Templates

I saw a posting about new Blogger draft and followed a link.
It brought me to a much improved blogger site, one with new templates and more flexibility for uploading your own backgrounds etc.
I thought I'd start slowly with the new spring template. I feel it brightens the blog, don't you?

Today is most definitely NOT spring, it is cold and raining.

Last night's moon was gorgeous though and my pictures do not do it justice.


The night glowed with the moonlight and you could see clearly in the garden.

We have bought some new scented geraniums as mine are getting a little leggy. I've taken cuttings from them but these are new fragrances.
I've got one that smells of pine, one of rose and one of a lemon/rose combination. All very aromatic.
Template, the Oxford dictionary definition is interesting
ORIGIN probably from temple a device in a loom for keeping the cloth stretched, from Old French. Very appropriate for this blog me thinks:)

A new swift

look what my clever DH made for me today. A new model of swift that slides to fit assorted skein lengths
Isn't he clever?

Spring tides and bright blue skies

The most fabulous day today, a true celebration of the Spring Equinox for me. There are very high tides and it is sunny. What more could I want?
As you can see the bay was extremely busy this morning. Many watersports fans taking advantage of the high tide.
There is something about the spring and autumn tides that invigorates me. It gives me so much energy that I can feel quite giddy with it:)



A need to be out in the open air, soaking up the energies from wind and sun. Feeling the spray from the tide as it breaks over the rocks and covers the promenade.

A sign of warmer days, longer days as well now that the clocks have reverted to British Summer Time.
A time to plan, to set seeds and to watch them grow. Not just in the garden but within my life.

A bursting of energy, a need to be outdoors. To enjoy the spring in all its forms.

The snowdrops here have gone overnight. From seeing white clumps of flowers everywhere we now have yellow, golden yellow and all shades from palest primrose to deepest orange.
I love this turning point when all the spring bulbs burst into colour. Everywhere I look on our travels I see this beauty, this energy . It spirals around the flowers and the trees and on its way touches me also.
Spring, the harbinger of abundance in all its forms.

I have something to show you that reflects the colours now.

Another Alveare hat and some matching fingerless mittens.
Yarn is hand dyed chez Moggie. Such rich lush blues reflecting sky and sea.
Shades of golden daffodils and fresh new leaves.

I copied the pattern of the hat onto the mittens and I think they turned out rather well:)



I love Woolly Wormheads patterns, they are so easy to read and to follow. Just look at the back of the hat, hexagons to reflect the 5 elements of Earth, Air, Water, Fire and Spirit.

A side view to show how it drapes.



Enjoy your day also.

Where has my body gone?

Who owns this body? It can't be mine.

If it is then who has taken all functionality away from it?

Who gave me this broken body? Did they exchange theirs for mine while I was sleeping one night?

So many bits of it don't work as they should.

They hurt.

They let me down when I want them to do something.

If I had to examine my body and find the fully functioning parts I would be hard pressed to do so today.

Oh wait a moment , my hands are working. They are typing this, slowly but nevertheless that must mean they at least are working..

My knees are most definitely not my knees. They are swollen and they are sore. Sharp pains work their way around them.
No , they can't be mine surely?

My back is someone elses isn't it?

It hurts and it won't move where I want it to. That must prove it isn't my back.

My neck must belong to someone else, it doesn't want to hold my head upright. If it was my neck it would do wouldn't it?
This must be a neck for a smaller person.

I do wish they would give me my neck back.

My legs you ask? Well they too belong elsewhere.
My legs wouldn't let me down so much I am certain.

MY legs would hold me and walk for me and not be sore all the time.

My legs would dance and walk long distances.
They would pirouette every day.

My hands can go back to their owner while we are at it. They must have taken mine while I composed my sentences.

My hands would spin beautifully all the time. They would feel the fibre as it slips through my fingers.
They wouldn't be numb and they surely wouldn't fumble with the yarn I want to make.

They would knit without locking up and they would not have lumps and bumps.

They wouldn't look like old ladies hands, arthritic and gnarled.

Would they?

My mind is MOST certainly my own. Phew well that is a relief then:)

Thoughts

Why do kiwi fruit have a sign on that says "ripen at home" yet go from rock hard to uneatable?
Why do pears say ready to eat yet never are?
Why do supermarkets put inedible fruit on sale yet market it as if they were doing us a favour with all the "ripe, ready to eat" claims?
Why do electrical goods come with a built in obsolescence and a life of just one day over the guarantee, or be last year's model in less than a year?
Why is their replacement billed as new and improved? Why can't we have the old unimproved?
Not all of us want an electronic monster in the kitchen that takes an engineering degree to operate. Is this one of the reasons people want to return to the old ways?
A simpler life?
Can't there be a halfway path? Not as all fired progressive, not as back to nature with no electronic help mates, but a balanced in between?
Is the reason for the lack of spirituality the excess of gadgetry and consumerism?

I want some modern accoutrements.
Yes I appreciate a fridge, a freezer, a washing machine and cooking facilities.
Yes I like my computer and my central heating.

But I don't need the latest this or that.
I too have been seduced by an 1p0d and yes it is handy to have all my music accessible without getting up to change CDs. Especially on the too painful days.

But not a necessity.
Yes I have a microwave but use it seldom and then mainly for my wheatie bags for pain relief.

I walk my spiritual path in the most honest way I can.

I follow the wheel of the year and the path of the moon.

I honour Deity in which ever form She or He appears.

The challenge for me is to balance the spiritual and physical lives.

I suspect it is for most people.

It isn't easy.

I don't always get it right.

But I try.

How about you?

This picture was taken on the promenade today, isn't it wonderful?
Not sure who made it

Spring Equinox

It is the spring equinox and after this day and night of equal length we turn more and more towards the light half of the year.
I love the festival it is such a cheery one for me. The signs of spring are everywhere. Lots of colour coming on the trees, a multitude of daffodils in the verges and much activity from the rooks.

I like the way that even in what looks poor soil you can find a flower or two.
These bare trees will very soon be green
These pictures were taken a few days ago, I think the daffodils may be in full bloom now.
They bloom anywhere
Click this picture to enlarge it and you may just see a frog


Walks in woodlands lift my spirits, I feel closer to the Goddess among trees.
Is this to stop us going on?

Strange shapes on broken trees, if I look closely I see the face of the Green Man all around
Here crowned with verdant growth, a suitable consort for the Goddess
This egg like stone covered in moss represents one of the other names for the Spring Equinox, Ostara.
Eggs and hares the things I think of when it is this turn of the wheel.



Then on to something different:)
While visiting MiL the other day we called in a local charity shop. Just look what I found there:)
Whoever made this set had a true artists eye. Such lush colours that change as the light reflects . The base is very soft kid leather.
Isn't it gorgeous?
Then one more picture of daffodils in honour of the Lady and the Lord.

Happy Ostara may the seeds you plant be fertile and abundant.

More on colour

More colour.

Firstly , the tulips are opening beautifully and I love this snap of them.

My Alveare hat is finished, yarn is my own handspun:)

love the little tassel on the back:) A really quick hat to knit and easy pattern to follow.
This is the stormy skies alpaca merino I dyed the other day. I've started another Alveare hat with it.


Love the way it looks in the ball.We had a fabulous trip to the woods today to celebrate the imminent Spring Equinox. Pictures in a couple of days when I can get them up on my blog. I love Spring Equinox, I always feel that it truly marks the light half of the year, especially when you consider that the week after the clocks will "spring" forward one hour making the days seem longer:)

Equinox moon

I've just seen the new Equinox moon rising in the sky. A barely there crescent which will swell daily as we near the Spring Equinox. She will be around half full on the equinox. A sign of promise and lighter days

More colour

More colour for you especially for this dark cold day. The Ides of March no less. Who is for a little Shakespeare?
This is some of the recent dyeing chez Moggie.
Firstly bright and breezy, reminds me of a cottage garden in high summer, full of delphiniums, cornflowers, roses, calendulas and more. Blue faced Leicester fibre.

This next one is for a scraps swap on Ravelry. Solstice dawn, also BFL

This one is spring on meadows, also BFLThen something different. This is some alpaca merino yarn around an aran weight. It did have a fling last year when I dyed some for socks in bright primary colours. I found the cone the other day and it seemed a shame to leave it languishing. I wanted something gothic and I think I'm almost there:) This is to make some of Woolly Wormhead's hats, firstly Alveare.
Not sure which other to do, I love Ruth's hat patterns they are always well written and easy to follow.
The colours are darkly different (top) and stormy skies(bottom)

My sore hand has now transferred itself to the other arm and that too is extremely painful today. Methinks my pain is having a little game of hide and seek around the body. Oh what joy:)