When the Creative Spirit goes AWOL

Sometimes my ‘Creative Spirit’ goes AWOL. It’s at times like these when I get out some blank canvases and just paint. I paint with no set theme or idea in mind and just see what happens. Then, I have a stack of pre prepared canvases ready for when the Creative Spirit returns. Sometimes this is just a quotation that I feel I need to write and the canvas is returned once again to it’s resting place. It’s started but nowhere near complete.

After sometime, something will spark an idea off in me and off I go. I thought I would share the before and after pictures with you. I’m sure people think that we, as calligraphers, labour and stare at canvases for hours on end, or have a repertoire of ideas just ready to commit to the substrate, but I’m sure there are many like me who have to sit and wait patiently for the idea to come. Once it has arrived however we can do it to death… until once again we return to the resting stage. I’m sure this is to stop us going mad and keep things fresh and appealing both to ourselves and our clients.

DREAMS CANVAS

Size: 16" x 20"

Acrylic, Ink and Paper on canves

Retail: £50

Detail

More Detail

Below: SPIRIT CANVAS

Size: 11.5" x 32"

Acrylic, Ink and Paper on canves
Retail: £60

Detail

I certainly don’t make a fortune out of my work, and more or less live hand to mouth. I sell my work for far less than I should, but I LOVE my work and would rather someone have the pleasure of it than have it sat around gathering dust. I know at least, if someone buys my work, the very fact that someone likes and appreciates that little part of me that goes with it, is worth far more than any financial recompense. Most calligraphers I know do not charge enough or get reimbursed for all there hard work… not in the creating of the ‘thing’ but in the many hours, weeks and years it takes to become a good calligrapher or lettering artist.During a discussion once, we agreed we could become a brain surgeon quicker than we can become a calligrapher….but it would be half as much fun!

Charge of the Goddess

Who Am I?Well, who I am isn’t the work I do…but it forms a very large part of me. I love my work and there’s not many who can say that in life. I can combine my spiritual beliefs with my creativity. I cannot draw or paint and even less so since I lost my centre vision and I’ve had to learn to adapt my work around my disability rather than my ability.
A lot of my work is small, pin money jobs and nothing that I can really get my teeth into and exercise my talents that took me years to perfect and that I worked so very hard at attaining. I loved doing really large pieces which didn’t have the constraints of size or clients briefs to follow.

This latest piece is for friends of ours that we are going to stay with. It is very special to them and on a personal level very special to me too. Perhaps that’s why I enjoyed doing it so much.
The background is Pastel, with spatters of paint. The lettering is Gouache and I’ve added silver foil and pen to emphasise the spirit of the moon.The letters are ‘contemporary’ rather than traditional and the words are magical! And VERY powerful.

The size is approximately 21” x 27”

Title: Charge of the Goddess

by Doreen Valiente There are many variations to The Charge of the Goddess and it has been plagiarised any times. It is still uncertain ‘who’ the original writer is.The version I have written has been changed slightly from the version below. Whoever wrote it, whatever version…

it’s still a powerful piece of writing.

Please feel free to email me

with any questions/comments you may have.

Charge of the Goddess by Doreen Valiente

Listen to the words of the Great Mother; she who of old was also called among men Artemis, Astarte, Athene, Dione, Melusine, Aphrodite, Cerridwen, Dana, Arianrhod, Isis, Brid, and by many other names.Whenever ye have need of any thing, once in the month, and better it be when the Moon is full, then shall ye assemble in some secret place and adore the spirit of me, who am Queen of all Witches. There shall ye assemble, ye who are fain to learn all sorcery, yet have not won its deepest secrets; to these will I teach things that are yet unknown. And ye shall be free from slavery; and as a sign that ye be really free, ye shall be naked in your rites; and ye shall dance, sing, feast, make music and love, all in my praise. For mine is the ecstacy of the spirit, and mine also is joy on earth; for my law is love unto all beings. Keep pure your highest ideal; strive ever towards it; let naught stop you or turn you aside. For mine is the secret door which opens upon the Land of Youth, and mine is the cup of the wine of life, and the Cauldron of Cerridwen, which is the Holy Grail of immortality. I am the gracious Goddess, who gives the gift of joy unto the heart of man. Upon Earth, I give the knowledge of the spirit eternal; and beyond death, I give peace, and freedom, and reunion with those who have gone before. Nor do I demand sacrifice; for behold, I am the Mother of all living, and my love is poured out upon the Earth.Hear ye the words of the Star Goddess; she in the dust of whose feet are the hosts of heaven, and whose body encircles the universe.I who am the beauty of the green Earth, and the white Moon among the stars, and the mystery of the waters, and the desire of the heart of man, call unto thy soul. Arise, and come unto me. For I am the soul of Nature, who gives life to the universe. From me all things proceed, and unto me all things must return; and before my face, beloved of Gods and of men, let thine innermost divine self be enfolded in the rapture of the infinite. Let my worship be within the heart that rejoiceth; for behold all acts of love and pleasure are my rituals. And therefore let there be beauty and strength, power and compassion, honour and humility, mirth and reverence within you. And thou who thinkest to seek for me, know thy seeking and yearning shall avail thee not, unless thou knowest the mystery; that if that which thou seekest thou findest not within thee, then thou shalt never find it without thee. For behold, I have been with thee from the beginning; and I am that which is attained at the end of desire.

Personalised and Commissioned Wedding Album

I've just finished a Wedding Album to match some Wedding Invitations I did for an August Wedding. the outside is Japanese paper, the inside is Cannaletto. 30 pages and 40cm wide by 30cm in depth.

Outside Detail
Inside calligraphy inscription
In Burgundy Gouache - An absolute pain in the neck
as any calligrapher will tell you -
RED smudges wonderfully when you rub out the lines!
Probably my least favourite colour to write with!
And below are 2 cards for people at the camps. One is 50 and the other is 60. Just looks like an ordinary concertina card.....
Until you open it out flat and find the message!
This has to be taken with us this weekend to get it signed by as many people as possible.

English...no wonder we're confused!

This came from ma posting from a fellow Cyberscribe.... see what you think....

Source - indeterminable ... authorship - unknownYou think English is easy??? I didn't.
1) The bandage was wound around the wound
.2) The farm was used to produce produce .
3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
4) We must polish the Polish furniture.
5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time topresent the present
.8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum
.9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10) I did not object to the object.
11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row .
13) They were too close to the door to close it.
14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
18) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
19) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
20) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

Another Version of the one below

It's a friends 69th birthday and she so much loves the words to this Chief Seattle Statement, that I'm doing part of it as her birthday present. As Pagans I think we can really identify with the words and their sentiment.

She's already had her birthday cake, delivered by a tattooed pixie wearing a Borat outfit, I have a picture of this happening, but my life wouldn't be worth living if I put it out here in Cyberspace... but there again, funds are low, so perhaps I could be persuaded.

Anyway, I will take pieces from this version which happens to by my,

My Preferred version

How can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us.
If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them?

Every part of this earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clearing and humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people. The sap which courses through the trees carries the memories of the red man.
The white man's dead forget the country of their birth when they go walk among the stars. Our dead never forget this beautiful earth, for it is the mother of the red man. We are part of the earth and it is part of us. The perfumed flowers are our sisters; the deer, the horse, the great eagle, these are our brothers. The rocky crests, the juices in the meadows, the body heat of the pony, and man - all belong to the same family.

So, when the Great Chief in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land, he asks much of us.
This shining water that moves in the streams and rivers is not just water but the blood of our ancestors. If we sell you land, you must remember that it is sacred, and you must teach your children that it is sacred and that each ghostly reflection in the clear water of the lakes tells us events and memories in the life of my people. The water's murmur is the voice of my father's father.

The rivers are our brothers, they quench our thirst. The rivers carry our canoes, and feed our children. If we sell you our land, you must remember to teach your children that the rivers are our brothers, and yours, and you must henceforth give the rivers the kindness you would give any brother.

We know that the white man does not understand our ways. One portion of land is the same to him as the next, for he is a stranger who comes in the night and takes from the land whatever he needs. The earth is not his brother, but his enemy, and when he has conquered it, he moves on. He leaves his fathers' graves behind and he does not care. His fathers' graves and his children's birthright are forgotten. He treats his mother, the earth, and his brother, the sky as things to be bought, plundered, sold like sheep or bright beads. His appetite will devour the earth and leave behind only desert.

The air is precious to the red man, for all things share the same breath - the beast, the man, they all share the same breath. The white man does not seem to notice the air he breathes. Like a man dying for many days, he is numb to the stench. But we if sell you our land, you must remember that the air is precious to us, that the air shares its spirit with all life it supports. The wind that gave our grandfather his first breath also receives his last sigh. And if we sell you our land, you must keep it apart and sacred as a place where even the white man can go to taste the wind that is sweetened by the meadow's flowers.

We will consider your offer to buy our land. If we decide to accept, I will make one condition: the white man must treat the beasts of this land as his brothers.
What is man without the beasts? If the beasts were gone, men would die from a great loneliness of spirit. For whatever happens to the beasts, soon happens to man. All things are connected.

Teach your children what we have taught our children -- that the earth is our mother. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. If men spit upon the ground, they spit upon themselves.

Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.

Even the white man whose God walks and talks with him as friend to friend, cannot be exempt from common destiny. We may be brothers after all. We shall see. One thing we know, which the white man may one day discover, our God is the same God. You may think now that you own Him as you wish to own our land, but you cannot. He is the God of man, and His compassion is equal for the red man and the white. This hearth is precious to Him and to harm the earth is to heap contempt on its Creator. The whites, too, shall pass; perhaps sooner than all other tribes. Contaminate your bed and you will on night suffocate in your own waste.

Attributed to Chief Sealth (Chief Seattle) c. 1786-1866

Chief Seattle Statement

The origin of the following is unknown. Many people have laid claim to it’s formation and many poets have had it attributed to them. What follows is a rather longer version of the presumed original. I have however, picked bits from this letter and used it many, many times. Whoever the original writer, whatever the original words makes no difference. It is a very powerful piece of writing and I want to share it with you.

"Man did not weave the web of life -

he is merely a strand in it.

Whatever he does to the web,

he does to himself."

Chief Seattle, 1854.

From the The Irish Press of Friday June 4th, 1976 ......

In 1854, "The Great White Chief" in Washington made an offer for a large area of Indian land and promised a "reservation" for the Indian people.
Chief Seattle's reply, published here in full, to mark World Environment Day tomorrow, has been described as one of the most beautiful and profound statements on the environment ever made:

How can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land?The idea is strange to us.If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water,how can you buy them?Every part of the Earth is sacred to my people.Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clear and humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people.The sap which courses through the trees carries the memory and experience of my people. The sap which courses through the trees carries the memories of the red man.

The white man's dead forget the country of their birth when they go to walk among the stars.Our dead never forget this beautiful Earth, for it is the mother of the red man.We are part of the Earth and it is part of us. The perfumed flowers are our sisters, the deer, the horse, the great eagle, these are our brothers.The rocky crests, the juices in the meadows, the body heat of the pony, and the man, all belong to the same family.

So, when the Great Chief in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land, he asks much of us. The Great White Chief sends word he will reserve us a place so that we can live comfortably to ourselves.He will be our father and we will be his children. So we will consider your offer to buy land.But it will not be easy.For this land is sacred to us.
This shining water that moves in streams and rivers is not just water but the blood of our ancestors.If we sell you land, you must remember that it is sacred blood of our ancestors. If we sell you land, you must remember that it is sacred, and you must teach your children that it is sacred and that each ghostly reflection in the clear water of the lakes tells of events in the life of my people. The waters murmur is the voice of my father's father.
The rivers of our brothers they quench our thirst. The rivers carry our canoes and feed our children. If we sell you our land, you must remember to teach your children that the rivers are our brothers, and yours, and you must henceforth give the rivers the kindness that you would give my brother.We know that the white man does not understand our ways.One portion of land is the same to him as the next, for he is a stranger who comes in the night and takes from the land whatever he needs.The Earth is not his brother, but his enemy and when he has conquered it, he moves on.He leaves his father's graves behind, and he does not care.He kidnaps the Earth from his children, and he does not care.

BIRTHRIGHT
His father's grave, and his children's birthright are forgotten. He treats his mother, the Earth, and his brother, the same, as things to be bought, plundered, sold like sheep or bright beads.His appetite will devour the Earth and leave behind only a desert.
I do not know. Our ways are different from yours ways. The sight of your cities pains the eyes of the red man. But perhaps it is because the red man is a savage and does not understand.
There is no quiet place in the white man's cities. No place to hear the unfurling of leaves in spring, or the rustle of an insect's wings. But perhaps it is because I am a savage and do not understand. The clatter only seems to insult the ears. And what is there to life if a man cannot hear the lonely cry of a whippoorwill or the arguments of the frogs around a pond at night.I am a red man and do not understand. The Indian prefers the soft sound of the wind darting over the face of the pond, and the smell of the wind itself, cleansed by a midday rain, or scented with the pine.

PRECIOUS
The air is precious to the red man, for all things share the same breath - the beast, the tree, the man, they all share the same breath.The white man does not seem to notice the air he breathes. Like a man dying for many days, he is numb to the stench. But if we sell you our land, you must remember that the air is precious to us, that the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports. The wind that gave our grandfather his first breath also receives his last sigh.And if we sell you our land, you must keep it apart and sacred, as a place where even the white man can go to taste the wind that is sweetened by the meadow's flowers.
So we will consider your offer to buy our land. If we decide to accept, I will make one condition - the white man must treat the beasts of this land as his brothers.
I am a savage and do not understand any other way. I have seen a thousand rotting buffaloes on the prairie, left by the white man who shot them from a passing train. I am a savage and do not understand how the smoking iron horse can be made more important than the buffalo that we kill only to stay alive.
What is man without the beasts?If all the beasts were gone, man would die from a great loneliness of the spirit.For whatever happens to the beasts, soon happens to man.All things are connected.

RESPECT
You must teach your children that the ground beneath their feet is the ashes of our grandfathers.So that they will respect the land, tell your children that the Earth is rich with the lives of our kin. Teach your children what we have taught our children, that the Earth is our mother.Whatever befalls the Earth befalls the sons of the Earth. If men spit upon the ground, they spit upon themselves.
This we know - the Earth does not belong to man - man belongs to the Earth. This we know. All things are connected like the blood which unites one family.All things are connected.
Whatever befalls the Earth - befalls the sons of the Earth.Man did not weave the web of life - he is merely a strand in it.Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.
Even the white man, whose God walks and talks with him as friend to friend, cannot be exempt from the common destiny. We may be brothers after all.We shall see.One thing we know, which the white man may one day discover - Our God is the same God.You may think now that you own Him as you wish to own our land, but you cannot. He is the God of man, and His compassion is equal for red man and the white. The Earth is precious to Him, and to harm the Earth is to heap contempt on its creator. The whites too shall pass, perhaps sooner than all other tribes.
But in your perishing you will shine brightly, fired by the strength of the God who brought you to this land and for some special purpose gave you dominion over this land and over the red man.That destiny is a mystery to us, for we do not understand when the buffalo are slaughtered, the wild horses tamed, the secret corners of the forest heavy with scent of many men, and the view of the ripe hills blotted by talking wires.Where is the thicket? Gone. Where is the Eagle? Gone. The end of living and the beginning of survival.

Quotation

No one can tell whether they are richer or poor

by turning to their ledger.

It is the heart that makes a person rich.

One is rich according to what one is,

not according to what one has.

Henry Ward Beecher

Quotation

I want you to remember

the guiding principles of my life.

You can be what you want to be,

if you believe in yourself

and work hard,

because anything,

and I'm telling you anything,

is possible.

Kirby Puckett

Who I am Isn't What I do.... but it comes close!

Who Am I?Well, who I am isn’t the work I do…but it forms a very large part of me. I love my work and there’s not many who can say that in life. I can combine my spiritual beliefs with my creativity. I cannot draw or paint and even less so since I lost my centre vision and I’ve had to learn to adapt my work around my disability rather than my ability.

A lot of my work is small, pin money jobs and nothing that I can really get my teeth into and exercise my talents that took me years to perfect and that I worked so very hard at attaining. I loved doing really large pieces which didn’t have the constraints of size or clients briefs to follow.

This latest piece is for friends of ours that we are going to stay with. It is very special to them and on a personal level very special to me too. Perhaps that’s why I enjoyed doing it so much.

The background is Pastel, with spatters of paint. The lettering is Gouache and I’ve added silver foil and pen to emphasise the spirit of the moon.
The letters are ‘contemporary’ rather than traditional and the words are magical! And VERY powerful.
The size is approximately 21” x 27”

Title: Charge of the Goddess by Doreen Valiente There are many variations to The Charge of the Goddess and it has been plagiarised any times. It is still uncertain ‘who’ the original writer is.The version I have written has been changed slightly from the version below. Whoever wrote it, whatever version…it’s still a powerful piece of writing.

Please feel free to email me with any questions/comments you may have.


Charge of the Goddess by Doreen Valiente Listen to the words of the Great Mother; she who of old was also called among men Artemis, Astarte, Athene, Dione, Melusine, Aphrodite, Cerridwen, Dana, Arianrhod, Isis, Brid, and by many other names.
Whenever ye have need of any thing, once in the month, and better it be when the Moon is full, then shall ye assemble in some secret place and adore the spirit of me, who am Queen of all Witches. There shall ye assemble, ye who are fain to learn all sorcery, yet have not won its deepest secrets; to these will I teach things that are yet unknown. And ye shall be free from slavery; and as a sign that ye be really free, ye shall be naked in your rites; and ye shall dance, sing, feast, make music and love, all in my praise. For mine is the ecstacy of the spirit, and mine also is joy on earth; for my law is love unto all beings. Keep pure your highest ideal; strive ever towards it; let naught stop you or turn you aside. For mine is the secret door which opens upon the Land of Youth, and mine is the cup of the wine of life, and the Cauldron of Cerridwen, which is the Holy Grail of immortality. I am the gracious Goddess, who gives the gift of joy unto the heart of man. Upon Earth, I give the knowledge of the spirit eternal; and beyond death, I give peace, and freedom, and reunion with those who have gone before. Nor do I demand sacrifice; for behold, I am the Mother of all living, and my love is poured out upon the Earth.
Hear ye the words of the Star Goddess; she in the dust of whose feet are the hosts of heaven, and whose body encircles the universe.I who am the beauty of the green Earth, and the white Moon among the stars, and the mystery of the waters, and the desire of the heart of man, call unto thy soul. Arise, and come unto me. For I am the soul of Nature, who gives life to the universe. From me all things proceed, and unto me all things must return; and before my face, beloved of Gods and of men, let thine innermost divine self be enfolded in the rapture of the infinite. Let my worship be within the heart that rejoiceth; for behold all acts of love and pleasure are my rituals. And therefore let there be beauty and strength, power and compassion, honour and humility, mirth and reverence within you. And thou who thinkest to seek for me, know thy seeking and yearning shall avail thee not, unless thou knowest the mystery; that if that which thou seekest thou findest not within thee, then thou shalt never find it without thee. For behold, I have been with thee from the beginning; and I am that which is attained at the end of desire.

Quotation

It is always with excitement

that I wake up in the morning

wondering what my intuition

will toss up to me,

like gifts from the sea.

I work with it and rely on it.

It’s my partner

.Dr. Jonas Salk

Climb The Mountains

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings.

Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees.

The winds will blow their own freshness into you...

while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.J

ohn Muir

We ALL make mistakes!

The importance of being human….ah yes…. We’ve all done it…some of us more than others…. Making big boo boo’s in life, one way or another…

I visited my sister this afternoon and we were looking of photos from when we were kids. We looked, we commented and we laughed… out of embarrassment I think! There were quite a few pictures there of my late husband and my son when he was really small. Now we must have been somewhere really special like a wedding or something, because he had, had his haircut, and he was the type of guy that was always going to get it cut ‘this weekend’ and the weeks dragged on. We took out a photo of my son stood next to his dad in practically matching shorts! I think they were called Bermuda shorts… but I could be wrong. Now there’s probably nothing really wrong with this (although there didn’t seem to be at the time!) but looking back you have to wonder…was my son ultra trendy at 6 years or did my husband think he was a trendy adult kid? He was after all 22 when Paul was born! Lol. Poor Ken, it’s ok laughing when someone’s not there to defend themselves. He did have a good sense of humour though and I’m sure he’ll be laughing too. Then I looked at my niece… she also likes purple hippy, dancing, floaty kind of dresses, with tie dye, ribbon and lace, she also wears stripy socks! AND I’m not just 22 years her senior! Hmmm… I wonder if I should start wearing slacks and crimplene. So can’t really take the Mickey out of my late husband really can I!

My brother had the most amazing hairdo, something like Duran Duran (very new romantics) lol. Quite bouffant if I say so myself.(SORRY LITTLE BRO' TO MOCK THE AFFLICTED IN HIS ABSENCE) I did try and persuade my lovely sister to lend me the photo so I could put it on my blog… knowing he reads it sometimes…. But she point blank refused. Well, it’s a good job there’s one decent, moralistic sibling out of the lots of us! Lol.
What was even more embarrassing was MY hair!
I have for years always kept it short, because of it’s texture and refusal to lie down, no matter how much gel and other sticky stuff I have clagged (Stokesley slang for slapped on – especially when referring to sticky stuff). Now I have always been under the impression that my style hasn’t changed, but something really stupid must have happened in the 80’s. I must have thought (in my higher wisdom) that I could get away with a brushed over from one side kind of look! … DEFINITELY NOT a good idea! I'm not sure WHO I was trying to be.... but it definitely DID NOT WORK! a lesson learnt me thinks!
Thank god she hasn’t got a blog! That’s all I can say. Funny thing is me and my friend Rachel were reminiscing only yesterday and
I'd like to think it was just me and a few of my older friends that were getting all nostalgic about the 80's but my son does too! Not sure what that's about!

Over on Philip Carr-Gomm’s Weblog I noticed that more than I can make a boo boo and this particular post will send you to a link I think you will enjoy.

Brightest Blessings,
Sue – The Purple Pixie who refuses to dress her age… no matter how much she looks it!

And a few faux pas that I have spotted over the last few weeks

This one was on a wall in Glastonbury

And this worried me a bit…being a pixie and all that! I only read it AFTER I had been the loo… good job I held on tight!

And this one…. You will either get it or not.

The Lodger

Phew! The studio has been a hive of activity. I’ve got lots of new stock made for the camp (thanks to Rachel working her fingers to the bone). I’ll photograph it within the next couple of days and add it to my blog.

Steve came to pick her up….and you know how you get that….Oh my god, just what I need right now feeling…. Well I had one of those moments! Steve knocked at the door and shouted… Sue, do you know you have a hedgehog out here?’ Oh…S**T! Just before camp….AGAIN! This always seems to happen just before Oakleaf, personally I think they get together and plan it in advance. Now anyone who has read my blog over the last couple of years knows that I have done B&B for many a hedgehog. I can’t quite remember how I became the local hedgehog fixit woman, but word soon got round! Now if you know nothing about hedgehogs let me tell you a story… (Sue puts Bardic hat on)….

First, you know a hedgehog is poorly if it’s out during the day. They prefer the cooler night air and as their vision is about as useless as mine, well they’re blind as bats! That’s why when your headlight hits them they are startled…. So am I when I see headlights while crossing the road!
Anyway, assuming you find hedgehog during the day, bring inside and feed CAT FOOD, not bread and milk this WILL kill them! Then feed water unless you have Goats milk. Goats milk is good, cows milk kills.
Ok assume the little monkey eats, take into bathroom and de flea with flea powder by placing the hedgehog in the bath. Do Not fill bath with water first, they cannot swim! The bath is merely to make sure the little sod can’t climb out! Dust with powder, stand well back and leave for half and hour.
Then as soon as possible after that feed cat worming granules and let them drink dehydration fluid obtainable from your local vet.
Experience will show whether the spikey one is actually ill, dehydrated or just pulling the wool over your eyes for a free meal, board and lodge. Please be warned, these thinkgs are not cheap to keep in B&B. If you want a pet got and get yourself a cat! For an adult hedgehog will eat the same amount of food as an adult cat. They chomp when the eat, they grind their teeth and above all they stink!
A sort of disinfectant crossed with an earthy kind of smell. Something to REALLY consider if you intend to overwinter them and keep them out of hibernation. This happened to me one year with the most ungreatful little madam that ever was. I reared her from a baby, then she was too small to hibernate, she escaped in the kitchen one Christmas which resulted in the whole kitchen having to be dismantled at 2.30am! My late husband was thrilled! Lol…. Then as it was a very late spring that year I had to keep her till May! She was called Spitz, because she spat! She spat at me, the dog and especially the cats, she hated everyone and saw it as her right that she was fed what and when she wanted. And although this blog entry may sound like I dislike them….. no it’s not true…they are lovely things really, and if you have one in the garden you are truly blessed, there’s no better way of keeping down the slugs so please look after it and make sure it stays.

Well, here she is....probably about 4 weeks old

I really thought this one had, had it. She lay on her side for a couple of hours after feeding and really thought that yet another one bites the dust. So, I put her outside in a box, went out an hour later….still in box….2 hours still in box on side….hmmmm….. just been out now… gone! I realise now she was just sleeping off the ¾ of a tin of cat food she had devoured!
By the way…. If you do rescue a hedgehog and it does die, take heart….. they really do have a high mortality rate and if you found it during the day, chances are it was ill anyway.
You must admit…. They’re a bit cute though :o)

Dreaming Is Dangerouse

If a little dreaming is dangerous,

the cure for it is not to dream less

but to dream more,

to dream all the time.

Marcel Proust

Holiness comes wrapped in the ordinary

We live in a world of theophanies.

Holiness comes wrapped in the ordinary.

There are burning bushes all around you.

Every tree is full of angels.

Hidden beauty is waiting in every crumb.

Life wants to lead you from crumbs to angels,

but this can happen

only if you are willing to unwrap the ordinary

by staying with it long enough

to harvest its treasure.

Macrina Wiederkehr

Dance, Sing, Drum

If you can walk,
You can dance,
If you can talk,
You can sing,
If you have a heartbeat
You can drum

Well, still nursing this most awful flu/cold virus. I was awake till 6am yesterday morning with the most annoying tickly cough. You know the one…. Your throat is sore and dry and no matter how much you cough there is no relief. My chest is clear so there’s no point in seeing a doctor…. It will just have to take it’s course.

For that reason I haven’t been to work today, the idea was that it would knock me for six and I would have to sleep at some point… but hey it’s now 8.30pm and no sign of tiredness yet.

As you gather by my last post I’ve now started the OBOD/Druid course again and as happened last time… my creativity has gone crazy! And not only that…. The Muse seems to have reared her hear again. My inspirational head is back on it’s shoulders and with only 2 weeks to go till Oakleaf (YEAH!), it couldn’t have some at a better time. Bring it on!

It’s amazing what inspiration we can draw and from what source as long as we leave or hearts and minds wide open for it to enter in, and I think that the connections we can make (as long as we are open to these too) can be amazing!

When you enrol on the Druid Course you are assigned a tutor, This tutor is assigned by chance. I wrote my letter of introduction the other day and she’s got back to me today and told me a bit about herself too. Well, don’t want to go through another’s personal circumstances but it’s amazing the synchronicity! I’m sure I will get on amazingly well with her.

It’s wonderful what can amuse, inspire, move or lift us if only we are open and receptive to it. Only with an open mind and heart can we experience joy, love, peace and pleasure…. The ‘feel good’ factors in life!

I find it difficult to sit still. So because I was at home today…. The cleaning had to be done!
I had no targets, no pressure and no rush… just thought I would do as much as I could between rests. I am feeling surprisingly at peace with myself, especially since I did the Druid Sacred Grove meditation and got some quite unexpected insights (so you can teach an old dog new tricks! – lol).
Anyway, I digress, where was I? Oh yes, I decided to put on some music, Parallel Dreams by Loreena McKennitt as it happens. One of the songs ( you can listen to a sample here) on there was a song that we all jammed to only a couple of weeks ago in the Tipi at The Rollrights at Summer Solstice. I think most of us there had the most uplifting and spiritual experience we had ever had while drumming.
I took my djembe out, the cats scarped and I played along, again and again and again.
I must admit that things are ok done alone… but things done with others is far better…. But hey…. A girls gotta do what a girls gotta do!

We think that to connect to that higher self, spirit, otherworld…. Call it what you like…. We need to sit quietly and meditate. But really music, sound and the beat of a drum which resembles Mother Earths Heartbeat can take us far higher and able to reach out far more than we can imagine. Music, dance and singing can all help us connect to that source of…. Dare I say it….. AWEN


Put the music on,
Sing your head off…

no matter how badly,

the operative thing here is the sound

which resonates throughout the body.
Take a wooden spoon and bash a

biscuit tin to the music if you have no drum….

Loose you inhibitions,
Get rid of your self consciousness,
Loose your fear of being wrong,
out of tune or out of time….
Lock the door if you need to….

And....Just do it!

Dance, Sing and Drum
And see what happens.

In love, light

and with the brightest blessings,
Sue xxx

Gurrilla Gardening

What a fantastic idea! Guerrilla Gardening....
http://www.guerrillagardening.org/index.html

Please join in wherever possible and pass this on!

Message Boards

Morning all....
I know that there are a lot of bloggers out there who read my blog and who have many varied interests, many of them shared with me.
For that reason I'd like to share my most favourite message boards and hope you will take up the challenge and do the same. Add a message to my comments so folk can find their way to your 'Favourite Massage Boards'.

In love and light, Pixie Sue

Here are mine:

Violette’s Message Board
A Canadian Artist born in Casablanca, Morocco to Spanish parents, Violette is a compulsive painter, who paints with the colour and warmth of Mediterranean Sunshine.
http://www.violette.ca/blog.html


The White Goddess Pagan Portal
The White Goddess Pagan Portal, is an online resource for Pagans, Wiccans and Witches, providing in depth information on a varied range of areas, including, Moon Phases, The Sabbats, Book of Shadows and a Forum for the serious discussion of Pagan topics. It is the aim of The White Goddess Pagan Portal to promote a friendly and enjoyable environment for the discussion of Pagan Paths. You will come across a diverse cross-section of opinions, some of which may conflict with your own personal beliefs.
http://www.thewhitegoddess.co.uk/index.asp


Martin Lewis, Money Saving Expert
If you want to save money…. This is a must!
Tips, tricks and common sense on this board.
Martin is committed to working the very system which is designed to drain you of every penny you work for.
Please join by going to
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/


My friend Sandra's Board and Website
for anyone into Mind, Body and Spiritual things!
http://www.mindbodyspirituality.co.uk/index.php


And for Bloggers Everywhere…. This is a must!
http://courtneytuttle.com/2008/06/26/why-almost-everyone-should-be-starting-a-blog/

Need Inspiration?

PHEW! I'm moved,

I'm touched and hunbled...

See this clip of J. K. Rowling

Thought provoking to say the least!

What the world needs is more people who think like her...

but the enlightened ones are growing in numbers

and are no longer going on with blikers over their eyes.

In love and light,

Sue xxx

People spend a lifetime

People spend a lifetime

searching for happiness;

looking for peace.

They chase idle dreams,

addictions, religions,

even other people,

hoping to fill the emptiness

that plagues them.

The irony is

the only place

they ever needed to search

was within.

 

Ramona L. Anderson