All Souls´ Night

The origins of Halloween, also known as All Souls´Night, lie in the Celtic festival of Samhain, (a Gaelic word meaning summer´s end) which marked the end of summer and the harvest. Bonfires were lit, often to provide light for those bringing in livestock from the fields or mountains to be slaughtered for winter. On this day, the Celts believed that the door to the underworld was opened, letting in spirits. They would hold a feast, setting a place for any deceased relatives, as they were believed to visit home on this day. Malevolent spirits entered the earthly realm as well and people would dress in costume in order to confuse these spirits. This evolved into the custom of visiting houses to collect food for the feast while in costume, a precursor to trick-or-treating.

I don´t know exactly when Halloween became sanitized, commercialized and family friendly but a poem written by the American Edith Wharton in 1903 seems to indicate that it still retained its most sinister connotations around that time. Read the first verse and judge for yourself.

All Souls

by

Edith Wharton

A thin moon faints in the sky o’erhead,

And dumb in the churchyard lie the dead.

Walk we not, Sweet, by garden ways,

Where the late rose hangs and the phlox delays,

But forth of the gate and down the road,

Past the church and the yews, to their dim abode.

For it’s turn of the year and All Souls’ night,

When the dead can hear and the dead have sight.

I wonder if she had something like this in mind.

By the way, if you´re a beginner and would like to know how relatively easy it was to create the above collage, watch this space and I´ll show you.... 

Advice From A Cow

I´ve been missing in action, or rather in inaction, since July when I was struck down and brought to a standstill, or rather a lie still, by a particularly vicious bout of sciatica. At first I resigned myself to lying around on the lawn alternating between reading and enjoying the garden but after a while reading began to pall, the garden and the house began to look neglected, the laundry remained unironed and I began to fret. It was around that time that I came upon this poem...

 

ODE TO A COW

When life seems one too many for

you,

Go and look at a cow.

When the future’s black and the

outlook blue,

Go and look at a cow.

For she does nothing but eat her

food,

And sleep in the meadows entirely

nood,

Refusing to fret or worry or

brood

Because she doesn’t know how.

Whenever you’re feeling bothered

and sore,

Go and look at a cow.

When everything else is a fearful

bore,

Go and look at a cow.

Observe her gentle and placid air,

Her nonchalance and savoir faire,

Her absolute freedom from every

care,

Her imperturbable brow.

So when you’re at the end of your

wits,

Go and look at a cow.

Or when your nerves are frayed

to bits,

And wrinkles furrow your brow;

She’ll merely moo in her gentle

way,

Switching her rudder as if to say:

“Bother tomorrow! Let’s live

today!

Take the advice of a cow.”

Not only did I find this advice a-moo-sing but I started thinking about it and realised that I was worrying needlessly and spoiling a lovely peaceful summer by feeling guilty about neglecting my chores. I don´t mean that I took the advice literally and just lay there chewing the cud and staring placidly into the distance but I finally started to enjoy my enforced inactivity rather than brooding on it. I´ve since had the first appointment with my osteopath and feel a little better already. I´ve even managed to sit rather than recline for long enough to swap my book for needle and thread.

So this page is my tribute to the wise old cow and also my thank you to Diane who gave me her permission to use a photo of her beautiful Lilly with her first calf, the equally beautiful Gabby. Hope she´ll forgive me for altering that perfect photo ever so slightly to give it a painted look to go with the background. 

Try to take that advice to heart. Enjoy what´s left of the summer and leave the chores for a rainy day.

Off To The Coast

Sitting Pretty

I love and treasure all my old sepia photos. I find it incredible that they´ve survived for so long and how amazingly detailed they are when you consider how relatively primitive old cameras were. Of course they´ve faded somewhat over time but Photoshop can bring them back to radiant life with just a few mouse clicks and any little imperfections can be just as easily camouflaged. Something else I like about them is that it´s such fun to imagine what they´d look like in colour...and then just go ahead and use any colour I want. When I colour sepia tinted clothes it reminds me of the dressing dolls I used to play with as a child and it´s so enjoyable that it goes some way to making up for the fact that in many cases I´ve no idea where and when the photo was taken. In the one below all I know is that it´s one of many I have of my Aunt Lucas – in case you don´t already know, that´s the elegant lady sitting at the top of this blog – but I have no idea who her friend is, when or where the photo was taken or by whom. I think that she´s wearing the same coat as above, but as I haven´t a clue what colour it really was, I´ve made it green this time though I suppose I could have used purple or brown or anything else that took my fancy.

(And, before you ask, yes my aunt was really called Lucas. All I know is that it´s an old family name and I can only assume it was originally Lucasta which apparently dates from the 17^th century and means pure light.)

So here she is, my elegant aunt and her friend, sitting pretty and trapped in a brief moment in time (can it really be?) over 3/4 of a century ago.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DIANE!

You Were Right, Joyce

Joyce Grenfell, 10 February 1910 - 30 November 1979, is known and loved mainly for her comic monologues. Her most famous catch phrase, “George, don´t do that!” ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXhHFgDRNBQ ) is instantly recognisable to all her fans. What I didn´t know until today is the fact that she wrote some of the most beautifully evocative nature poetry I´ve ever heard. I say “heard” because the following poem was never published and I´ve only just heard it on BBC radio. Luckily, it was on the Listen Again feature so I was able to write it down. I´m sure you´ll agree that it captures the very spirit of Spring.

Taut as a tent the heavenly dome is blue,

Uncrossed by cloud or tossing twig or plane,

A measureless span infinitely new,

To fill the eye and lift the heart again.

Deep in the wintered earth the shock is felt.

Glossy sweet aconite has shown her gold,

And strong straight crocus spears where late we knelt,

To lodge their bulbs are waiting to unfold.

The ragged rooks like tea leaves in the sky,

Straggle towards the earth with awkward grace.

A robin in a silver birch nearby,

Thrusts up his carol through the naked lace.

I´ve known this day for thirty years and more.

It will go on as it has done before.

You were right, Joyce. It has.

Not Just Graffiti

One day recently my friend, Eileen, and I were walking back from a morning spent visiting, and in some cases revisiting, a few of Glasgow´s many historical sites (including its oldest house, built would you believe, in 1471..but that´s another story) when I was stopped dead in my tracks by one of the most amazing murals I´ve ever seen. I say “mural” advisedly because although it´s painted on crumbling walls at the rear of a parking lot in Ingram Street it´s certainly not just graffiti. Here are just a very few close ups so that you can see the astonishing photo-realistic detail in it.

 

I later discovered that it was commissioned by Glasgow Council in celebration of The Commonwealth Games hosted by the city in 2014 and was painted by graffiti artist Sam Bates aka Smug. 

I found it frustrating not to be able to photograph many parts of the mural as they were blocked, not surprisingly, by various vehicles. However, I was lucky enough to find a couple of less cluttered photos on the Web. This one of a kilted figure among autumn leaves and fungi is particularly ingenious. Note the shadows which imbue this part of the mural with a trompe l'oeil 3D appearance. It´s hard to tell which of the leaves are part of the tree and which are painted. I also love the way the leaves and the fungi are a recurring theme throughout the entire mural.

This part depicts a lovely selection of Scottish wildlife including a black grouse, a red squirrel and a robin. There are even a few scattered rowan berries from Scotland´s most prolific tree, a source of winter food for many species. I, like many Scots, have one in my garden. Traditionally, the rowan is supposed to ward off witches. I haven´t seen any since I planted it so it seems to work... I love its inclusion in the mural. 

 

Coming upon this stunning work of art simply confirms what I´ve always thought about my home town. Glasgow is a wonderful city full of surprises.

Off To Scotland

Sadly Glittering

I´ll admit I´m a magpie. I love anything sparkly. Well, practically anything...

 Click on image to enlarge

Journalling: “I bought this plant recently in a supermarket, mostly because I felt sorry for it. I find succulents beautiful just as nature intended. They don´t need – or deserve – to be “embellished” with turquoise glitter.”

Having got my poor sparkling succulent home I put it among my small collection of unadorned succulents where it stuck out like..well maybe not like a sore thumb, more like a glitzy gewgaw. The sight of it bothered me so much that I wrote to my favourite specialist website and was relieved to get the following advice HERE

So this is my thank you to Jacki, the green-fingered lady who knows all the answers!

 

Happy Belated Birthday, Helen

Oh my goodness...where has the month of January gone.  It is just flying right by as fast as the 35 mile per hour wind outside my window.  It just hit me like a ton of bricks...the wind must have blown that stack of bricks by the edge of the woods right inside the house and aimed it right at the top of my head.  HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY, HELEN  I actually thought about your birthday when I renewed the store's domain in December....remembering that the store was your birthday gift several years back.  Making a mental note when I'm celebrating Grandson Jase's birthday on January 10th, that Helen's birthday is just three days away!   Thought we would revisit your birthday room once again for a nostalgic yet belated celebration of your birthday.

To be truthful, Jacquie Lawson, sent a notice of a new birthday card  to my e-mail...so that set off the ton of bricks that flew right through the walls of the house!  So, you can look for an e-mail card today as well.

Happy Belated Birthday, my friend...I hope you had a perfect day!!!