~ 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.

~ Spring Equinox Walk ~

A happy, bounding Tilly from two weeks ago

Tilly and I went on our monthly walk with Jude and Dilwyn today. It is our first meeting this year and it was so good to be back...I think our last one was October last year.

This mistbow spread its magic over Newport (Pembs) for over an hour. It's arch was low and long, and at times its colours were really subtle and faded. Jude and I thought it a most appropriate symbol to welcome the Vernal Equinox.

We had intended to go here:



Carn Ingli ~ Angel Mountain, but it did not want our company today, so we went from Newport to Nevern on the Plgrim's Walk, feeling it's ancient past as we walked in ghostly footsteps.

I found the cottage and its surroundings that I had described from my imagination, in my notebook when I was eighteen, as my perfect place to live.



Tilly did one of her favourite things ~ swimming after sticks thrown into the river...oh and her MOST favourite thing....rolling in badger shit...hmmmm.

When we reached Nevern, we sat in the peaceful churchyard, with the music of the brook and birdsong for company, and drank my Chai tea and Jude's soooo delicious profiteroles.



Hope you have a wonderful Equinox too.

Cariad mawr

H x

~ Imbolc and dragons ~

A little hearth altar to honour Brigid and the return of the light.

The goddess in the back which was a woodland~walk gift, the crystal and stone friends have a permanent residence there.

I made the cross in the little woven basket ~ which was a beautiful thrift find ~ many years ago, the mini brass anvil was also a thrift find, and St Brigid's Cross I made last week while house~sitting the Willow Farm for a few days again. The sage and rosemary are from our garden ~ brave survivors of the snow and frost ~ they will be wrapped up into a small smudge stick tomorrow.

I always like to honour the return of the light on February 1st and 2nd. It is obviously lighter now ~ yay ~ and I could, if I wished to (always!) or had the time, read from 7:30 am to 5:30 pm without flicking a switch or lighting a candle....yes! yes! yes!

Brigid is one of my favourite goddesses and I love that she is the patroness of poetry, healing, smithcraft, midwifery and the care of animals. She also presides over the hearth and is traditionally honoured on this day. I often ask for her assistance if the fire is being difficult to light....she always answers.

I had such fun making the Brigid's Cross...my first attempt, and I was glad that I thought of it while I was on the Willow Farm and that Willow is the tree for February...LOVE it so much when things fit so neatly. I found this excellent video tutorial, and armed with a bunch of very fine purpurea willow, successfully followed Stella's instructions. The man with her, cracks me up with his 'mmmm's' and 'aaahhh's'!

 Yesterday, My Man and I were in my favourite town ~ Newcastle Emlyn ~ only three miles from the village where I grew up. It's ancient castle ruin ~

taken in September 2010

~ which has quite a history, was the site of the death of the last dragon in Wales....although, since the hatching of that egg I am so very happy to see it has returned ~

~ and was standing guard over the gateway into the castle. I'm glad to say it was very friendly to us :~)

Happy Imbolc ~ from a wet Wales with fire and candles lit ~

Cariad mawr
H x



DIWRNOD SANTES DWYNWEN ~ ST DWYNWEN'S DAY ~ the Welsh day of LOVE*

We celebrate the feast day of our Welsh equivalent to St Valentine today ~ Saint Dwynwen who is the Cymric patron saint of lovers. Her name means 'she who leads a blessed life' which is fitting as she  chose to become a nun, dedicating her life to God.

A while ago I carved a tiny Love Spoon, (my effort is very crude and basic compared to what you see here!), from a small piece of driftwood, and although it was traditionally a young man who carved these to hopefully win the girl of his choice, I made mine to give to My Man because I love him so ~ he is very easy to love and I am blessed beyond my wildest hopes to have him choose to travel this path with me.

We will be travelling to Cardigan ~ where I was born ~ this morning, and visiting our favourite cafe for tea and tasty morsels.  A meander around the galleries for soul~feeding eye candy and a search for thrifted goodies in the numerous charity shops; maybe finding a tree friend that would like a hug and generally doing things we love on this special day :~)

Hope you get to do things you love today ~
Blessed be
H x