see ya L plates...

Yep black betty nand I passed the test for Ps over the weekend! Yah! Just 2 weeks before my L plates ran out. Riding back through the hills I was struck, as one is in moments of awareness, at the geographical beauty Im surrounded by up here. Such variety too. So now im not studying for Ps homework I can relax into riding a bit more and explore the area. GPS aint much use on a bike, but theres a north coast street directory that advertises as 'going everywhere you GPS cant'. Sounds good to me! Betty goes off the bituman. Cant see that itll be a problem for her with her jacked up exhaust pipe and fat tyres, infact Ive tested over some potholes and shes pretty damn stable.

Its my first experience of chuck out piling round these parts at the moment. At first I was disappointed but then came the cane sofa for out in the garage space, then clean foam to make cushions for it, the cow hide rug, the round table that folds away (minus the knights of), a journal of handcrafted paper, those new ug boots, some pots for green folks, so Im feeling a bit more in my scavenging element.

Bloody bush turkeys got into my garden last night and uprooted my small but cherished seedlings that Ive been nurturing since I got here, grown from seed. Not impressed, theyd better watch out if i catch em at it again. Always did think they looked like good eating....

Woman o the Woods...

'A moss-woman!' the haymakers cry,

And over the fields in terror they fly.

She is loosely clad from neck to foot

In a mantle of Moss from the Maples root,

And like Lichen grey on its stem that grows

Is the hair that over her mantle flows.
Her skin, like the Maple-rind, is hard,
Brown and ridgey, and furrowed and scarred;

And each feature flat, like the bark we see,

Where a bough has been lopped from the bole of a tree,

When the newer bark has crept healingly round,

And laps o'er the edge of the open wound;

Her knotty, root like feet are bare,

And her height is an ell from heel to hair,"

from The Fairy Family as quoted in The Lore of the Forest by George Allen, 1928.

hong kong dragon for jo....

Cailleach bheur....

Caileach bheur is a blue faced Celtic Crone godess usually associated with winter. It was said if she was seen gathering much wood we were in for a long cold winter. She is also associated with wolves, deer and looking after wild animals.  Each spring tales speak of her either turning to stone until it is her time again, or becoming  a young spring like maiden. After a european winter in crone form id be wanting some spring energy too, all that cold and joints.

To me she she sits by an oracular fire, tending it through the dark of the years turning wheel. Prone to having a wolf in for a bowl of her everbrewing stew when the hunt is low. 

or this version...

or maybe this logo design....

a logo for opalessence.....

Ocean washed heart stones....

Today was such a georgeous day I couldnt be inside, so pulled the ol flocati rug out onto verandah and gathered supplies. Garage saling this morning i scored a heap of beads so got them, last night I was experimenting with binding up sea washed heart stones I found at the beach with copper wire so got them, plus several browsing books and a pot o tea. The end results, besides having a lovely day, were these heart stone amulets, which, just in case your interested, are for sale. the copper wire may look flimsy but shes sturdy as a 1950s bra!

Shrine to plant medicine...

So a mate offered me this 1930s cupboard that had been under her house, a little mouldy and dusty but nothing that a eucalyptus and detergent wash couldnt clean up. I decided to make it our plant medicine cupboard, a shrine to things herbal.  I do believe that by making spaces for what we honour and love theres an energy about of drawing these things into our lives. I love making salves, tinctures, elixirs and brews and it lets the plants know that I value their giveaways. Can be closed up n away too, like those curiousity cabinets folks made in victorian times filled with, well curious stuff. Often bones, talismans, amulets, taxidermy or just plain ol exotic things from far away places. Sitting ontop are all my gathering baskets, sadly unused of late. Also my dried herb ( aka coffee) grinder that I got for a couple of bucks, which was pretty grotty, but cleaned up, sanded back and oiled came up a dream....

I sorted through my library, no mean feat, and pulled out my herbology and growing books and put them in shelves next to the cupboard. All in all my altar to plant medicine is pretty well rounded I reckon! Hopefully itll send out clear vibes to healing plants that i want to work, play n make medicines with em. Next task is to design a logo to put on labels so stuff matches rather than being higglty pigglty scraps of paper.

witchy cottage...