~ Memories ~

Mam and Dad, my brother and me @ 1961

She was so beautiful.

My chickens used to come in for  a visit. 1991

Mama cat ~ Peaches, being cwtched into by her two daughters,

Puddy Cat and Smartie Pants

Three beautiful cats and a Kitten. My lovely Reliant Kitten car. 

I wish I had kept it.

My gorgeous Bohemian Man. Christmas Day 1992

Our Wedding Day 1st July 1993...as I wrote elsewhere:

What a fantastic day that was. Rode to Cardigan on the motorbike, carrying our trilby hats in a bag on my back. I was hugely pregnant and we giggled all the way through the ceremony....scandalising the registrar and his assistants :~) Our 'reception' was, seven of us descending onto Cardigan Arms chippy for whatever and chips. More giggles and lots of laughter, and we haven't stopped laughing together since. Best thing I've ever done. Most years, we manage to go back to the chip shop on our wedding anniversary.

I loved being pregnant....every moment and new development was a wonder~full experience.

and I really did get huge!

We compromised when it came to the birth, as the hospital was so far away. I had a fantastic labour....five hours from waters breaking to birth. Two hours to get to the hospital, and three hours in a birthing pool with midwives and nurses that were willing for me to have essential oils vaporizing in the room, and for My Man to be in the pool with me. I spent the whole time on all fours, draped across his knees, and having my back massaged at intervals. After the birth though, I got into trouble and had to be whisked to theatre, so, I was very glad that we had chosen to be in the hospital.

 

One of the very best feelings as a mother

Our first home together was my large static caravan. Immediately 

after Our Boy was born,I returned to studying massage. I had a college certificate from a couple of years before and had tried to 

study for my recognised International Certificate, (ITEC), while I was pregnant, but my brain turned to mush! The couch you see here, (below), is the vintage doctor's couch I used while training. I used to practice on six people a week in that tiny space....not including extra sessions for My Man, and baby massage for Our Boy :~) We'd installed a Rayburn stove and it was always toasty warm.

Our Boy being introduced to his first typewriter. 

We have lived in many places where a sink 

was used for a bath

This one, (below), was in a single room we lived in for one and a half years.

It was large and had a Rayburn stove, (how we love those), which gave us our source of heat, hot water, and cooking. We had been

living in our camper van,(Betty Ford),

for the previous eighteen months, so were used to an even smaller space. 

The second hand bookshop we used to have as a business in

Cardigan,and where I had a therapy room for giving treatments. We had a bookstall in the market too, where we had an honesty box. 

He has inherited our great love of books.

 

Motorbike love....

If you visit here Jude, look at how my jacket pocket looks like an eye :~)

~ Random Doings ~

Already more than a week into March, and the time is galloping away. Talking of galloping, I am really hoping to keep the promise I made myself a few years ago, and get back on a horse this year. My walking friend and I are going to visit a riding stables and go like the wind across those hills beyond the fence! I'll keep you posted.

We set up a display in our local library to advertise the Astronomy group we belong to. I made the hat...and the scarf....that 'Mr Newton' is proudly wearing. My Man painted away his nakedness and we set up everything else around him. Notice My Man's lovely illustration on the poster. He's so clever :~))

The monthly meeting was on Tuesday evening, and everyone was frustrated by the viewing, which had been gloriously clear on Monday, and again last night....but clouded out and wet on Tuesday :~((( However, the committee had prepared indoor doings....a powerpoint slideshow showing what was going on in the sky this month, many different telescopes on show, with questions answered, and a showing of the wonderful astro photos taken by our best photographer. My Man is Chairman, and I volunteer as the welcoming committee, tea maker, and biscuit provider.

Our first meeting was in November last year, with six of us in attendance, so we were really happy that twenty or more turned up on Tuesday :~)))

My Milky Way Man :~) 

with his trusty and beloved Tal 1

I love that he's a dreamer ~

Have loved the light coming in to our 

living room recently

Several stones are happy to come and live with us for a while. 

Some like being together, like these; 

others prefer to be alone. 

We love having them share our space ~

This is our trusty steed of FUN :~))))

Hope you are all having good days.

Cariad Mawr

H x

~ Stitching ~ Sunshine ~ and a Motorbike Ride ~

Some things finished, some things on the go, some, just barely started. It is possible that most of these will become part of the Magic Diaries Cloth. The piece at top left, is my first ever star.....which developed from this 'playground'.....

I've had great enjoyment with natural dyeing.....the pinks are from avocado skins. I'm not keen on pink, but I love the dyeing and that was one of the things I had plenty of! There are greys in there that came from a large bundle of old, dried bay leaves I was about to throw out, but thankfully the thought popped into my head to try them as a dye.


The browns are from acorns, which my Man and I enjoyed collecting. The pale yellow and that green silk on the top are from carrot tops from my father-in-law's garden....the silk was an over~dye of a very pale grey and it makes me really happy :~)

The blue....well, I do not have indigo or woad plants here yet, but blue is a must in just about anything I do, so I use what I've got, which is cyanotype. I use it both for making prints, and also just paint it on the cloth and leave it in the sun to create its alchemical magic.


Some more dyeing ~

Soya milk soaked

red cabbage and black bean dyes

black bean dyed linen: can~wrapped

before washing in machine

dried before washing

after washing in machine

Talking of sun ~ sol ~ haul.....for many years I have kept a daily journal and I include a daily weather report. For December, we had grey, dull, heavy and dark for 28 days, with just 3 (THREE) days of hazy brightness...no wonder we Brits are mad :~)

s-o-o-o-o


January is already whipping December's butt.....last night's sky, after a SUNNY day...

a

a

a

n

d

happy me, happy bird in tree, and happy Man.....he got to take this last night.....

Jupiter ~ photo by Mark Lee

Today was glorious and we went out on the motorbike, stopping for tea on the way.....

~ Blwyddyn Newydd Dda ~ Happy New Year ~ and some Magic ~

Moon Rings

photo by Mark Lee

I have been wanting to ~ and tried to ~ start writing here again for some time. I even have a few draft posts but they just do not feel right.


There is the courteous, well~mannered part of me that wants to explain my absence and lack of communication with people who have asked about me....and then there is the part that feels private and protective about what has gone on with me for the last nearly six months.


I will just say that I had a scare, I became even more reclusive than usual, I am taking Essiac herbs daily, and leave it at that.


Thank you so much to you lovely people who did ask...and I am sorry I did not get back to you. For a while there I became depressed and did not act as I would usually.


Tilly, our gorgeous little dog, has had a rough ride too, but, she is now on four tablets a day, and the seizures are much less frequent thankfully.


And now on to brighter and happier things ~ ~ ~


I have a new word for this year....magic....I want it back in my life; that wonder, excitement and joy for the little things....like going out to the garden yesterday and seeing the daffodil leaves well above the ground, the snowdrops just peeping out their silvery greenness, the hazy, very nearly full moon out there tonight...the things that put a smile in my heart, so big that I don't feel I'll be able to contain it...THAT kind of magic.


My Man and I have a motorbike again :~))))))))))))) Now Our Boy is driving himself in his own car, we have gratefully gone back to two wheels. It is such FUN, and I have the widest grin on my face from the time I get on the back and hold on tight to my love, until we stop and I get off. 


I have gone back to rebounding.....bouncing and dancing to music wildly first thing in the morning gets good energy moving a treat.


It is time my camera became my constant companion again....since August I have taken only a handful of photos...unheard of!!!

My Man has just come to tell me that he has looked up ferry crossings to France in March....and we are going to go...on the bike....wheeeeeee.....ROAD~TRIP and BOAT~TRIP


Hope you are having a good and magic first week of 2012


Cariad Mawr


H

~ Simple Living ~

Inspired by this lovely post, I thought I'd share some of the things we do to live simply.

The image above has been how our evenings have looked for the past week as we cosy~in now the colder and darker nights are with us. 

Our home is filled with gifts from nature ~ feathers, stones, shells, bones, driftwood, fir cones, empty nests ~ each one a reminder of happy days spent outdoors in woods and fields, on beaches and hillsides with not a penny spent on these riches. Home made gifts of art made by friends adorn our walls, hold our candles, keep us warm, tell us the time, making us think with gladness of people who are dear to us each time our eyes alight on these precious items. Our own art reminds us of the flow of creativity so important to us. The (sooo many!) books we love snuggle closely to one another in wooden cheese boxes that line the walls of our rooms.

Living simply means we take time to appreciate the things that are important to us, enjoy each moment ~ as Brooke said ~ "slow down"

We chose many years ago not to have a television, and recently, we have chosen to be without a car too. We are not sure if we will be able to keep to that one though! A motorbike might find its way to us ~ before Jac was born that was what we enjoyed. We were rather a funny sight towards the end of my pregnancy, (I was huge in the front), when My Man was pushed up onto the petrol tank and I was as far back as I could go without falling off and Our Boy taking up all the rest of the seat. Or then, another camper van could enter our lives and we will go off on Bohemian adventures once more :~) Whatever life brings though, we will take it slow and simple.