Summer colours knitting

I thought you might like to see current projects I've got on and off the needles.
Firstly the current progress on my Noro sock yarn shawl. Grown a little, takes a while as it is sock yarn. This will be passed on when finished. Not my colours exactly though close. Also being sock yarn will be a nice light shawl for someone.
Second is my favourite:) This is the handspun, red hot chilli pepper I spun from falkland tops purchased from Mandacrafts at Wonderwool.
I'm making the Vixen shawl with it. What do you think?
Third is a finished item. Yet another Elsewhere jacket. This time made in acrylic (hush) from James Brett. This will be being passed on, the colour is too pastel for me. I wanted to make an acrylic jacket to see how it would wear as all my other Elsewheres pill being pure wool. Well I've made it but don't want to wear it now it is done:)
Someone will like it I am sure.

Travel stone circles and colour

I have a wanderlust and it fills me with a desire to journey.

To travel to places known and unknown. A need to see what is beyond the next hill.
A real urge to go places far and wide.
Sometimes I wake up and my feet itch to go to new places. From a child I've had the desire to be outside a lot. When I had my children and couldn't take long journeys I walked round the block.
Or up to the beach to watch the tides. Anything to be out and to feel the wind and sun on my face.

To soak up the energies of the earth.
I can remember precious moments on the cliff top on stormy days and nights, feeling the spray, tasting the salt. Barely able to keep upright with the power of the wind.
Screaming into the tide with joy. Having so much energy inside that I could almost float on the feeling.
Going to sacred places where the energy was so different.
A slow drumbeat wrapping itself around me, inside me.
Showing a very faint glimpse of the energies that lie there.

Despite the abuse and the commercialisation the magic is still there at Stonehenge, at Castlerigg.
Stronger still at more unspoilt places such as Long Meg or Men an Tol.

Swinside was a favourite of mine as a child when the journey was easier. I loved going there and sitting, listening to the elements, to the circle itself.

There are so many places I hold dear too many for this blog post. Some are circles, but many woods and forests, beaches hold the same mystery for me.

Elements thoughts on

Air is inspiration, the spark of an idea, winds , mountain tops.
An eagle flying.
Go with it feel the air around you and within you.

Fire, see the sun feel its warmth within you and without.
Fire is the energy you need to work the ideas. It is the passion you feel for someone or something.
It can consume you, you become it and from the ashes the new you appears.

Water- see a lake, a pool of silver blue water that shows darker further away.
Go in to it and float, feel the water moving around you. It takes you onwards and inwards.
You feel a deep pull inside and feelings well up. Feelings of of love, sometimes of loss.
You have felt water, it is emotions and your tears. The biggest part of our bodies.
Water gives you the feeling to work the magic for without our feel for life and love we are merely shells.
We come from water in our mother's womb.

Earth, walk towards a wood full of different trees. Oak, ash , holly, hawthorn and many more. As you enter the woods you smell the rich earth. You taste its bounty.
Earth is the plane we live on and the place where magic takes place. The place where the results appear.
Earth grounds us and we return to it after our work on the spiritual or astral plane.
Our physical bodies also return to earth when this cycle is over for us.

Spirit. When meeting the elements the feelings you get from each and your reaction to each is coloured by who you are.
The spark inside that is your true self, your spirit.
The unique personal element that is you.

Energies , fire and Essex

Fire and energy the things that give us our get up and go.

They make us who and what we are.

Without fire we wouldn't do anything. It warms our blood it sparks our passions.
It is the doing part of us.

We need fire to keep us warm.
The sun is fire. If the world didn't have the sunlight it would be a dead planet:( No life, lost.

We are like that also.
If we have no energy we don't want to do anything, we can't be bothered.

We harness the sun's power within us.
No sunshine - no vitamin D.
Winter blues, SAD all symptoms of the effect winter can have on us.

In our spiritual lives fire is considered to work our spells, our magic. Air is the idea, the thought. Fire is the creative idea released and made form.
The doing of the spell.

In our lives we need all the five elements to function fully.
Earth, air, fire ,water and spirit.

Fire is the fuel.

Wearing red, orange deepest golds can make us feel better. It mimics the sun's effect.
Red is passion.
I always imagine divas wearing red and bossing people around.

Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius are the fire elements:
From Wiki The Fire signs exhibit righteousness. These people conform to the standard of moral law. They do what is right and are known for their sense of fair play. They are truthful, straight-forward, just, upright and virtuous in their dealings with other people. The Fire signs are the true warriors. They demonstrate courage, fortitude, zeal and pugnacity. They have the mental and moral strength that enables them to venture into unknown waters and to persevere and withstand danger. They seldom show fear and are confident in their actions. They have mettle, resolution, and tenacity. They can face danger or difficulty without flinching or retreating. They will fight for their principles and have a stubborn persistence that is unwilling to recognize defeat. They have grit, back bone, guts, and are willing to keep fighting under all odds. They are aggressive and thrive on challenge. The Fire signs are of a spiritual nature. They have a nature that gives them physical energy, strength and vital powers. Their essential characteristic qualities are liveliness, energy, ardor, enthusiasm, courage and action. They have a firm, courageous and assertive disposition which is their most characteristic quality. The emotional nature of the Fire sign is goal oriented. These people like to win or be the best in anything they pursue. Their aggressive nature makes them just one big ego. There is nothing more stimulating to them than to win, and there is nothing more depressing to their ego than to lose. They strive to be the center of attention and are at home when showing-off. They are straight-forward and have no reservations about hurting the feelings of others by their forthrightness. The main virtue of this sign is being just and right

In the Tarot the main card I symbolise for Leo particularly is the Strength card/ It is often shown with a lion or cat pictured.
For me one of its meanings is strength in a partnership. Bossy but well meaning.
A need to organise, to take control.
Wiki has various meanings for this card. I'm just giving you what works often in my readings:) Maybe the Leo influence coming across.

You do have to be careful when harnessing fire energy. It can be easy to overdo it and very soon to be depleted and listless.
Always keep a little spark back inside for you.

If I am feeling low I visualise red and orange surrounding me.
I go outside if it is sunny and feel the sun caressing my body, renewing my inner spark.
The blood coursing through my veins revitalising me.
I see sparks coming from my fingers. A lightning aura around me, healing soothing and renewing.

The page above is from my book Travelling light by Brian Andreas. I love the take on auras.

Fire burns but think of bracken fires.

When the bracken burns it burns away the dead wood allowing new growth to come forth.

Let the spiritual fire burn away the negativity thus making space for new ideas and a new self.

Sometimes we don't want to let go.
We are scared to move on in our journey.
Fire gives us that permission to be and to live.

While thinking of fire many images and ideas came to mind.

The first 3 chakras are red, orange and yellow. All fire colours
image from Under the Bodhi Tree, an interesting website to browse if you are interested in the chakra system.
Sunrise, noon and sunset all powerful times to work magic.

So Essex,
we have to go down to Aunt next week to sort some things out as she is going into a care home today. Are there any must sees while we are there?
We weren't going to rush there and back. Will be staying in her old house one night but not too comfortable for longer really.

Memories

I want memorabilia.
I want paper records.
I want faded photos, sepia coloured and curling at the edges -
with long gone relatives.
I want tickets that meant something to someone, kept because they commemorated a special event.
I want faded flowers -
an old bouquet from an admirer or swain of decades ago. Someone who my gran or great gran cared for and cared enough to keep the memories.
I want memories you can touch and smell, the faded beauty of generations past.
I want to weave stories around the things left to us, fantastic stories to honour the paper history of our ancestors.
A computer screen of digital images doesn't do it for me.
I want to show my grandchildren letters wrapped up in faded silks.
I want to talk about my grandparents or their parents and show pictures of them.
I want to talk about the scandals as well as the romance.
For after all, where we came from made us who we are.

With clogs on

Look what I found on the rug this morning.
I thought it was rather noisy last night. It would appear that the fairy folk party with clogs on:)

Strangely enough I used to have clogs like these and loved them. They were made for me by a clog maker who used to have a shop near Lancaster some years ago. He made clogs to measure. When I was a child I used to wear clogs a lot, they were supposed to strengthen my weak joints. Can't say I noticed any difference but I did love the noise they made when you walked:)



I found these in a charity shop the other day and had to have them. At 20p for the 2 pairs they haven't exactly broke the bank. I thought I may make 2 femmes to wear them. Not my normal figures something to honour my nan perhaps?
I'm having a rough time at the moment. Burning neck and shoulders and much pain. To add to all my normal stuff my feet are cracked very badly not just the heels but on the ball of my foot. Makes putting my feet down very painful.

We attended the Tynedale spinners gathering at the weekend and really enjoyed it. Many ravellers there to meet up with both new and old friends. The journey to Stocksfield was beautiful, clear skies and we could see for miles.
Still in the process of clearing MiL's house prior to it being put on the market to fund her care. An incredible amount of junk to get rid of. We have given the charity shop the saleable items but some stuff is only fit for recycling. Years of old envelopes in various states of decay. Old food containers similar. Not items that have any purpose sadly.

Colour

Today the sun is shining and everywhere looks beautiful. It always lifts my spirits when the sun shines even if it is a day like today where the pain is really bad.

As a distraction I thought I would show you some of my current projects.

Firstly Elsewhere I may be blue:) This is of course my favourite pattern the Elsewhere jacket.

I'm making this one in acrylic (shush) I love the ones I've made from Blue faced Leicester but as always with pure wool they do pill badly. I'm wondering how this will wear. Watch this space.
For acrylic it doesn't look too bad does it? It is James Brett marble DK and it works to the aran pattern beautifully.
Next up a shawl in Noro Kureyon sock yarn. I dislike this yarn for socks but love the Noro colourways so I thought I'd see how it worked up as a shawl. I like it.


My third picture is the latest fibre on the wheel. I purchased this at Wonderwool Wales from Mandacrafts this is the link to amandas etsy shop. She sells organic Falkland tops and the colours are delicious.
Guess what colourway this is?

Did you guess it is red hot chilli pepper and aptly named I would say:)

Magic of stage and stadiums

This post was going to have more in it but sadly the volcanic ash spoilt that.

We were supposed to be going here last night to see these two but Dave was stuck in Munich due to the ash so it didn't go ahead sadly.
Not often the Mogs get out of an evening. As a friend said yesterday "you'll be coming home in the dark:) "
One of our friends used to work with the bikers and had mentioned going to see them in Blackpool. He very kindly got us tickets to go with them. There will be another time I'm sure.
This is the rest of the post.



There is magic in any live show. Be it music or the theatre it matters not.

The ability of the actors or artists to transport us to a place of their making, their imagination.

What is it about a theatre or stadium that wraps around us and makes us believe?

You wonder why I say believe?

What else can it be called that transforms an ordinary man or woman into a magician, a witch?

What else could it be that makes words or music transform into a magic of time and place?

For the time we are in that theatre or stadium, or gig we are totally wrapped up in the fantasy performed there.

Who has not taken a deep breath at the end of an opera or play and come back into the now with a little regret that it has ended?

Who has not left a live gig buzzing with energy and joy? Exhilarated beyond words.
If that isn't magic I don't know what is.

Maybe the transmutation of lead into gold could be a metaphor for this?

Ordinary men and women get up on that stage and are themselves transformed also, for the magic works both ways.

Sometimes

Sometimes I still wake up full of energy and get up and go.

It isn't often and it doesn't last but if I don't go with the flow I regret it.

If I turn over for just a few minutes more sleep then the second time of wakening is never as good. I will always be weary and lacking with energy from not seizing the moment and being in the now.
Today was a wake up early day. A time of sun and light and early morning choruses. A heron slowly passing the bedroom window. Not often seen as we live on an estate of many houses and small gardens.
Not a flight path to early morning feeds.
And yet,
Our neighbours at the back have a pond. Could it be that old longshanks tried their waters for his morning repast?
You don't have to be in tiny hamlets buried deep in the country to see nature.

The sunsets from my window are stunning, the colour ranging from blush pinks through fire red and orange to deepest purples and velvet blues.
The sunrise over the factory roof at the back of the house. The roof that reminds me of Glastonbury Tor each time I see it.
As the sky lightens with rising Sol its colours are a more pastel version of sunset.

In my tiny urban garden I've seen goldfinches, blackbirds and magpies. I've seen buzzards lazily riding the thermals above . I've heard far more birds but don't recognise their songs.
Of course living near the sea we get our fair share of raucous seagulls, yet they too have a beauty all their own.

In Winter and Spring we see and hear the wild geese as they travel over on their way to feeding grounds. Their mournful cry reminds us that Winter for us is but a lush feeding time for them.

I often imagine myself high on the wing following the leader to who knows where?
A trip across strange lands and with oceans spied below as we pass over.

Imagination necessary when pain threatens to overcome.

Somewhere to travel in the mind and try to take away the raw hurting for even a moment.

Yes I do feel handicapped often by this disease.

I'd love to travel physically to places far and wide, to be able to stride across forests and up mountains. To be able to dance in moonlight on sea shores.


To be able to grasp life and all it offers ALL the time and not have to sip at brief parts of it.
Yet I do have my imagination and my mind pictures.

I can go anywhere I choose with them.

Who says the journey has to be on foot?

The pictures are today's haul from the car boot. An amber bracelet for me. A village for Mr Mog and his outdoor railway. The solitary cottage is aptly named Spinner's Cottage and this theme was kept with the books I also found.

Quiet times

I've been quiet.
Not a lot going on, I'm sore and it is freezing.
I voted, did you?
More to come when I thaw out and my pain goes off

Happy Beltaine

Happy Beltaine and I hope that the fire and energy from this festival go with you throughout the year. May you harness the energy creatively and don't forget to pass a little of it on.
Short and sweet but have a great day