr

H x