Unity

It's an exciting time for me.  As they say, as one door closes another opens.  The last two years have been disruptive and upsetting to me and I've had to say 'goodbye' to some people and situations.  I've had my heart broken, been disrespected and generally treated like dirt.  It's been a major learning curve but I feel stronger and have made some super friends because of it.  Who says the Universe doesn't have a plan?  I don't think I'll be trusting other human beings anytime soon but who knows what the future holds?  I feel even more convinced that I'm doing what I was born to do and have helped quite a few people to understand themselves a bit more.  However, the excitement I was talking about is regarding my chosen path.  I have been approached to unite my Clan's energy with a major Order in support of their causes.  I can't say anymore about it suffice to say it is an exciting time....new friends, new beginnings and confirmed friendships.  Onwards and upwards.  And, to add to it, I have my 'sight' back.  It disappeared for a while but I guess I needed to be blind to reconnect with the physical world.  Now I can see more clearly than I have done for a couple of years. :)

That's all my news for a while.

Love and Light
Seren /|\

Alban Elfed

It's nearly time to celebrate Alban Elfed/Mabon.  The second harvest is almost upon us and I give thanks to Mother Nature for her abundance at this time.  The weather in Britain hasn't been particulary kind to our growers.  The fields of corn are looking pretty poor compared to last years crop so I guess food prices are going to soar this year.  I personally didn't grow anything in my little garden mainly due to health problems.  I do have some herbs I can harvest though.

I love the smell of Autumn, the freshness of the air and it's special fragrance.  T'is the twilight of the year as the wheel turns ever steadily towards Samhain, when the circle will be complete.

May you all never go hungry or thirsty.  So mote it be!  /|\

Olympics

What can I say...the London 2012 Olympics has been absolutely fabulous.  I've been glued to the telly for the last 2 weeks and have laughed, cheered and cried along with all the athletes.  I can't congratulate Team GB enough for making the whole nation proud to be British.  I haven't felt that way for a very long time.  I don't normally get involved in politics but as a country we have had to bail out so many other countries while going through recession and nearing bankruptcy ourselves.  Why do other countries demand that we owe them anything?  The Empire was broken down a very long time ago and independence given to all those nations.  I don't mind supporting them if they are prepared to support us when needed but most of them don't.  They take and take and take but when we need their help they 'forget' everything we've done for them.  Talk about being used!  However, I'm going off track...the Olympics has, hopefully, shown the world how friendly, compassionate and fair minded the British people are.  We have cheered on every single Olympian regardless of nationality and hopefully given them some great memories of their time in our country.

So, I can say that today, it truly is great to be British. :-)

ps. Yes, I know I had a downer on the whole Olympic thing because of the expense when we can't even feed and house our own children...silly me! ;)

Lughnasadh

Hail and Welcome One and All,
I would like to welcome any new readers of my blog and also to wish you all the happiest of Lughnasadh/Lammas blessings.  The ritual has been written and will be performed tonight in the Clan's home.  The weather isn't at all ideal outside so unfortunately this calls for an indoors ritual.  I'm really looking forward to it.  So all it needs is for me to hope your festivities are joyous and that your cupboards will always be full of food at the time of this first harvest.  Beannacht Gail - in the Peace of the Grove, Seren Meadow, Clan Of The Wolf Moon  /|\

Olympia

There has been a lot of hype recently about the Olympic torch coming to my home town but I've let it all just float over my head.  As a country in deep financial difficulty I've struggled with my patriotism as far as the Olympics is concerned.  All I can say is that I hope we generate a larger income than we have spent in expenditure towards the whole 'circus'.

Talking about the Olympics....the torch arrived in my hometown today (Portsmouth, Hampshire)....I knew it was happening but didn't think much about it.  However, I think 90% of my local friends were out in force to see it happen.  I'm glad they all had a great time, I just find the whole thing boring.  I'm dreading the opening ceremony.  Is Britain going to be the butt of the world's jokes for the foreseeable future?

On the upside of it all I wish all our athletes the very best of luck and hope they win us a record amount of gold medals.  :-)

Part-time Blogger, that's me!

It's been a while since I posted anything and I apologise.  I've had health issues and added to that having to cope with all the symptons of Cosmic changes, I just haven't had the energy to keep up with the blogs.

I find it amazing how the Cosmos works sometimes, forcing you to do their bidding when you cling to what you know instead of moving forward in your life.  I can definitely say that they have maneuvered me into (or out of, depending on how you look at it) a situation.

It's very hard to let go of the past when you've been using it as a crutch.  However, I've discovered I CAN walk without that crutch and have moved on with my life.

As a consequence of some of the changes going on around me I decided to start my own Grove.  This was mainly to help my daughter practice ritual at her own convenience but we'll see how it progresses.  I'm quite happy being a Hedge Druid but still felt the need to have my own Grove for some reason.  Sooooo...I would like to introduce to you The Clan Of The Wolf Moon.  It's an hereditary Grove and closed to the general public.  For the time being I just want to keep it for myself and my eldest daughter who is also a Druid.  My younger daughters have agreed to support us when needed but they are atheist and don't want to be drawn into it completely.  I can understand that, they have to find their own paths to walk.

This is our Clan's logo!

Hopefully, I'll have written a dedication ritual in time for Lughnasadh so we can actually say it's an up and running Grove.  We're still members of another Grove, so we can still practice ritual in a group circle.  So many Cosmic changes are happening, it's quite an exciting time. :)

Still Weaving!

Hi all,  I thought I'd give you an update on what I've been up to.  Firstly I warped the 4 shaft table loom up .... wrongly!  And it took me a few days to sort everything out so it weaves smoothly.  And that's when I accidently discovered why I wasn't getting a big enough shed to push the shuttle through.  Apparently I should have put the apron over the front bar.  While I was rearranging the threads that I had sleyed the reed with I put the apron over the front bar and as I then sleyed the reed I tied smaller bunches of threads to the apron.  When I had finished I discovered that now the thread was tied to the apron, I couldn't put the apron under the bar.  So I thought, what harm could it do?  And the answer?  No harm at all :)  As it turns out having the front threads high over the bar actually creates a larger shed....woohoo :) ... one happy weaver!

As I think I've mentioned before, I am totally self taught and this loom didn't come with any instructions whatsoever.  I have almost finished weaving my piece on it.  However, it hasn't all be plain sailing.  I started off making a red cushion cover but ran out of thread 20 inches into the project, so now I have a red and white cushion cover with some red fabric to make something else with, or to incorporate into the cushion covers I'm making.  I refuse to waste any fabric that I've laboured over for days....weeks.... ;-)

While I have been weaving on the table loom during the day, I drew up a pattern to weave on my Inkle loom.  It was a proper 'inkle' pattern (I usually do card weaving!) and it only took me a couple of days to warp and weave it.  I'm very pleased with the result and will be incorporating the band on my cushion covers.  I can 100%, categorically say, that there will be no other cushion covers like mine in the whole world because I have designed and woven them myself from start to finish (I didn't spin the wool though...not this time anyway!).  So, watch this space for photos ... coming soon!

Also, I had an unusual experience while shopping the other day.  I went into the local haberdashery and bought 1.5 metres of black leather thonging to tie the connecting rod to the foot peddle on my loom.  Yes, I know I didn't need that much but I wanted to make sure I had some replacement if it broke.  Opposite the sewing shop a Sue Ryder charity shop had opened up so I went in for a mooch around (you never know what treasures they have lurking in the corners!) and found a leather belt that was designed with the leather cut into long thin strips, like thonging.  I can get 20 one metre thongs out of it...woohoo!  All for £1.25...bargain!  I've looked online for leather but it's so expensive, even for offcuts.

It wasn't much of an update but I've been busy with lots of things just lately.

Thanks for reading....byeeeeee! :)