A return to knitting. I’ve missed it, although I have to admit my commitment has been somewhat erratic over the years. There’s two things I’m very good at: socks and ponchos. The miniature and the giant. Everything else is pot luck really. When our van was broken into, they didn’t just take things of value but also any bags lying around, probably because they were in a rush and mistakenly thought there’d be cash hidden in the bags. One of…
Inspired by a recent post by the utterly wonderful @briannamadia I thought I’d fully introduce our two van hounds with all of the nicknames they’ve accumulated over the past four years since we adopted them. I don’t even know how some of these started, some of them escalated quite quickly, others grew on us over time: First up is Bonnie, the black whippet-x as her repertoire is the more extensive: Bonnie, bean, string-bean, Bonnie-bean, Bonnie-bear, princess Bon-Bon of the waves,…
It was a honour to create a ring ceremony for the wedding of two friends in Bute Park, Cardiff this summer. Aidan and Darren both spend a lot of time in the park, the place was instrumental in the early years of their relationship coming together, so it made sense to affirm their love for each other there. I know the trees of Bute Park, I’ve sat with them, dreamed with them, held heart & mind still with them, and…
A few years ago we were all sat trying to work out what the connection was between certain family members and what their titles would be: great aunt / second cousin / something else twice removed. Isaak (pictures here) thought quietly for a while then piped in, ‘it’s all just family isn’t it.’ Yes. That’s exactly what it is. ❤️ We’re all family ❤️. Rounded off Andy’s extended birthday weekend yesterday (he’s getting worse than the queen) catching up with…
This family member is a total legend. He’s such a sweet, caring hound; super protective of us in the van, always wanting to play. We adopted him when he was five (he’s now nine) after he’d already spent a year in the doggy rescue centre because a previous owner was going to have him put down. I can’t really understand that thinking – if a dog misbehaves then something in their environment isn’t right for them (probably much like a…
You can adore your family & love to travel. You can support others & still go in search of the truth of your heart. There are so many days in a life: allow them to repeat & watch them flood past you like rain, thin & unsatisfying, until a paralysis takes over the soul, until no new dreams can manifest. Learn to step outside of this. Here, I will teach you to fold time: fill your days with meaning; allow…
How often do you check in with your mental landscape? When was the last time you sat quietly with yourself, turning the gaze inward to spend time getting to know your inner lakes & rivers, the vertiginous contours or endless desert spaces. It’s a practice I’ve developed over the years as I find it helps to better understand the direction the heart is heading in (which can be completely opposite to where the mind thinks we’re going). For a long…
Spending a lot of time with the women in my family on this return journey. Healing a lot of old wounds. We are a loud & lairy cohort. In the past I’ve both loved & hated this. I’ve tried to run from it; pretended to be someone else. And then there’s this point where I’ve shapeshifted through all of it; evolved away & then back towards myself, towards us. Nobody knows me like these women, nobody has stood up for…
After two stationary weeks we leave this house later today. I feel a deep sense of gratitude that we have family who can let us stay for a fortnight so that we could empty the van and give her a deep-clean along with some essential maintenance and some aesthetic additions. For two weeks we’ve had hot water on tap, I’ve taken fresh mint from the garden for morning tea & dried bunches of garden rosemary. This sleepy village is quite…
Today, on the day the holly king takes over from the oak king to preside over the waning half of the year, our daughter Rhiannon turns 23. I thought to teach her so much about life but really it is she who taught me, about motherhood, about love & friendship. Twenty three years was another life ago. Every day I woke and wanted to be a better person, was inspired by her to fully understand the capacity of love so…