I’ve been thinking long and hard about the intention for this coming year, I’ve chased it under skeletal winter hedgerows, across undulating hills that gently magnify all the hidden shadows of the mind, and in the needly-ice-cold of winter swims. This morning, during a glorious hour of silence with @workingsilence I found this triad: syncretism, symbiosis, symbolism. Ah! This makes perfect sense! I will hold these words in my heart all year, seek out their embodiment with every step. Only…
I’m often asked how I manage to live in such a small space with a man and two hounds. Honestly – once you’re happy in your own company it doesn’t really matter how big or small the space. We do loads of stuff together in the dark evenings – films, scrabble, just chatting about life and weaving dreams; but also we do our own thing, I’ve got right back into knitting after a two-year hiatus because we were in hot…
It’s been one of those days. I love seeing people out enjoying nature, and the snowy hills around here have called so many out these past few days. We had to turn around from our planned hilly hike as it was overrun with cars, then when we went somewhere less glamorous (without snow) I forgot my camera. I suppose that’s when it’s easy to get territorial about a certain place, ‘I live here, I know this place, I hate it…
One of the things I really struggle with when I’m back in Cymru with the van is the food shopping. My default setting is to just stock up at a local supermarket. This is strange to me because when the children were younger I was part of a CSA (community supported agriculture), or at the very least ordered a weekly organic veg box. My work with Slow Towns (Cittaslow) was also rooted in the Slow Food movement and I loved…
Cadair Idris – Idris is a Cymraeg giant and this is his chair. Legend has it if you spend a night on this mountain you return mad or a poet (is there a difference?). I went to the mountain today and he asked, ‘What do you want?’‘I don’t want anything’ I replied.And I’ve felt proud that I’ve spent years cultivating this ‘not wanting’, growing an ability to step outside of the maelstrom of ‘want’ that we can all get sucked…
Since we’ve moved into the van I’ve discovered a love for visible mending. There’s something so beautifully therapeutic about taking a garment that’s no longer wearable and stitching new life into it. I’m no expert, and I’m also not holding myself up as any paragon of virtue where clothing is concerned: I still buy the odd thing in the sale, and don’t always remember to check the provenance of clothes I buy. I see this mindset as a more long-term…
It’s been one of those days that has made me take stock and feel a deep gratitude for the accident of birth that made us born in a country that is relatively politically stable, and that isn’t being bombed. Even today, when things had gone wrong with the van doors and we spent the day freezing getting it all fixed, I felt acutely aware that we still have family who have land we can park on while doing repairs, and…