daphne ~ in a vintage garden

I know that i have mentioned daphne before... but I could not ignore posting about it again.. bringing back more memories of my fragrant childhood garden memories...
I can't remember either of my grandma's having this plant growing in their own gardens (although I am sure they did), but I do remember the plant growing at Auntie Elsies place.. she was my Nan's sister and lived in an old federation house in a suburb of Sydney. She was 'proper'... when we went to visit her, we had to be on our best behaviour and wore our good clothes. We weren't allowed to run amok in the garden but had to behave like ladies.

We were given lemon cordial served in a glass jug with matching glasses. Lunch was always in the 'formal' dining room, never on the scrubbed pine table in the kitchen. The table was set with various knives and forks and the cucumber was peeled and scraped with a fork, putting ridges in the slices... onion was served in vinegar and sprinkled with sugar... as only the rich do. Oh yes, Auntie Elsie certainly had airs and graces. I was in awe of her. Smelling very much like ladies do, of lavender and violets..
her garden was a delight.. we were allowed to wander around after lunch...I remember when we arrived at her home, the brick fence with a gate that opened onto a path that lead to the front door... a gorgeous russet and cream tesselated tile path... and my little feet would walk up that path, feeling very grand in their patented leather shoes, with white lace topped socks of course. I can remember wanting to skip up that path but the serious, perfect little capricorn in me, would not allow that... oh no.. I had to behave so that I would be a good little girl... so, I walked demurely along, trying to stop those shoes from dancing! all the time, tut-tutting at my sister who let her inner child run!
at the step grew a magnificent daphne plant that greeted you with the most delightful perfume. a perfume that after all these years, still whisks me back to my little girl memories. Auntie Elsie had a cut glass bowl that was placed in the middle of the dining room table, filled with daphne during winter and gardenias during summer.

I found this in my research on violets, it seems easy enough.. I might just make some for that dreadful dry winter skin that I seem to develop in this cold windy weather...

a simple recipe for violet salve which can be applied to the skin to help sooth it.

8 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon natural bees wax
1/2 Cup fresh violet flowers
2 drops Roman camomile 1/2 teaspoon honey

In a sauce pan or small pot, heat oil. Add flowers, wax & honey. Mix until well incorporated. Let simmer for 5 minutes. Turn heat off. Let stand for another 10 minutes. Strain off flowers & add essential oil. Pour into a clean container & let cool in the refrigerator.

Life at Inglewood today is cold, bitterly cold. My fire has been going non-stop for a week. Oh I know, it is not cold compared to many of my friends who live in the Northern hemisphere, but to us who live in the Land of sunshine & flowers... well, it is cold. I have been puttering around my home over the last week, seeing it with different eyes. I do love my home, but lately it has taken on an extra sacredness, like it is cocooning me from the world... I come into my own space that is my yard, surrounded by fences, close the gate and shut out the worries of the world. Then opening my door into my inner sanctum and come into my place of peace. Looking back over my soul journal the past year... I wrote: 'what do I wish to create?..... I wish to create a peaceful haven in my home......' and you know, I think I have done it.

The garden has virtually stopped, come to a standstill... resting, as it should in winter... the little finches are back, feeding on the grass seeds that are my lawn... I don't mow the grass during winter as the finches depend on it for their food...in one area of the grass, there is a whole patch of a tiny blue flower, I haven't a clue what it is.. but it is sweet, although a 'weed'.. I have seen it before.... perhaps in a previous life somewhere. Yesterday, while i was outside, I noticed the calendula and borage flowering in a tumbled confusion... blue & orange... such a perfect combination by Mother Earth... the daphne is still flowering profusely and the perfume is intoxicating... I can never understand why there wasn't a perfume made with this flower... or maybe there was...

but then again, what about violets?

another perfume that takes me instantly back to my Nan's home, into her garden and her bedroom is violets... ahh yes.. that delicious, sweet perfume that only violets have. I remember my Nan methodically, slowly and gently, picking a bunch of violets and surrounding the bunch with violet leaves, tying it up with cotton thread and putting it into a small glass vase on her bedside table.. and my little nose would sniff strongly, trying to absorb as much of that smell as I could. You know what I mean.. sniffing and not wanting to take a breath incase you lose the smell, sniffing until your lungs feel like they will burst.. I still do it sometimes

Funny, as I started to 'research' violets on the net, I came across Devon Violets.... "South Devon has always been associated with the growing and cultivation of sweet scented violets dating back to its peak in Victorian and Edwardian days.".... my Pa was born in Devon... East Stonehouse to be exact...I wonder if he planted his violets in his own garden in memory of the place that he left when he was a little boy of 5 years old.... I wonder if his mum, Laura had them growing in her garden in her new home here in Australia? I guess I will never know, so one must assume that she did. Even though she was born in Cornwall, she lived her married life in Devon until she came to Australia in 1915. So lucky me, I have the best of both worlds and of course I have digressed yet again...... but the words 'Devon Violets' has that same soul stirring that lavender does...

**I spoke to my mum about Laura and asked her if she could remember Laura growing violets and she said 'oh yes! they grew everywhere.. popping up between the brick paths where it was damp & moist. They were picked every Sunday and put into a little jar onto the mantle, near the saying "HOME, the place where you grumble the most but are treated the best"..'
..in my minds eye, I saw it.. I saw the jar of violets, I saw the saying .. beautiful words surrounded by vintage flowers, most probably framed and glassed....I saw Laura standing there, thinking of Devon & Cornwall...yes, I gotta go pick myself a bunch of violets this very minute and put them into one of the little vintage pecks paste jars that I have been collecting forever.......it is quite weird how very much like Laura I seem to be.. not ever knowing her in real life.

I now have my own violet patch that I inherited when we bought Inglewood. Under the apple tree.. the perfume right now is wonderful as i walk up my garden path towards my back door. It just wafts over me... much like the lavender does but in a gentler way... violets are genteel. softer... more ladylike.

"If you gather the first Violet in the season, your dearest wish will be granted. Ancient Greeks wore the violet to calm tempers and to induce sleep.A necklace of violets protects from deception and inebriation. Use them in spells to restore health after long illness. If you dream of violets, fortune is sure to smile on you before long. If violets bloom in autumn, they speak a warning. A lovely myth
tells us that violets first sprang where Orpheus laid his enchanted lute."

so what had been happening in Woodford the past few days? it has been bone chilling cold, the fire has been burning non-stop and I have been snuggling in my big pink chair, covered with my favourite vintage eiderdown & I thinking, as I do... eventually coming to yet another profound light bulb moment of those lovely moments in my garden, when I am utterly at peace, when I have a real stillness in my soul... it is those moments that I am in the presence of Spirit/Goddess/God/Universe.. call it what you will.. but I believe you know what I mean.. total peace and I wanted to bottle it but then realized that if I were like that all the time, in perfect stillness, then those moments would not be special, but I realised that they do actually happen to ME...all these thoughts really made alot of sense to me at the time, they probably don't now nor can I put them into words..... I moved the furniture around in my dining room last Thursday.. from here to there and back again.. then over there, oops not quite right, what about over there? all by myself..... cupboards, dressers, tables... lots of energy was moved that day... and I was absolutely exhausted on Friday.. I think I over did it.. so I did not a thing on Friday, ..except sleep and read back on some favourite blogs... felt guilty for doing nothing but I kept telling myself it was ok... honestly, I am so hard on myself sometimes.... the washing is out in the cold winter sunshine today, the garden can wait because it is too cold and I am going to pick that bunch of violets, surround them by leaves and tie them with string.

just what is it about Lavender?

even if one has never done any formal study about herbs,... one, has some kind of affinity with lavender.
lavender touches something deep in most woman's souls... maybe it is a past life recollection of gathering lavender to make herbal ointments, or past life memories of gathering bunches to hang to dry so that it may be used to strew on the floor of the sick room.. or maybe it is a more recent memory.. one of grandma... whatever it is, lavender is THAT plant. I love it and I always have, even before I started to do my 'unrecognized' study of herbs (I call it unrecognized, because I don't go to college.. I do research myself and most of my knowledge comes from within, which of course we know, is not recognized by the 'powers that be') as usual I digress....when I was little, I loved to smell deep in my nan's neck.. the waft of lavender, I loved to open her drawers and inhale the perfume of lavender bags that we tucked among the neatly folded clothes, I loved the little vintage bottle that sat on her glass tray on top of her dressing table.. I loved the sprig of lavender that was hastily put into a jam jar of water beside her sink... I loved to walk through her garden, grabbing the bush as I walked past.. then smelling my hands... I just knew lavender was special.

I LOOKED FOR GRANDMAS GARDEN AND FOUND MY OWN

I have lots of lavender in my garden... I love to have tiny bunches of it in vintage jars, I love to put some on top of my winter fire, so that as it dries, the lavender wafts through my home.. now I am wanting to buy myself some lavender perfume, so that I can smell like my grandma...dabbing it behind my ears just like she did.

my own lavender is ready to harvest and as soon as the rain stops and it dries out.. I will harvest it and make some bunches to hang in my home..
I was searching the net yesterday for a recipe for lavender floor polish and came across this delightful site the JOYS of Lavender

LAVENDER BATH
1 cup oatmeal
1 cup baking soda
1/2 cup lavender flowers
Small muslin bags with drawstrings

Mix ingredients in a blender or processor. Fill bags and put into bathtub while adding water.

so what am I doing in Inglewood today? Thursdays I like to give my dining and kitchen a good clean and I will do that but I am also going to move some more furniture around.. changing things... moving the cupboard that cost me $10 at an auction, the one that was named 'crappy' on the auctioneers sheet, the one that everyone loves and oohs and ahhs over when they see it.. the one covered in paint from some long forgotten grandpas shed, the one with 'spare' glass handles found when someone was making it out of make do materials... I am moving it into my dining room from my foyer and putting my vintage french plates on top, then into the foyer will go a grandmothers chair, a table, my statue of Buddha and many tea lights.. welcoming visitors to my home.. and then? well, I might just brave the cold rainy day and go pick myself a bunch of lavender anyway...

instant coffee in Inglewood.

Monday morning and the wind is howling around outside... these are not the August winds that we usually experience, but maybe they are early because Mother earth is confused or maybe this is just a taste of what is to come. .. I have to brave that wind soon and hang sheets and towels... let me ask you, if you happen to see any flying by can you tell me? or maybe you might see me looking much like the Egyptian mummy from a vintage movie.. wrapped in the sheets blindly walking around... yes, the wind does tend to make me a little ratty !! trees bending over, creating kindling sticks that I will pick up tomorrow.. doors rattling like all the souls from wherever are trying to get into my home, into the comfort and warmth that is my home at this time of year...
the fire is going and just before I start my usual Monday morning routine of cleaning my bathrooms and changing my bed sheets, I sat down for a cup of coffee. I usually sip nettle tea or some kind of horrid herbal tea that is good for me..but sometimes, a girl has to be naughty.. I don't drink alot of coffee, but I do look forward to the one that I have each morning before I start my housework, or my temple work as I am beginning to think of it... I don't own a coffee machine, nor do I own a dripolator, percolator or even coffee pot.. so it is instant coffee for me.. I can hear some of you now.. 'not instant coffee!!!' but yes, until the coffers allow me to purchase myself a cappuccino/espresso machine, I drink instant coffee, but I buy the best I can find and so far, the one I like is Nescafe Gold blend..

I sat in my big pink chair, in front of the fire, with Billie Holiday singing in the background... my mind was thinking of that first time that the jar is opened and the aroma that comes from it... and how the first cup from each jar is always special. And as I sat, I thought that this first cup from the newly opened coffee is truly something to be grateful for... and I got it!! I finally got it.... (well for that moment anyhow) I know I sound like a silly billy but this was one of those moments when the soul sighs with a deep 'ahhhhh...', an 'I get it' moment.... You see, I struggle with the grateful part of Simple Abundance because I try too hard to find things each day to be grateful for..the small simple things in life.
Today, I am creating a new altar in my bedroom.. changing some furniture around, moving energy... ... yes, the small simple things in life. clean sheets, rose incense, roses from the flush that is blooming in my winter garden, a vintage glass port bottle full of water beside my bed. Billie Holiday. you know, sometimes I even put one little rose in our ensuite.. for Joe to enjoy.. I am sure those simple things make his heart sing too... he might not say it, but I know it does.. it must, don't you think?

another one gone...

On Wednesday, another elderly resident from my area was buried. Let's call her Edna. I wasn't her best friend, nor did I visit her home... but I knew her. I knew her from the street stalls that she manned while selling cakes and lamingtons to raise money for the Lantern Club. I knew her from booths at the gates of open gardens. Gardens that are opened by their owners to raise money for the deaf and blind children.... I knew her from other charity functions that i have been invited to over the years. She was 83 years old.. and an OAM (Order of Australia Medal) For service to children with hearing and visual impairments through the Blue Mountains Lantern Club. . She was of an era where you knuckled down and just got on with life. where you cooked comfort food for the family.. soups and stews... where a cup of tea fixed most problems. Where the church was 'enough'...... and as I read her funeral notice, I wondered what has changed.... many people of my age are spiritually lost, we search and search for something... I know I do. I cannot even put my finger on what it is that I search for ... oh yes.. my inner wild woman.. my authentic self.. I search for meaning.... I wonder if Edna ever searched as I do.... or is it something of my generation. I am sure in my grandma's day they didn't have time to think about the meaning of life.. they had bread to make and cows to milk... my ancestors in Cornwall had lots more to do than sit under the moon pondering ......Do we have too much time on our hands? I don't know and I guess I never will but Edna's death has got me thinking maybe I 'should' look at doing some volunteer work. Instead of trying to find the meaning of life.. or a purpose.... maybe I should get out and DO. oh and I know the word 'should' is a no-no according to the likes of Wayne Dyer and Doreen Virtue, but I ask you.. what other word can be used?
Just lately I have been re-reading Simple Abundance and this book 'should' be a must for all women... the simple things in life that make you appreciate just what you do have.... so I potter, I pick daphne to put in vases around my home, I grow some of my own vegies, I own chickens..... and all the while, hoping that when I do pass to the other side that someone just like me, will remember me, just like i have Edna.

(Harry is home! he is much better and in a month will undergo some tests to see why he got the infection.. thanks so much for the prayers and comfort.. xo)

Harry, the meaning of life and thoughts from the Muddleheaded Wombat(cause that is what i feel like at the moment)

our dear little Harry is not well. He was taken to hospital on Sunday with high temps and was admitted. His temperature was quite high and the Drs could not stablize it. Yesterday he had an ultrasound done on his kidneys and they are ok however he has a UTI and will be in hospital for a few more days until the temperatures stay down and he will be on antibiotics for a month. After that he will have to have tests to see why he got the infection in the first place... the poor little mite..he is in a hospital cot, connected to drips and machines and he looks at you with those gorgeous big eyes.. it makes me cry.

I have Arch Angels Michael and Raphael at his bedhead and Mary Magdalene and the ascended Master Lord Sananda at the end. They are watching over him. I know he will be fine but it is awful to see him with huge needles going into his tiny arm... but he is trying so hard to be happy.. cooing and gurgling when he is awake.

it makes me wonder though... the whole time my daughter was trying to conceive.. she and her husband went off all chemicals, they followed a strict organic diet and she ate no seafood because of high levels of mercury, no soft cheeses, no junk food. Dear little Harry is an organic baby.. he is fed organic formula from teats and bottles that are chemical free.. his clothes are organic ... but he still gets sick.... just shows you how sick Mother Gaia must be.... too many chemicals, too much pollution for our human bodies to deal with.... it also makes me wonder why things happen like this...according to some, we manifest sickness in our bodies.. so does that mean that babies manifest cancer for themselves.. did Harry manifest this infection, somehow in his four months of life?? did he lie in his crib thinking thoughts along the lines of blaming others for his misfortunes in life.. being annoyed at 'his lot' cause according to Louise L Hay that is what a urinary tract infection means... or did he decide that he wanted this before he came to earth to 'learn a lesson' for his soul? I have absoltuely no idea but I am beginning to believe what my friend says and that is (excuse the french) 'shit happens'.... we have no control over what happens at all...anyhow... what I can do is love him.. hug him, give his parents a break from sitting in the hospital 24 hours...

I cannot settle to visiting blogs so don't think I am ignoring you if I haven't visited in a few days.. I will get to commenting soon ...

not once, did I think I would ever do this......

just lately, I have found myself in a different mindset... I am beginning to realize that this land, Australia, is my home. I have found myself defending it....and defending it with a passion

a few weeks ago, I had a friend visit who bought her niece visiting from the UK... she loved Cornwall and faeries and magick.. just like me but she was about 30 years younger in age... she was talking of how England has bluebells and woods and is mystical and magickal.. and I felt a real patriotism welling up inside of me.. and started to tell her of when I go walking and how I see a land so ancient.. canyons older than the Grand one in the US......I told her of flannel flowers and waratahs, of tree spirits, of earthy smells coming from decomposing eucalyptus leaves... we have vivid colours, unlike any in the world ....In 1997 Wollemi pines,that were thought to be distinct, were discovered growing, not far from where i live and they existed during time of dinosaurs .... we have places like Uluru and The Olgas, and while the druids were doing their work in England..

this land was sitting, quietly not being inhabited by any one except the indigenous people, who were one with the earth...I agree, we don't have 'history' but here, the land is the history.. you can feel it... a deep earthy wisdom.. I am sure not found anywhere else. I found this link that I wanted to share:-
Sacred sites ..even though I am not an indigenous Australian, these places stir something deep in my soul.. oneday, soon, I am going to visit the Outback.. I am going to walk on land, so ancient it will probably make me cry .. a land with which my spirit is starting to feel a belonging.Being a 5th generation Australian on part of my family tree, I have to accept the wisdom of my ancestors, I have to believe that they decided to come to this land to give their families a better life... and I believe they did.. Yes, I still want to visit Cornwall, I still want to find where my ancestry comes from..and yes, I will probably love it.... but I know that I will come home and feel blessed by this vast Australian land. So I can now start to say that my roots are in Cornwall but my heart is in Australia!!

crazy profound thoughts and a little serendipity...

why is it that early in the morning, when you are in a sleep induced stupor, that you have the most amazing thoughts going through your mind... you have insights that seem so unbelievably profound that you think you have found the meaning of life and you think to yourself, I must get that down.. but your sleep deprived self, turns over, promising to put it into words in the morning... and of course you cannot remember those thoughts when you come back to the real world in the morning at a civilized hour... happens to me all the time and happened this morning... I had thoughts of why I was here. I mean, I actually knew why I had been born in Australia instead of in Cornwall.... but I cannot remember why now.

I remember thinking that Australia is part of Mother Earth, that Australia is just as mystical and magickal as England... just in a different way. A wilder, more untamed way... and by not loving where I am living, I am not really loving all of Mother Earth..... I remember someone (was it myself, the angels or the ancestors??) telling me that there is magick all around me.. in the animals, the bush and the plants.... especially in the wild australian plants....of course, I didn't believe that..well I did when I first heard the voices but not when I woke up at the civilized time this morning..... magick in australian plants, I thought.. I don't think so.

anyhow... like I said.. I rolled over and went back to sleep and when I woke up, in my inbox was an email with this information:

Eucalyptus: Burnt in the home to protect the health from viruses, disease and plagues. The leaves are used to stuff healing poppets and are carried to maintain good health. To relieve colds, ring green candles with the leaves and pods and burn them to the socket, visualizing the person (or yourself) as being completely healthy. Also hang a small branch or twig of eucalyptus over the sick bed. String the immature (green) pods on green thread and wear to help heal sore throats. Placed beneath the pillow, the pods guard against colds. The leaves are also carried for protection. (source unknown)

and so begins my BoS/soul journey information on australian plants and their magick! You see, Eucalyptus is indigenous to Australia... I know they grow elsewhere in the world..but they are actually an australian native...

(ps - I am healing ..lots of tlc to ME over the past week has turned me from a demented wailing person to one who seems to be back on track...)

you are invited to a pity party... edited

right now, I am feeling sad and sorry for myself. I have developed a kind of post radiation recall rash.. well, that is what my oncologist has called it in the past and I am sore. I have to deal with this so am taking a break.. can't say how long. Until I heal and am in a better head space. I need to look after myself. I just want to sit and sob at the unfairness of it all. Oh, I know there are worse of than me.. yadayadayada.. but right now, this is me and I need to deal with it. I need to stop being strong, I need to stop being compassionate unless it is for me and I need to heal. I remember reading a book, back in my catholic days.. called Miracles do Happen by Sr. Breage McKenna. She suffered dreadfully from arthritic feet and oneday, she was praying and pleading that she be healed of this awful affliction and as she prayed she noticed her feet starting to straighten out.... and the healing continued. She was completely healed and was 'told' that she had work to do, to go out and tell people what had happened.... ok.. I believe this did happen but why doesn't it happen to me? Why, when I pray, are my prayers not heard. Why am I not completely healed of all radiation side effects.. restored back to new? Radiation scars disappearing before my eyes?? why? is it because I don't have important work to do in the world? I have no idea... maybe it is because miracles don't really happen (and I am not talking the miracles of everyday life.. where the sun continues to rise or the flowers continue cycles throughout the season..) I am talking miracles that we don't really believe do happen.. like the Sisters healing miracle or the blind person who could see once more or the leper who could walk again... or then there is the belief that I chose this life... well thankyou but Mother earth.. I don't want it anymore.. can I please change it?? I know.. count my blessings.. I have and I am up to 176.... so? I am sore and in pain and I want to give it to the Lord Jesus as he said he would take my burden... come to me all who labour and I will give you rest.. or something along those lines.. maybe he literally meant Labour as in childbirth..well that is me out for that one! anyhow, enough of my ranting.... I have lots to tell when I return.. of our australian flowers and animals.. of childhood memories.. of my life.. but right now.. I am going to go lick my wounds.... maybe that will help cause prayer sure doesn't... (nor does positive affirmations... ha!.. how many times do i have to say that my body is healed and all is well in my world til someone hears??)

so after I did this post, I went out to Katoomba and surprise surprise I decided to walk into a health food shop to buy myself some organic chocolate. I got talking to the herbalist there and just recently she has completed a few courses on post radiation treatment.. long term... and sold me some cream to try.. suppose to work wonders... so I bought that and forgot the chocolate... see how confused I am? forgetting chocolate... I was going to take this post down.. cause it was put up in the heat of one of my moments.. but I will leave it here.. yet another stumble in the journey.....so I am not on a break for too long... maybe a minute or two.. or maybe a day... see you soon xo!!

the day after New Moon

gee, two posts in two days!! but I just had to get it all down! (to 'get this' post, you must read the previous one about the new moon)
Yesterday, I suffered.. I tried to be 'nice' to Joe when he came home, but I still felt frustrated and angry.. so I just said nothing and anyhow, he had done not a thing wrong so why take this all out on him?
After watching Sense and Sensibilities, I went and sat in my Sacred Room to sit in silence, to maybe pull a card and to release anger, grumpiness & bitterness... but as I sat, I wriggled and I fidgeted.. so I gave up and just pulled an animal card which was Magpie.. indicating 'spiritual knowledge and the power that comes with it. True wisdom must be deserved and gathered over a lifetime and embraced as a way of life..it must become a path of the heart, explored with absolute devotion'.. yes, I thought to myself, I kind of do that...then..'we must turn our weaknesses into strengths and our darkest hours into gifts of power.. embark on an expedition to reclaim inner balance and authority'... Magpie is a doorkeeper to other realms, a guardian who lets only those willing to honour the sacred balance between the good and bad,light and dark and feminine and masculine in all things to explore her world..' then it went on to say 'your are being guided to a place of awareness. You are being primed for a deepening of purpose.. magpies arrival heralds an obligatory confrontation of fears & a reshuffling of thoughts.. ' and the funny thing is that yesterday while hanging my washing out, a magpie accompanied me.. wasn't scared on bit and sat on the fence for quite some time while I stirred my comfrey tea.....

then I sat and decided that to clear this angry energy it might be a good idea to strip my altar, leave it bare til sometime in the future and clean up the room.. put books away, pick up scribbled notes and fold blankets up, anointed my feet and hands with Spikenard Oil that was sent to me by someone I love dearly xo and as I anointed I closed my eyes and asked for help.... It was not a very tidy space for a sacred one...and as I put books away, something fell out of one, something I had made a book mark out of... something that made alot of sense to me as I read it...


The Guest House

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they're a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.


~ Rumi ~

so how is that for being helped from beyond? I had no intention of tidying that room at 10pm last night, no intention at all.
(by the way - the Animal dreaming cards are by Scott Alexander King.. and I can thoroughly recommend them!)

New Moon

the new moon today in Woodford was at 12.18pm... the day was weird, time kind of stood still.. time didn't seem to rush by as it usually does. The gale that has been blowing even stopped. It was just so eerie. As I was driving along the road, even the traffic had a stillness about it.. like no one was rushing...... I had decided to do a banishment ritual this new moon, with Suzie... lately I have been the proverbial bitter old woman..

angry, at - well, I know not what.. just angry. Grumpy. My Nan would say that I have a 'touch of the SOL's' - of course, I won't translate that as it is not nice. But it seems it is connected to liver.... Funnily enough, while searching for some natural remedies for my poor aching hands, I found an article by Susun Weed, where she asks to make a list of the things that we are sore(upset, angry) about.. so tonight, I will do this in my BoS, my soul journal, I will sit in stillness and try to find where this anger and bitterness is coming from.. I don't like it one bit, but it is like I am possessed by some very odd person who snaps at people for no reason and just has this anger cloud hanging over her...... and I am bitter.. I could be the STAR of the tv show 'Bitter Old Women'.. I had booked myself in for a massage for the new moon and thought this was the perfect time to release any anger that I was holding within me..so when I was there, I just breathed out anger and breathed in Joy.

today, I also cleaned up around my verandah, wrapping myself in layers of clothes against the cold (oh yes, I know some of you think I live in a mild place during winter, but this cold really does chill me right to the bones) and then I lit some Frankincense and Myrrh incense at my door, hung a smoky quartz crystal to banish negativity and hung a bunch of those violets from my door knob... hopefully that will all keep those 'angry spirits' away! I do love to do ancient folklore rituals like this.. kinda connects me to my ancestors in a way.

July.....already

July came in with a vengeance... gale force winds all night. I lay in bed wondering what was happening to my garden... my energy was scattered and all night i kept having to pull it in. I hate wind and I often wonder what the use of it is.... there must be one. So all night I listened to the wind whistling down the side of my home, hearing trees groaning in the wind.. all the while trying to settle my energies down and snuggling under my vintage comforter trying to block the noise out.

faeryLand has closed.. until December 1st when, here we celebrate Midsummer...so I gather faery magick as I go......

My checkup went well. My oncologist was happy but he still wants to see me each year until I am at 10 years... *sigh* I was hoping for a two yearly ok... but he seems to think it is better to do it this way.. so yearly it is. My results come back in a week or two.

I had a wonderful time at my Gypsy Caravan... the weather was perfect. Cold but a brilliant winter sun. At night, I went to sleep to the sound of the sea pounding on the beach that is across a sand embankment. The stars shone brilliantly and the air was full of sea spray that I could taste on my lips. It cleansed my aura I am sure..I didn't get to walk on the beach.. I wanted to but something stopped me... it was like my soul wanted to rest in the little caravan. I picked up sticks from around our area.. gathering kindling to bring home....

yesterday, the last day of June, I wandered around my garden... autumn leaves amid jonquils and daffodils ~ what on earth is going on??

bees still doing their busy work... we are lucky here, I still have many bees... our winters are mild compared to other places so we have bees all year round. I would love to keep bees, I have looked into it but it is very involved to collect my own honey, so for now, I will plant bee friendly plants and buy my organic honey, locally. It is important to have honey that has not been heat treated. once that happens, all the goodness is gone and you may as well have a spoon full of white sugar. So, next time you are out and about, look out for organic honey..

I know winter has arrived when I see the little violets poking their heads out from their protective leaves..In Macer's Herbal (tenth century) the Violet is among the many herbs which were considered powerful against 'wykked sperytis.'.. I might just pick a bunch and hang by my door...maybe that will keep the 'wykked sperytis' wind away from my garden!

and my irises are blooming... this was yesterday.. I haven't looked this morning to see if the wind has snapped them off...