~ 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

Rainbow cobwebs, puckering moons and raspberry smoothies

Raspberries galore in our garden :~))))))

with Kefir for breakfast

Blended with Kefir into a smoothy

It has taken a little perseverance for me to get to like Kefir.....but it's been worth it; and, since our raspberries are now abundant, it is sooooo delicious poured over them and even more sooooo delicious when they're blended together....tart, and smooth and sweet and! and! and! oh!

I've come to a stop with my little Blue Moon cloth since quilting the moons. There is a big tension issue. I had stitched the back piece onto the front all around the edge before I started quilting. After I finished the moons, I took out the stitching around the edges, which improved things, but still leaves some fairly serious puckering as you can see.

I love the effect of the quilting on the back....makes me think of Jupiter's bands. I was fairly careful with each stitch...not doing the usual two to three stitches at one time...so it was slow going.....even for me! Once I'd noticed the puckering, as I quilted the first moon, I tried to take note of how tight I was pulling each stitch. I was surprised to find that I gave a little tug at the end of each one. Things improved when I stopped that 'tug', but not enough. Now I need to find out is there a magic way around this....or is it a drastic measure....take all the quilting out and start again? Slowly learning here....enjoying that.

I was so happy to see these two little friends. I hadn't seen them for a while and I missed them.They sit there like little Buddhas  with their cute feet turned inwards and their throats working  in a language I can't understand. Talking of Buddha ~ behind the little dark frog on the right......

The pond is in the shade of the Elder tree and in front of the arbour and needs cleaning...badly...but when I went to do it late last autumn, when I thought it would be empty of frogs, I had to stop, as there were still two out of the four in there and three newts, which I had not known about :~) It never ceases to amaze and delight me that we put this small pond in, waited for rain to fill it, (that is never a long wait here!), then let nature do the rest....and there is so much life in there.....even though the water is green and the bottom is probably filled with a lot of slimy, decomposing leaves. I will try again this year.....

I had a surprise visitor when I was sitting, stitching, in the sunshine in the doorway of my shed last week

She came to say hello to me briefly and I was allowed to stroke her, before she wandered off, over the fence and gave the magpies, who have a nest in the hawthorn tree over there, something of a scare. They rattattattattatt~ed at her like a machine gun. It is not often we get cat visitors here, because of Tilly~dog, so this was a most welcome and special treat.

~ April Crescent Moon ~

My Man and I went down to Newgale.

The moon was brightly crescent

in the wake of a rosy sunset.

I raced up the stones

to see the beach.

There wasn't one.

The tide was swollen and full.

The sea, wild ~ powerful,

with waves furiously chasing each other,

the hunter catching the hunted

with a resounding crash

against the pebbles,

before dragging it helplessly back,

stealing its breath

with a whoosh,

then doing it all again,

over and over

in the rhythm of

deepest time.

With energy high,

I danced weightlessly

over sliding stones

and gathered gifts left from a previous tide,

a higher one,

a Super Perigee Moon tide.

Driftwood and heart~stones filled

arms and pockets

until the dusk turned to night

and details crept and seeped

into one another,

hiding until the dawn.

Other gifts were waiting,

and we watched as

Orion, Taurus,

Cassiopeia (my favourite),

and The Plough

slowly switched on their distant

time~travelled light.

6th April, 2011

~*~

Wolf feather hair accessory

Made this today. It will be flying off as a thank you gift.

~ A recent Artist Date at the beach ~

Words are locked up tight behind feelings that want to burst from a heart too full ~ so ~ mostly images....

A walk (well, more of a climb!) through cave. One year, Our Boy and I were really grateful for this as we got caught on the wrong side by the tide, and just managed to race through this before it got seriously dangerous. It has moods, and sometimes gives a powerful feeling that it doesn't want you in there....I always listen....except maybe when the tide dictates otherwise!

In total awe that the movement and rhythm of the sea makes for a master carver

Dogs are so happy on this beach and run and run and run, with smiles that start on their faces and ripple down their bodies to their tails.

Nature gifts a heart nearly everywhere I go

I leave with my spirit having come from shadow to light

and

with the realisation that I looked mostly downwards!

My Box of Feathers and Wabi-Sabi

The wooden box, table, wooden bowl and mini woven mat were all thrift shop treasures :~)
The book I had to order from Amazon as I could not wait for it to 'turn up'!

One of my boxes of feathers, feathers I have taken years to lovingly and delightedly collect, has had a moth attack. At first there was that awful feeling, with a sharp-breath intake and a slow-release sigh of "ohhh nooo" because, of course, each one is unique and cannot be replaced. There can be an 'instead of' but not 'the same as'.

As I sorted through them though, a whisper of a thought gently overtook my initial alarm....."Wabi-Sabi".

I've only recently discovered the term Wabi-Sabi ~ thanks to this lady, but it is how I have always lived, finding beauty in the signs of aging, and from childhood onwards, filling my home with worn, smooth pebbles, driftwood silvered by the sea, broken shells that used to be homes now treasured and rejoiced in by me and my family; well used and previously owned chairs, tables, cushions and clothes all with their secret stories teasingly shown on their scarred and scuffed surfaces leaving us to wonder at the tales they could tell.

As often happens if I allow myself to be open to magic ~ as Wabi-Sabi came to my mind, I found this ~

a heart~full reminder ~ and of course, it was all alright. The damage isn't that bad and birds are incredibly generous with their feather~gifts, so I will always have a plentiful supply. 

As I wrote this I was happily interrupted by a vast storytelling of crows flying with great purpose and dramatic cawing over our house towards the West. MM and I ran out to watch them and would have loved to know what they know and what their arcanum business was.