It is a time

It is a time of sleeping long and late. Of weird dreams that range far and wide, some unsettling. A time of heavy eyes when waking up.
Energy is lacking yet things get done, many things.
Autumn Equinox is a strange time.
There is that definite swing of the year over to the dark winter side. You can see it happening by the shorter days and even longer nights. It is dark by 7pm now.
You can tell by the colours changing on the leaves and flowers.
Yet, in amongst this there is still the light.
The bounty of fruit and vegetables in abundance. The blood red of the hips and haws in the late sunshine.
So much to celebrate still.
Maybe the heavy sleeps and strange dreams are my own preparations for the winter. Making sense of my harvest and my fruit.
What seeds we planted, in some cases knowingly and with full attendant rituals.But others involuntary and they are also coming to fruition now.And for those not following the same path as us, "supposed" knowing ones, although that is the wrong word . They too will have planted ideas, dreams and hopes. Not in a pagan ritual way but still planted.
Those are now coming to harvest also. Not everyone has positive hopes. Is this why the current state of the world and all around us?
Unscrupulous seeds planted by controlling evil people?
Swine flu, is it natural or test tube made?
Financial crisis - is that all a deliberate media way to control us even further?
All a control mechanism or not?
Why do I fear this world for my children and my grand children?
What are we leaving them with? Will it change?
I suspect not.
Many times Mr Mog and I say we were glad to be born when we were. Will they be?
Pixie Sue blogged about being honest on our blogs and not just writing the good things. She is right, we need to write all that is within us.
Not for anyone else but for our selves. To make sense, if we can, of what is happening.
If someone else gets some comfort or a sense of deja vu from that, knowing that we are all going through similar things, then so be it.

I promised you knitting.

I promised you knitting so here goes.
The autumn greenery jacket is finished. Here you see it taking a little early evening sun with the very berry elsewhere jacket.

I really love the colours in this despite them not being what I set out to dye. I had it in mind to dye autumn greenery as a more faded and darker green. Seemed the dyeing fairy had other ideas. That notwithstanding I love it and the fit is perfect.
The colours blend yet don't which is just what I wanted. Why have matching sleeves and fronts if you don't have to?
This was going to be Autumn greenery Elsewhere jacket as I said but the goddess had other ideas as I dyed the yarn.
What was going to be faded greens going darker and more fragile became spring greens. The beauty of the trees awakening and unfurling their leaves. No two trees have the same shades of green so my jacket reflects all the green spectrum.
Sometimes the Goddess takes a hand. Autumn's glory has within it Spring's awakening.
It comes from there via the nurturing touch of winter's earth.
Could be her way of reminding me once more that the wheel is always turning.
We live on a spiral so we are always moving onwards and outwards.
From the faded ideas and completed projects can grow new plans, new dreams and new hopes.
The trick is to move with the energy not at right angles to it.
To be open to growth at the right time and to know when to be quiet and let the seeds germinate.
Sometimes I feel I miss the messages. My ears aren't tuned in or I hear and don't decipher the words.
Awareness can be lost in the day to day things if I am not in the now.

I did mention I wanted to knit another Elsewhere jacket. This will be my Winter Blues jacket.
Dyed in honour of the winter Solstice and the dark velvet nights of that portion of the wheel.

What do you think? Have I captured it do you think? This time I was listening.

Then I was out of dyed aran to start another so had to have something on the needles.

Here you see the sunny day socks. These are for me to wear of an evening while sitting reading, knitting or the like. I have very bad circulation and always feel cold so these will be ideal for winter. The yarn is some double knit alpaca merino I dyed some months back.
Very speedy knit as it is double knit yarn. Very warm also.


There has also been spinning and here you see the latest yarn off the bobbins


Fibre was from limegreenjelly and spun beautifully for this newbie. Didn't half leech a lot of colour when the yarn was set though. The water was vivid green:(
I'm very pleased with this, it is still thick and thin but it is getting better I think.

Staying with blogger

ignore previous posting I'm stopping with blogger

Autumn Equinox

As you probably guessed from my previous post we celebrated Mabon or Autumn Equinox in Glastonbury. There was a ritual at Chalice Well but unfortunately, or as it happened fortunately, we missed it by half an hour. I was convinced it started at noon but in the event it was 11am.
I am not a crowd person so wasn't too upset at missing the event especially as it was fairly busy so not easy to get around. We had a little meander that day but decided that our Chalice Well day would be the next one. With that in mind we arrived as the well opened. We had it almost to ourselves. A delight. The Well is a special place to visit at any time of the year but there is something about the festivals that adds a little more sparkle to it.

Just look how they decorated the well head aren't the colours wonderful?
This lady was sitting atop the cover.


Everywhere you look there are paths leading somewhere magical. Doors open to tempt you in.
Magnificent shaped trees that make your fingers tingle when you touch them. So much energy abounds in this garden.
So much love from all the people who have visited through the years and from the people who work here.
The water is rich with iron as you can see.
This reminded me of a winter goddess watching over her domain until the wheel turns once more to her time.
I had the strangest sensation that someone or something was sat in this tree watching us.
A perfect spider web for a perfect day.
The colours were dazzling despite the misty day.
Autumn's glory and a seat to watch the world go by.
This was called the angels seat, we sat here a while waiting for Ark the gardener at the well who was away searching for a piece of wood for us to take home. He gave us a piece of chestnut, pictures later on that. It was quite dry as it had been cut some time ago as part of their care for the trees.

We are going to use it as part of an altar, a little Glastonbury magic in our home.

The trees were just starting to change but this vine on the back wall at the well was in its full glory.
Next post I have dyeing, another Elsewhere jacket and some hand spun for you:) Watch this space.

Equinox greetings from?via?

As it is Autumn Equinox tomorrow we decided to celebrate in a very special place. Somewhere that calls to my heart and soul.
Our route took us past another place close to my heart.
Sadly you can no longer get close to the stones as I used to do

It still fills me with awe and moves me to tears, I was very emotional taking these pictures. Part of me wishes it was easy to just walk among these old sages but I know there are arguments for and against it. I will content myself with my inward journeying among them
The skies down here are so high you could get lost among the clouds. Any ideas where I am yet?
Does this help?
Yes we are celebrating the equinox at Glastonbury, joining the celebrations at Chalice Well tomorrow.
I'll have all my family and friends in my thoughts while we are there. I hope your harvest is all you wish and that this years seeds have become something you desire or need.

We are the sum of our parts

We are the sum of our parts
Our physical self, our spiritual self and our experiences.
Who we are at any one time is the product of that sum. We colour our existence by what we do and our interaction with the world and the people around us.
Sometimes these experiences can overwhelm us and we can feel as if we have lost our inner self.
Being in an abusive relationship can be all of that and more.
When I was married to my first husband I found it hard to stay true to who I was. All my creativity was derided and even worse forbidden.
As a young mum with 2 very small children I saw no way out, at least not until they were ready to leave school. I couldn't leave for my own life. How would the children fare with no father?
With the hindsight of today I realise that it would have been better for us all to be apart. But then I couldn't do it. I took all that life and he could throw at me. I snuck time to write silly rhymes and stories, escapism. One poem on why a biscuit company had withdrawn my favourite biscuit. Fables of fantastic places inhabited by magical creatures.
I hid them but they were always found and burnt. A case of going full circle as this had always happened throughout my childhood. I wasn't allowed to write, draw or paint. It was a waste of time. "Get back to doing proper stuff", chores and looking after my 5 siblings.
For so long creating art was a guilty pleasure, one to be done in secret moments snatched from the day. I volunteered a lot for various charities. That was wrong.
I raised money for them and had creative ideas for fund raising. A waste of time, get back to looking after your children, cooking meals.
Is it any wonder that all those years on I found it hard to allow my inner artistic self out to play?
Mr Mog encouraged the fragile spirit to emerge. He praised my efforts and gave me courage to make mistakes. Slowly I made art, many forms and with small steps.Today although I have emerged from the dark tunnel of despair I still have times when I wonder if it is all a dream and that someone will come along and bin it.
They don't I am glad to say.
Faith helped me. I knew that inside it wasn't wrong. I was allowed to play. My beliefs had also been belittled back then. I was beaten for them. THEY didn't believe anything so I wasn't allowed to.
The Goddess kept me within her protection and my belief in her was not taken from me.
I always knew my path would be mixed. From a child I knew it wouldn't be easy. It still isn't but it is my path to walk and to stumble on if necessary.
I have that right and that need.
Being me means being all of me.The good, the bad and the ugly. All parts of the essential whole.
The balance that brings me to this place and also takes me to the stars and beyond in my imaginings.
I am me and I am glad I am:)
My wish sometimes is that I had been allowed to be me all along instead of having to wait.
But I got here.

Welcoming Autumn's beauty

The fading of the leaves and a change in the light of a morning and evening.
The brilliance of the sunsets, such vivid colours seem as if a child had painted the sky with their impressions of a sunset.
The balance that appears more noticeable at this turn of the wheel. Fading glory but ripe luscious fruit on all the boughs.

It is sometimes hard to accept the move towards winter, the short , short days but balanced by longer nights. The colder spells.
Look at it another way. cold helps to kill off all the germs my nanny always said. Nature's way of spring cleaning.
I never understood it for a long while but it is true. Her spring cleaning starts early. By cleansing she makes room for new growth.

The longer nights are a nurturing healing time after all the energy we use during the long days of summer.
In these modern times we aren't able to live as the old ones did. After all we have electric lighting when it goes dark.

But we can spiritually and mentally. We can turn inward, have quiet times to recharge our spiritual bodies and our batteries.

It is also a good time to reflect on the things we have achieved. What is our harvest?
What dreams have we made real?

Dreams = seeds into fruit.

I woke this morning with the knowledge that my harvest doesn't have to be a huge crop.
Look at nature, one fruit is to be celebrated.
It can be something as simple as a realisation of my place on the wheel of life.
It can be a real "thing" such as learning to spin or knitting a large item that actually fits me perfectly. Made to measure in fact.

All our triumphs are to be honoured and given thanks for.
Not just major achievements.


Autumn always affects me strongly. The beauty of the colours strikes deep within my soul. A chord of recognition that we are all part of that same marvellous journey around this wheel of life.




The symbol of which, the tree, is prevalent in many faiths.


And what grows on trees? Fruit of course:)