rise and root

***

~*~*~*~



The Flame Haired Solstice Dreamer

Cold winter brings the Everfrost and jewels every tree
In a forest new as birth and old as old can be
A flame~haired dreamer wanders there and shelters from the wind
And spins her dreams around the trees to break the ties that bind
She takes her thread and spins anew and how the Greenwood smiles
As she spins a spell for freedom and for her spirit Wylde

The dreamer finds an ancient oak and shelters in his lee
In a forest new as birth and old as old can be
Tis summer now and birdsong weaves its magick through her spells
And humming bees drum drowsily in the foxglove's bells
The dreamer sits beneath the oak with yarn upon her knee
And spins and knits and weaves her dreams and sets her spirit free

***
"When birds fall from the sky and the animals are dying, a new tribe of people...shall come unto the earth from many colors, classes, creeds, who by their actions and deeds shall make the earth green again. they will be known as the warriors of the Rainbow"

Hopi Prophecy

~thank you my lovlies!~

thank you for your comments about me and my armchair!

its funny how seemingly insignificant things can mean so much in such small ways.

i cycled round to see my mum today~road-testing the new basket i bought for evangeline, to take her some of my cooking apples (apple sauce and apple crumble ahoy for swampy!) and to see how the final arrangements were for my nans flat.



she was so stressed i ended up coming straight home and phoned around for a man with a van. luckily i found one in southampton (midway between us and Portsmouth so perfect) who is charging only £30 to go and collect and bring back here.

i also took some photos of photo's...i know! i know! we haven't replaced our broken scanner so its the only way i can 'scan' photos onto my laptop.
anyway...



the lady on the right is my nan, annie. this was taken sometime in the past five years with her friend Betty. Betty was a Canadian lady who ended up living in Portsmouth and she and nan hit it off right from the start.

this...



is nan and gramps (far right) in 1973! doesn't nan look very 1970's funky?! its lovely to have a photo of my gramps smiling. he was always a very fierce man, always seeming grumpy, but we knew it was just a cover and we knew how much he cared for us. he, like nan, in the poorest area of portsea,with his 12 siblings, his dad a fisherman, he maternal granddad a bargeman and all his other male relatives were either bargemen, fishermen, dockyard workers or mariners. he had passed to join the royal navy at the start of WW2 but they considered his position, driving the trains in the dockyard so important they would not release him for navy service.all he would say about this time was that he saw sights no man should see.

and finally...



this is my dad, aged about 21-22 when he first became a policeman, pictured outside his uncle john cushnaghan's little house in portsmouth. doesn't he look so very young? i imagine my nan must have had this copy from the time it was taken, although i have no idea who took the photo~quite possibly uncle john.

6 comments:

Von said...

Great to have these old photos isn't it? A lovely record of family life.Love the new bike basket, glad they still make those!!

Ravenoak said...

Wonderful photos Laoi, really beautiful memories there. Your Nan looks like a special lady.

Miss Robyn said...

I love your Nan's skirt!! fantastic photos.. hopefully your mum will feel less stressed soon. xo

mel said...

OMG!! I covet your new basket!! It's just the one I want for Ye Olde Purple Bicycle!! Dead envious, I am...

I'm with Robyn - I LOVE your nan's skirt...she looks like such a lovely lady...

I'm glad you're getting the chair sorted...

Rowan said...

I love looking at old photos - other peoples as well as my own:) That's a lovely one of your dad. I'm glad that you've sorted out some one to go and get the things from your nan's flat. I've only just caught up with your posts so had missed that. Getting your nan's chair is really important, it's a connection with her and you will think of her every time you use it. I have my gran's bureau and a couple of pieces of furniture from my childhood home and they matter more to me than any other furniture that we have.

laoi gaul~williams said...

thank you all! mel, i am glad you ove Evangelines baskets~its just so perfect. luckily we have a little bike sales/hire shop five minutes walk away and they have a pile of baskets tucked away in a corner.

All things share the same breath~the beast, the tree, the man, the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports.



Chief Seattle






Johney Gaul~1915

Johney Gaul~1915
1890-17 september 1918~France