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"She seemed to come suddenly upon happiness as if she had surprised a butterfly in the Winter woods"
(edith wharton)


Friday 31 October 2008

blessed Beltane at Woodford, ya gotta laugh

Today, I guess is traditionally Beltane eve.. I woke early this morning to race out and wash my face in the early morning dew (you see, this is a traditional thing to do at Beltane.. well it was for my ancestors apparently)... I brushed my hands through the wet grass and proceeded to wipe over my face.... then realised that it had not been a good idea, hayfever season, clover is out and I started sneezing... ahh well.. I guess my ancestors had a reason to do this... I don't need to.

I then walked around my garden, just noticing what was going on and decided to tie my tomato plants up and bless each one for Beltane...' bless you little tomato plant on this Beltane day' holding my hands over each plant.. thinking of how many tomatoes I will be gathering in summer.

I had planned on having a huge bowl of oatmeal for breakfast, with lashings of milk and brown sugar. .. of course, life had other plans. When I opened my fridge, it was warm as was my freezer.. it seemed my fridge/freezer had decided to depart this world at Beltane.. obviously confused like I am.. maybe Mr Fridge thought it was Samhain... anyhow, all my frozen food was melted - chicken breasts, meat, icecream... milk was warm & butter was soft. So I had to proceed to clean out my fridge, throwing food out and all the while wondering what I was going to have for breakfast... thank heavens I had bought some oatcakes the day before.. so I had them with honey(no butter mind you, that was melted). Not the most delicious meal I have had but at least it was something on my tummy.. before i went to have my massage...

as I drove down the road, there were signs all over the place announcing that today is a 'total fire ban'.. the day proceeded to get hotter and hotter, temps reaching in the high 30's. The wind howled, trees bending in the wind, garbage bins rolling up the road, branches & sticks were blowing all over the place, people driving like absolute maniacs, like they had just been let out of hell & were in a hurry to get somewhere, ambulances on the side of the road tending to children who were suffering heat stroke, old ladies walking up the road looking very cross in the heat. it was as if the world had gone completely insane, the energy was wild, out of control..... yes, welcome to Beltane in Australia.

.. I had wonderful plans for this day but it all went haywire.. I was going to do spring lamb for dinner...champagne with sweet wood ruff & decorate my home with candles & flowers everywhere, I was going to tie ribbons on the ancient apple tree, I was going to walk around and bless my yard. But by how today went, I think the Universe is trying to tell me something. The day was crazy, very odd, it was too hot to be doing much at all. Oh I did get my bowl of water and floated some flowers in it & my blackbird did come and sit in the apple tree and sing for me...... but Maybe I need to honour how my ancestors celebrated the seasons while also having my own little traditions to suit my own life... after all this is Australia.

later tonight, I will sit quietly and do a card reading and maybe my ancestors will come by to be with me. who knows.

15 comments:

Suzie Ridler said...

Blessed Beltane to you Robyn! A ban on bonfires?! Oh dear, that is a shame but safety first. I hope your reading brings you much insight and hope. Blessings to you on this special day.

amelia said...

Oh Dear,

What a day you've had!

How awful being that hot that people are being treated for heat on the side of the road. I wouldn't last five minutes being a snow and ice person!!!

Hope you enjoyed your massage!

laoi gaul~williams said...

robyn what an odd sounding day for you...but blessings for your beltane :)

samhain here is gorgeously freezing cold with blue skies. i have my little desk shrine decorated with little pumpkins and a bowl with an apple, oak leaves and acorns and my kitchen is much the same.

Fire Byrd said...

What a relaxing day you didn't get!
All those plans..... sounds like lying down in a cool room is the only thing to be done!
x

Bimbimbie said...

Hoping you managed to get some peaceful moments last night Robyn*!*

Anonymous said...

Well that is very interesting Robyn, I too was thwarted in my Beltane plans in a most unexpected way...I wonder why. Did the cards have any answers?

I'm going to do a reading today and see if I can determine what it's all about.
Beltane blessings to you!!
Caitlin
XXX

peppylady (Dora) said...

Happy Baltane to those south of the equator.
I don't why I was thinking this but brushing face and hand in morning dew.
I stared to think of a song called "Old Dan Tucker" and I thought he washed his face in dew but I was wrong actual he wash it in Old Dan Tucker was a fine old man
He washed his face in the frying pan
He combed his hair with a wagon wheel
And died of the toothache in his heel

Oh I'm sorry to hear your fridge going or went.

Coffee is on.

gma said...

Dearest Robyn, OMG...You are smart to be able to laugh at hay fever, broken fridge,fire ban on Beltane, and a dry breakfast. What did you have for dinner?:-)
Looking forward to our book blog
Love you!

Anonymous said...

Robyn... I did laugh, after all this is australia, and sometimes the best plans are way laid by our glorious hot weather! lol...we should be used to it by now! BTW it is a nice day here today one of a few and then later we are expecting another week of rain, so far its been a cold spring here.

Anonymous said...

Wishing you a happy Beltane, Robyn - even though things didn't go as planned! Is your fridge from the nothern hemisphere? I'm teasing - but also empathizing - so sorry about all that - it's such a mess when a refrigerator goes on the blink, and so much food gets wasted. I hope tomorrow goes much better for you!
It's supposed to be autumn here, but we've had weather closer to yours right now. Though it did finally cool down some today, it was still in the mid 80's (F) - and yesterday, I noticed under the apple tree that one of the spring bulbs has put up its green shoots! Perhaps the hemispheres are switching sesons?
Hope everyone cools down a bit and that this spring brings you better weather and more peace and harmony~xo

smilnsigh said...

"then realised that it had not been a good idea, hayfever season, clover is out and I started sneezing..."

Oh you poor Dear!

I have felt allergy-ish after the lawn has been mowed. But thought of grass. May well be clover, because we have a big patch of clover {happily} in our back yard.

I love clover. Try to keep the yard from being mowed, till I've had lots of sightings of the clover flowers.

Mmmmmm... Perhaps next growing Season, I'll have another reason to say "Save the Clover flowers!" :-)

Gentle hugs,
Miss Mari-Nanci

Patty said...

Just stopping in to say I hope you had a blessed beltaine

Wendy said...

What a strange day! Beltane energy let loose, it seems! LOL

Ruth said...

You know that saying - `life is what happens to you when you're busy making other plans'...

linda may said...

What a strange day Robyn, good to see you laugh about it though. Like the song "Laugh and think that, This is Australia..." I don't think it was that hot here, but still hot enough to be uncomfortable working.