This week, I attended an autumn equinox 🍁 ritual, which seriously backfired.
Autumn equinox, of course, is a harvest ritual (the second harvest on the wheel of the year), so you’re thinking at this time of year about what fruits you’ve created through the past 12 months.
In my mind’s eye, guided by the speaker, I stared at my apple tree in the orchard, and couldn’t think of any fruit 🍎 to harvest from the past 12 months.
(more…)We went for a walk yesterday. We go for lots of walks, but despite that I’m not as fit as I’d like to be, so we usually stroll gently, along easy paths. We’d decided to try following a walk from the book Peak District Walking on the Level, by Norman Buckley. I found this book years ago, but I’m not sure whether we’ve actually tried following a walk in it before. I think we’ve used it for inspiration to look at areas to explore. But this time I wanted to try out one of these walks.
Usually, Chris chooses our walks. He’s much better at finding us enjoyable, pleasant walks. I should have let him pick out this walk, too.
The walk started out well enough. We found somewhere to park in Abney, a Derbyshire village. There were very few people about, despite being a sunny Saturday in the Peak District. There was even a bench right at the beginning of our trek!
Just as we started, Chris spotted that the sun had a halo – very neat!
Today was a gloriously sunny day, and we got out of the house for it. I don’t think we’ve gone well dressing hunting yet this year, so I decided we’d go look at the ones currently on display, in Bradwell and Great Hucklow. This fantastic website helps you find out where the dressings currently are – which village, and whereabouts in the village.
Well dressings are a tradition peculiar to Derbyshire, England, UK (though they’ve been copied in a couple of other places). I’m told they have roots in ancient Pagan traditions, but the current tradition is quite modern.
Well dressing makers press natural things – leaves, flower petals, peppercorns, pebbles, etc – into clay in different designs. Traditionally, they would be placed beside wells, in gratitude for the clean water from the well. Nowadays there are fewer wells (though still more than you think), so they’re often displayed in other places, like village greens or outside churches. There are frequently children’s well dressings, too, and these are frequently displayed outside schools.
A village may have two or ten well dressings – I’m not sure I’ve ever seen just one. It depends on how much appetite there is in the village for the work involved, as well as how much money they have for the supplies. The leaves and flowers and things those who have them generally just donate from their gardens, but I believe the clay is bought fresh each year, and the wooden frames need to be replaced periodically.
I’ve helped make dressings once or twice – it’s truly back-breaking work. I’ve always admired the intricate detail in these, but even moreso after helping to make them!
Anyway, on to today’s adventure!
I believe that small and medium businesses make the world a better place.
Compared to huge mega corporations, I believe that SMEs …
⭐ Can be better places to work as an employee: The team’s not that big, so everyone matters.
⭐ Can be better places to patronise: Every customer is a person, not a number.
⭐ Can be better places for their communities: They often get involved because they’re run by people who live in that community
⭐ Can be better places to own: You are closer to what you got into business for: that impact you set out to make in the world.
(more…)I was in desperate need of a do-nothing day, so that’s what today has been.
Which meant I was not stuck inside doing chores while there was glorious sunshine outside! So out we went on a lovely walk – just from the house, around Glossop.
This post is mostly to share a few photos from our walk.
We spotted our first snowdrops of the year!
I’ve never had the good fortune to live there, but it is my favorite city in the world. I love to visit.
My first proper visit was spent staying with a friend, Kat, for a few days. I took myself to the Audubon Zoo, where I saw white tigers for the first time. I got a keychain of white tigers and used it for about 20 years, until just a few weeks ago.
By angela n. from Washington, DC – Audubon Zoo, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=81793543
(more…)We actually ventured out this day!
First we slept in, of course. 😴 Then, we were greeted with a beautiful morning.
Then, we wandered to the nearest beach, which was Crackington Beach. We got there at low tide, and stayed all day. It’s a lovely little cove.
(more…)You go on vacation for different reasons, so you have different kinds of vacation.
Sometimes you need some excitement, something to shake things up a bit.
Sometimes you need to do some personal development, so you go to a retreat or a week-long seminar or something.
Sometimes you need a rest.
That was us this time. We mostly needed a rest.
So, our first full day in Cornwall was spent lazing about the cottage. It was a rainy day, so this worked out well for a do-nothing day.
I read, watched some tv; I don’t fully remember. We just chilled.
It went pretty in the evening, so we decided to wander down the path towards the sea and see what there was to see.
Wheee! The day has finally arrived for our trip to Cornwall! 🥳 It’s been far too long since we were there.
I went for my usual morning walk (here at home) first. The day dawned a misty, foggy, drab day.
A long, long time ago we made our first trip to Edinburgh. It was a flying visit, less than a day. We went to visit our friends from New Zealand (see previous post) once more as they toured the UK. It was our first overnight trip since Covid began!
We set off that Tuesday evening after finishing work & dinner. We got to see a lovely sunset on our way north!
We also got to see this sign (Welcome to Scotland) we haven’t seen in far too long about 9pm that night. Woohoo!
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