Deep Water

Water... There's not much I can add to the plethora of information you can find on the Web about saving water in the home - just google, and you'll find page upon page of instructions, hints, tips and techniques. Another google search asking "what is water?" will yield another stockpile of information on the properties and scientific facts of water. And ofcourse Rachel and Emma's posts on this subject over at That Little Bit Greener, do a good job of summarising the things we can do at home to be more conscious of our use of this valuable gift from Nature. No I don't believe that having water available to us is a right - nature doesn't care a jot for human rights. Water is a gift, and the best we can do is treat it as such.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again... Everything we can do to be greener boils down to MOTIVATION. We humans wouldn't do a thing without it. I don't mean the sort of motivation that is briefly encountered when we are told something that we 'know' to be "the right thing to do"... I mean the motivation which comes from deep within our psyche. The type of motivation which changes opinion into assumption and then forces us to do what we believe to be the right thing so that what we are striving to do becomes an automatic function of every day life - totally integrated, as normal as breathing, we then no longer think of the task at hand as something which is an effort, or particularly remarkable. But we have to find our own motivation, and the best way to learn is to do the research yourself.

As regular readers here may have realised, I am an animist. I do believe there is spirit in everything, and water, as one of the main forces of life, is obviously no exception. So my motivation started with exploring every aspect of the realm of water - physical, metaphysical, scientific and spiritual,

Meditate with water. No I don't mean clear your mind into a zen like status whilst humming over a tibetan singing bowl full of bottled spring water. I mean, find relationship with water. YOUR water - from the tap, from the puddle outside your house, from the dew on your grass, from right under your nose.... Think of all the things that water is to you, where does your water supply come from? How does it reach you? What does water do? What would we do without it? Why do we need it? What is it made of? What is in it? What are WE made of? What of the rain which falls so regularly on our little island here, how old is that water? Who lives in water, and who lives without it? Where is water? What of the places where there is no water, and the places where it is abundant? Don't stop at the scientific facts and figures, or the shocking realities which inform us of the millions of people who die every single day in parts of the world where there is none. Move onto the elemental lore of nature, the mythical and mystical properties of water, and the natural cycles which it is a part of. Where is the water around your home? The rivers, brooks, springs, streams, seas .... Can you feel the water? Does each source or body of water seem different? or the same? Does it change with the seasons, or the days, or the time? Just as you can talk to trees, sit by water, and speak to it - see what happens. Listen. Hold a glass of water in your cupped hands, and call to the spirits of water. You will soon feel the hum of it's energy, while little bubbles pop out from it's depths and float to the top, each bursting bubble inducing a child like wonder and delight. Just as we connect with friends and family, connection with water will change our attitude towards it.

Now extend your consciousness a little, into your shopping basket. Do you buy bottled water? Why? We live in a country where water is plentiful, where every second of every day, if we want, we can just turn a tap and out it pours, clean, fresh, life giving, drinkable water. How lucky we are!

Bottled water is my biggest water bugbear of the moment. There are many rapacious companies who, with questionable rights and even more questionable morals, buy water rights all over the world - particularly the third world, they bottle this stolen water in millions of plastic bottles, and fly it back to us in the west, while the people in the countries from where it has been robbed, die of thirst!! Scandal just isn't the word! Read THIS article and then this one. Bottled water is where we really need to be pulling the plug.

Moon Magic

I've been waiting for the old moon to wane, the dark moon to pass and the new moon to begin before I launch my exciting new project.  This celestial happening has occurred and today, I will be working like mad to get this up and running and to be able to tell you all about it!  I want it to be just right before you see it!  

Moon lore is such a vast subject, a whole blog could be written on that alone, and due to aforementioned frenzy of typographical activity on my part, as much as I would love to write more on the subject, I can't today!

So, dear readers and friends, stay tuned.  By the time you see the crescent moon this cycle, all will (hopefully) be revealed!

Whispers of things to Come

Walking round the village the other day, it struck me that all around are signs of things to look forward to as the season turns and time marches on ...

Elderberry Wine

Blackberry Jam

Cherry Pie

Wild plum crumble

Less exciting, and who knows when ....

100 houses

But the first exciting event is just around the corner..

CARNIVAL!!!!!!

And that means...

Lots of fun!!

Re-Emergence

Have you noticed the days getting longer already? Tomorrow will be the beginning of another calendar year

May you find a good path to walk

Navigate the flotsam and jetsam of life successfully

And find a few pots of gold along the way

Happy New Year Everyone!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year ..

The winter solstice happened at precisely 12.04pm. Today was the shortest day, and tonight will be the longest night of the year. In the next few days it will be possible to discern the slight shift at dawn, where not only will the sun rise earlier, but it will be seen to be moving East along the horizon again, towards the spring equinox!

This indeed is cause for excitement and just as our ancestors, the ancient people of this land, celebrated wildly in much the same way that we do now, with gifts of community and joyful merriment, I think that, more than any other point in our modern calender, this is the time when we feel most acutely, those same urges for celebration that they felt and although our focus is different now, we still share a sense of relief and anticipation, after the long months of darkness. The cold and damp weather will continue for some months to come, but it's not the temperature that is the problem here! At this time of midwinter, we are all still celebrating, in one way or another, the return of light from darkness, or in more primal terms, the birth of the sun. We can start getting on with things soon!

As always, looking deep into nature, when everything around us seems decayed and lifeless, when energy is low, and nothing appears to be growing, the first stirrings of something new are twitching into life beneath the ground. Though we cannot see the new shoots yet, those seeds and bulbs and tubors, which have lain dormant through winter, and which have stored their energy within the darkness, within themselves for all this time, are now being nudged awake in readiness for the new surge of creativity which the sun will bring with the longer days of spring. The sap will start to rise soon.

This is what I celebrate now. An acknowledgment of the creative power of darkness, and an awakening into the start of another cycle and the potential of all that it holds.

Happy Solstice!!

Kitchen Poetry: The End

Sometimes it's good to be a hoarder. I am glad I didn't throw this book away during one of my more fundamental vegetarian moments because this is where I am today: In a desperate quandry.

My parents gave me this book when I left home and it was well used but I have been vegetarian for the last 10 years and I haven't deviated for all that time until recently - well .. except for the odd prawn cracker!

The thing is, I LIKE being a vegetarian but this time last year I had a debate with some vegan friends on whether or not it is possible to be vegan in the UK and only (ever) eat British food. We decided that unless we wanted to die of boredom before we died of malnutrition, then it probably isn't. Immediately we could forget mange touts from Kenya, avocados' from Peru, aubergines from Spain and that's before we've even counted chick peas, lentils, olives, chillies or rice! So in the winter, what from our own land do we eat and where does our protein come from? Turnips, cabbage, parsnips, potatoes, carrots, cauliflour, leeks ...

It wasn't until I visited Italy that I really understood what it is to live off one's land. The place where we go when visiting the Italian Connection, is a slice of rural Italy where everyone has land, livestock and a vineyard. It's normal for individuals living there to expect this way of life but here in the UK, for most of us, it's an impossible dream not least because even if we had the land, our weather couldn't support the diversity we would need to be entirely self sufficient on vegetables alone.

And so in the face of environmental catastrophe, and the world food crisis, I am now pondering the question of whether it is actually ethical to be a vegetarian in Britain. Is it right to ignore a whole source of protein while importing food from abroad which not only costs carbon miles but could also be a product of vast monocultures which are themselves unsustainable.

I became vegetarian because I did not agree with what I deemed to be unnecessary bloodshed. In a world of convenience, sterile packaging and supermarket manipulation, it's easy to forget where our food comes from, and my choice was largely a response to that apathy. But now, when it is easier to find free range, and humanely slaughtered meat, or even 'wild' meat such as rabbit, venison, pheasant, which has been free until the moment it is shot, is it not better to eat in season, from our own resources?

For the last 20 years at least, possibly longer, the most important focus of my life has been connection to this land. Now, I wonder how can I be fully connected to it if I don't eat of it? Food which has been produced here on this island, fed by our soil and watered by rain from our sky has more relevance to me than food produced in some far away country that I have never seen or known. If we connect to our land and our ancestors, the experience must be visceral, we must know where our nourishment comes from both spiritually and physically.

This is what I saw in Italy. How those people are utterly connected to the land on which they live.

And what a good life it is.

With huge and grateful thanks to Simple Sparrow for the inspiration of Kitchen Poetry.

What's in a Bite?

Honouring the apples which bring us the sharp sweetness of our land concentrated into one delicious bite.

It's been a busy few days here in the MarmaladeKiss household, what with Jimmy's b/day, the sun shining, and the Autumn Equinox. Now that it's all over I am heaving a huge sigh of relief and welcoming the growing darkness which will take us through to Midwinter. Oooh, don't look at me like that. I LIKE it when it's cold and dark, and I know i'm not the only one.

The equinoxes both are my absolute favourite times of year. I like the equality between the day and night, and the feeling of balance that each brings, along with the sense of excitement and anticipation at the prospect of the season to follow. I don't know about anybody else, but I can smell the winter coming on around about August time. It's a whiff in the air every now and then, which sends a chill thrill right down my spine. I mean that in a good way.

The autumn equinox occurs at some point between 20-23 September and is celebrated by the festival of Alban Elfed which in Welsh/Brythonic means 'light of autumn'. It is the end of the grain harvest, the celebration of 'Harvest Home'. Now the high energy we have experienced over summer is slowly ebbing away as the earth prepares for it's rest over the quiet stillness of winter. We can acknowledge what we have harvested so far and that which is still to be harvested over the coming weeks. We can relax a little after our hard work through the growth season. We can celebrate and give thanks for what we have gained over the year and we can find it's value for ourselves and for our communities, as we too prepare for the short days and long nights to come before the start of the next cycle.

Happy Equinox everyone!

Summertime

It's been incredibly summery here in the UK for the last 2 weeks. Hot sunshine seems to have flooded in with a vengeance at the beginning of May along with the Hawthorn blossom at last, and everyone is hoping that it lasts a little longer at least for already we have had, in many opinions, a better summer than last, though it seems our heatwave happiness will be shortlived as already the first reports of a "cooling down" period have appeared on the news and weather reports. I have been mostly gardening and sowing more seeds in the allotment and garden, and in between times, walking in the countryside, around the village and ofcourse, shopping.



For a long time, I've wanted a fabric stamping set. I found one at a bargain price too, just in time for a friend's wedding where I was able to be quite innovative with the wrapping thanks to my new toy...


I bought some ribbons from my favourite fabric shop, they have a "bargain bucket" where all bundles are 20p. The lenghts are often over 4m, so i bought LOTS to top up the all important trim stash.


I went walking with a friend up at Shotover Woods where the bluebells are still stunning, leading into secret and intriguing pathways...


This field, near my house, will soon be a housing estate ... I could only capture about a quarter of it in my camera. There are 150 houses planned. There is great opposition, not least because this is a floodplain. I'd rather the Dandelions took over the world than put up with yet more building which we don't seem to need.



Further along, even the nettles are beautiful, here cupping their leaves towards the morning sun as if gathering as much as they possibly can while it lasts


Unlike Mr Snail who prefers a little shade

It's Only Natural

You may or may not have noticed that I have a habit of mentioning the turning seasons as they happen. This is because I celebrate what is known to some as The Wheel of the Year, and have been for most of my adult life. Seeing and feeling my life reflected in nature, gives me a framework for my daily existence which makes perfect sense to me, and gives me a constant sense of wonder at the world in all its beauty. So for the past week, I have mostly been celebrating Beltane, which traditionally in these parts, takes place on 1st May. Beltane is the old British word for this fertility festival which if placed in a circle, is the south eastern quarter and can be most related to the time in our lives when we are teenagers or young adults, full of fun, energy, exuberance, sexuality, sensuality and good old fashioned lust. It is a time of youthful celebration and of promise. In nature, it is when the leaves burst out of their timid post bud flushes with a vengeance, when suddenly you look around and everything is vividly fresh and vibrantly green, when the white and pink Hawthorn flowers flood the hedgerows, and when the first shoots of our future harvest appear. It is when the native birds are nesting, and when the migrant birds return, when the first cuckoos can be heard, and when the lambs, having at last found some strength in their little legs, are frolicking with abandon in the fields, along with the baby rabbits and other young and playful wildlife. It is the mid-point on the sun's journey between the spring equinox and the summer solstice, when its strength is still growing, when the evenings are still getting longer, the days are getting warmer and because of that, productivity is increasing. In our own lives, this is a time when after the long cold days of winter darkness, the resolutions we made at new year have either failed or have taken off, the seeds of our ideas are showing their first rewards. This is a time of extreme creativity, a time loaded with potential and huge growth. In olden days, this was when the cattle and other grazing herds would be driven back out into the fields via the Beltane fires. In short, this is the real start of summer.

Working through Beltane this year, thinking about lust in all it's forms, my attention rested upon the current food crises around the world, caused by many factors, but all in all, when it comes down to it, mostly by human greed and a lust for power and money. I thought about the poor people who in some countries, due to the rising costs of food cannot even afford their basic staple - rice - and how we in the west seem untouched by these crises which affect the most basic of our human needs. I think of our lust in the west for convenience, the need to have it all when we want it, at whatever cost, and I think of the power of the supermarket - being able to provide everything for us so cheaply in the blink of an eye, while others starve to death. This type of lust seems obscene to me.

And so in the joyful spirit of Beltane, I made a Pledge of Simplicity. Or rather, a renewed promise to enjoy life's simple pleasures at every given opportunity. Those things which we all have already, those things which make our hearts sing every day, those things that money or all the tea in China can't buy. I renewed my promise to think more deeply about what I consume, to consider each purchase in terms of needs or wants, to avoid supermarkets like the plague, to try my hardest to step more lightly on this earth than ever before, but most importantly, I pledged that I would try my best, through my own actions and interactions, to inspire others to do the same.

Warming Signs

Brrr... it's the middle of April and still so cold! This time last year, we were basking in sunshine, picknicking in Christchurch Meadow ... no jumpers, no coats ..

Feeding the swans, and geese ..


And the ducks ..

A typical Sunday afternoon in Oxford, the boats were bobbing, the students were rowing, the swans were hissing, the ducks were mating and the sun was shining ....

Not this year, oh no. The pictures above were taken on 9 April 2007.

Today, on 18 April 2008 the sky is grey, the wind is fierce, the air is bitterly cold and the sun has gone on holiday ...


I spent some time wondering who I should write a complaint letter to, and then thinking about getting my thermals out in order to venture into the garden to find some warming signs that spring (ha ha) or even summer (rofl), is really on the way. Well in the end I did neither so my photographic expedition in flip flops and jogging pants was quick and painful but heart warming if not skin warming because luckily, nature never lets me down and here is what I found ....

FIGS!!! Hurrah, I love figs, they are my very favourite, especially when freshly picked. I never buy them, they are just too expensive.

Lily of the Valley ... more and more each year ... Mmmmm..


Winter Jasmin - quite apt


Sunflower shoots !! I'm growing LOTS and LOTS


Runner bean sprouts, just a few in the garden otherwise they take over the world ...

Brasicas - never enough especially after the pigeons, caterpillars, mice, rabbits etc., have had their fill. My crop last year was wiped out entirely by caterpillars. The pigeons were quite naffed off about that too ... grrr...

Sweetcorn, particularly nice raw and goes well with avocado in salads. I missed it when I didn't grow some ...


My first strawberry flower! These are alpine strawberries which I grew from seed last year..

With such a profusion of yellowy and summery things sprouting in my garden, like a perennial sundance, I hope they go some way to encouraging him to put his hat back on and return with Mr Blue Sky. Otherwise I might have to go on holiday too!

A Good Friday

I've been so foccussed on the Spring Equinox, which happened today at 5.48pm precisely, that I completely forgot that it is infact also Easter weekend. This means that all of the children in my life, had also been forgotton as far as eggs or treats go. Eeeek! Today therefore, I have been mostly making egg cosies, which I will fill with Divine (fair trade) Mini Eggs. I have to thank Christine for being my saviour in this with her fantastic tutorial. Thank you!

So here are the results of my day of hard labour:

For my 3 nieces, Niamh (5), Tuala (3), Connie (1). I know these look a bit dark, but they know me. If I gave them something more "girly" it would disturb them. A bit like when Wednesday Addams smiles. They are my favourite cosy's and had me squealing with delight and love as each one was "born".

These are for 2 little boys, Reggie (3) and Finn (4). They are quite boyish as you can see, trucks, planes, cars ... easy really:

And these two are for Lily (3) and Indigo (1), who don't know me as well as my neices, and therefore will not be disturbed at the sight of all this pinkness coming from me. Well I had to use up my one pink fat quarter. I thought they looked a bit like cupcakes when I designed them, but now I think they look like circus tents.

It's the equinox all over the world, where day and night are exactly the same length for 3 days. It's a point of balance. Afterwards, for nearly 3 months, the days will get longer, until the solstice when we have the longest day and the shortest night. From there, night will start to creep back in until the next equinox when again light and dark will be equal. The equinox's are my favourite time of year, both filled with the promise of the next season.

And so I leave you now, just at the precise moment the moon becomes full here (6.40pm if you could see past the HUGE black cloud on the horizon), and wish you all a happy holiday weekend!