~ Hmmmm ~

This is pretty much how my head~space has been for days...filled with cotton...bog cotton at that. I decided to not fight it for a change...just go with it. Letting the frustration go has been a relief, and so, I've been floating quite pleasantly through the week.....the tragedies of the week~end....well that's a different matter, and I have no way of conveying the intense feelings involved.


Reading.....


I enjoyed reading Lyndall Gordon's biography on Emily Dickinson. I only knew she was reclusive ~ Ms Gordon puts forward a convincing case for why she may have been so. Her brother's mistress made me want to rant and rave ~ she was so conniving and manipulative, ambitious and greedy....horrid little woman. Her one redeeming factor, for me, was that she was talented and tireless as an editor of Emily Dickinson's work.


Green Dolphin Country by Elizabeth Goudge let me escape to the Channel Islands and New Zealand in the nineteenth century.


Completely loved The Hours by Michael Cunningham...how seamlessly he weaved his story of three women in three different decades....and, as I am fascinated by Virginia Woolf, I now look forward to watching the film too.


Yesterday I started Dared & Done The Marriage of Elizabeth Barrett & Robert Browning by Julia Markus which so far, is promising to be another enjoyable read.


Being.....


One night, after five whole days of low cloud, the sky cleared and I joined my love in his observatory. He took me on a star~studded journey, where I saw an Eagle (Aquila), even observing the carbon star shining red in this constellation, a Swan (Cygnus), double~stars, double~double stars and bright, bright Vega....so blue and beautiful. Finally we lay on the wooden floor and just gazed upwards......


My Man, Tilly~Dog and I went for a walk in our favourite woods....Ffynnone.


In our Welsh mythology ~ The Mabinogi ~ it's waterfall is the entrance to the Celtic Otherworld ~ Annwn, where Pwyll, who married my favourite Welsh Goddess Rhiannon, went through some rigorous trials for twelve months.

I like to think the face in the rock on the right is the Gate~keeper of Annwn.

It is one of those places that feels otherworldly.....hushed, even with the sound of the waterfall, with a charge to the air and a knowing that you are very close to the land of faerie.

~ Y Lleuad Gwair ~

My Man took this last night

~ sigh ~

~ This Month ~

Raspberry jam. Basil in the background

I tried my hand at jam making for the first time.

We had plenty of raspberries....still do :~)

It's similar to jelly making, which I tried in the autumn. 

The set point was just right thankfully, as I used the 'wrinkle skin' method,
which can be hit-or-miss to someone who is inexperienced.

Cardigan Wildlife Park Visitor's Centre

I wanted to make my own Virbascum thapsus (Greater Mullein) tincture this year, as this horrible new law that has passed in Europe about herbs is restricting our buying of certain herbs. Verbascum, is not all that common here, but my good friend who Tilly and I go walking with, told me of a patch of them growing at this place. We were in Cardigan visiting the dentist, so we made a short detour on the way home for me to go and harvest some leaves. I had phoned to ask permission first, and was so grateful that they were quite happy for me to do so. Thank you Nathan.

Verbascum thapsus, Greater Mullein, Aaron's Rod

The Mullein Moth Caterpillar

As I wanted to use them as fresh as possible, I had the equipment in the car ready for immediate tincture~making. 

I didn't notice My Man taking these photos.

When I planted the courgettes in the deep bed....

I had left the Plantago lanceolata (Ribwort Plantain) surrounding them....

they had grown rather profusely....

so I harvested them.... 

and made another tincture....

as the liquid in the fresh leaves escape into the vodka solution, the bulk reduces considerably.

The Plantago is freshly made here and the Verbascum has been shaken and mashed down for four days.

It is what I have needed to do to stay centred.

The Verbascum will help heal any coughs we may have this winter, and the Plantago will provide a welcome blood tonic, and rich supply of the minerals potassium, magnesium and phosphorus, as well as helping to heal those coughs along with the Verbascum.

~Magic Diaries and Flower Essences~

Friday was the beginning of Jude's Magic Diaries class, although you can join any time I think. I have been thinking about what I will try to create with this slow, possibly large cloth. Yesterday, an idea that I was really excited about ka~boomed into my head. Herbs. Herbal plants used in every way, from medicinal tinctures to infusions, to essential oils to flower remedies....these are as magic as it gets for me....my journals are filled with the making of these potions. I have an idea for the centre...the great, and versatile Mother Elder. I have many favourites, but she is at the top of the list. The list is long, so maybe the cloth will turn out to be quite large. Then, I thought of secret little pockets here and there in the cloth...and the idea came to fill those little pockets with dried aromatic herbs...Lavender was predominant. Now, it remains to be seen if my abilities are equal to my ideas....

The Evening Primrose is in bloom and it made me think of two years ago, when I made a flower essence from it...and wrote about it in my journal....

Moon magic Evening Primrose Flower Essence

~ Celebrations ~

It was My Man's birthday on the 24th June, and our 18th wedding anniversary on 1st July.

This is his image of Vega ~ The Harp Star ~

Isn't it beautiful.
As is he.