~heatwave~

this heatwave we are experiencing is really getting the better of me at the moment

the heat seems to be relentless and making even the smallest thing difficult to do~as a result i have not had the urge to even turn on my laptop.

all i have been doing, or so it seems, has been to mop my brow almost continuously and have lots of cold wash downs with a flannel.

its also been making me grumpy and all i have wanted to do has been read in a cool, dark room...although the rooms have not been cool at all!

we did have the most explosive thunderstorm just over a week ago~the kind of storm i have nver witnessed in my whole life. the thunder and lightning was right above the village and there was no gap between any of the thunder or lightning. we just had continual noise and light and finally our power went out until the next morning.

it did not however make things any cooler-it just became hotter...and hotter.

two days ago we had a small, daytime summer storm and today it is cloudy and hot~so we are both hoping for some cooling rain.

***

i have had to start to get organised for the new forest fairy festival which is now only two weeks away~this morning i was packing up some of my hand blended incense and ordering some of the resins i am growing low on.

***

little merlin is now very at home with us and while magpie accepted him quite quickly it has taken leveret a lot longer, but she is slowly getting there and i hope she will have settled down well enough over the next six weeks to enable me to go to busfest with swampy. in 15 years i have only missed it once and this year i want to go mainly  to have 8 whole days camped up in 'lilith'!

swampy has had some small minor repairs to make to her over the last few days and he has overhauled the breaking system with all new parts so it is nice and safe when on the road. we have been able to source a garage in the next village to store her and all our assorted camping equipment. 

luckily we are camping for two nights at the fairy festival so at least i will get in 'two sleeps' for now and keep my fingers crossed for cat-harmony in september!

***

~a short break~

 

i have had a bit of an enforced break from blogging.

 

the first thing that caused me a break was the arrival of a new member of our family...

 

 

meet Merlin~the nephew (yes really!) of Magpie and Leveret.

 

 

and now i would like to introduce you to

 

Lilith

 

she is a French 1980 Rapido Export folding caravan!

 

from trailer to this!



funky dinette...i love the word dinette



teeny kitchen



sofa converts into our bed



tea delivery hatch!

 

loo/storage

 

at our recent Moongazy gathering we were introduced to our friends folding caravan and fell in love immediately. it was the same as this, the largest of the rapido folding caravans that had a teeny kitchen, dinette that converts to a bed, a sofa that also converts into a bed and a little loo/storage/changing room with all kinds of funky little shelves and cupboards that all pack away into a trailer.

we were particularly taken with the serving hatch between the kitchen and dinette...swampy is very taken with the idea of being passed mugs of tea and bacon sandwiches through it!

 

we had not intended on getting one until the autumn but ones of this size are like hens teeth and when this one came up for sale only a couple of hours drive away we could not let it pass us by.

we collected it last Friday and since then it has been sitting on my mums drive way and we pop round every other day to practice putting her up (its very easy) and clean and sit and think ahead to our first trip away.

tomorrow i shall go and take off the cushion covers and wash, today a lovely vintage throw we bought from a certain auction site arrived to go on the sofa.

 

later this year our beloved pretty pagan will be going up for sale and we shall buy a smaller van to convert into a 'day van'.

 

i have also been looking at stickers on our friends website with which to decorate her~we have agreed that i can sort Lilith and swampy will have the day van to 'pimp'

 

our first trip away will be one night when we go to the new forest fairy festival in the guise as the wylde apothecary in august and for me it cannot come soon enough!

 

 

 



~spoons & swimming~

 

well another long hiatus from yours truly!

 

i have no excuse other than that i become easily distracted and that recently i have only been able to do one 'big thing' daily before becoming so tired and sore.

 

let me explain...you all know by now the spoon theory, well i can only do one big thing or a couple of smaller things daily and some very minor 'pottering' before my spoons are seriously depleted and i need to re-charge and gain those lost spoons back.

 

we do our shopping once a week, although it wears me out i go and enjoy it because its one of the very few times i get out on a regular week. on shopping days i do shopping and that's it~i even plan a very simple dinner that day because i know that  wont be able to manage anything more than soup or a sandwich.

 

the thing is that as well as physically exhausted i become mentally exhausted as well which means that even coming onto my laptop, browsing the web and blogging is too much.

 

all of the aural and visual stimulation to me is totally overwhelming and exhausting.

 

it has taken me a long time to get over the moongazy gathering, then i had the excitement of seeing the moulettes and seth...

 

 

 

then last week we went to stonehenge with cor gawr for the midsummer sunrise which meant i was eating breakfast at 1am, after staying up to watch the full 'super' moon rise from my garden, and we were waiting to be let into the car park at stonehenge at 3am.

 

 

 

we met our friends taz, kit and mrb there and after, although sadly taz had to leave earlier, we sat in pretty pagan and warmed up with mugs of good hot tea and kits date and ginger cake.

 

so although it was amazing it was something else that used all of my spoons.

 

so i have been trying to re-stock those spoons...however my mind is in total overdrive right now with lots of craft ideas constantly spinning around, waking me in the night, plus i have to get enough wylde apothecary stock ready for the fairy festival next month.

 

so much to do and so many ideas with so little time!!!

 

*****

 

swampy and i have finally started swimming (which of course uses spoons!)

i am a real water baby and love being in water, be it indoor pool, sea, rivers and so even the aches and pains can be pushed aside for a little while. luckily there is little mental stimulation being in a pool, i just love swimming up and down at my own sweet pace.

although swampy is finding it somewhat of a struggle and he is not a good a swimmer as i am i get that 'competition' vibe emanating from him. he is convinced that for my 28 lengths he did 14 i know that at one point i was doing more than two lengths to his one, although of course  wont tell him that!

 

****

 

well now i shall make a start in popping by you all to see what you have been up to...it could take me a few days!



~sun & inspiration~

 

 

i think the sunshine has put my creative spirit into overdrive right now

 

i am brimming with new ideas for the wylde apothecary and have a busy couple of month ahead because in august i will be selling my wares at the

new forest fairy festival

 

i am very excited about this and swampy will of course be joining me as chief money-taker while i chat, create on the spot and generally enjoy myself. we are getting into the spirit of the festival by decorating our gazebo with ivy and willow fronds, fairy lights etc and of course we will be dressed for the event (i cannot wait to post the pictures!)

i know swampy is worried about how i will be over the two days but i intend to rest up the few days leading up to it.

i am sure it will be fine.

so if any of you out there happen to be in the new forest in august please come and see me!

 

***

 

thank you all for your comments regarding my last post.

our garden is quite small, although not as small as some (i have in mind the tiny garden i had in one of my old homes...weeny)

its 31ft/9m+ by 18ft/5m+...the plus allows for the extra inches.

as our house is L shaped the nook end is 4ft narrower.

 

we are lucky that these little houses were built in the early 70's when gardens were still a decent size...my mums house was built in the 20's and her garden is huge...a good few meters wider and about four-five times longer...and keeps me supplied with wood for my cauldron.

 

but we consider ourselves very lucky to live here with a lovely little house and garden and lovely neighbours.

 

***

 

i have yet to make any journeys to find out more about what i feel is the guardian spirit of our home.

i have found on my long spiritual journey if i try to force anything it just will not 'happen'.

i generally find myself experiencing a 'pull' to do a reading, travel on a spiritual journey...so i am waiting for that pull...