Saturday pic

Friday funny

Frugal Friday

Just goes to show that anything is possible in downsizing. Although not quite my taste (bit too modern, but that's irrelevant really in the scheme of things), it just goes to show what can be done with determination and imagination

http://shoeboxdwelling.com/2012/01/13/garage-mini-house/

I think, maybe that the message is beginning to get through that maybe less is more after all?

Candle prayer

My daughter  visited Winchester Cathedral as part of her university studies, and took this photo. I found the inscription very moving:

Humble bragging

There's an awful lot of it about on the internet you know....................really gets  me fired up.


Humble bragging:

When you, usually consciously, try to get away with bragging about yourself by couching it in a phony show of humility.


For example - 'Worn out, had a hard morning cleaning my 4 bathrooms......................' , that sort of
 thing. I'm sure we've all read things like this.

Some of these ae really cringeworthy from so-called 'celebrities'
http://twistedsifter.com/2011/05/funniest-humble-brags-on-twitter/
but it's still the humble bragging from ordinary folks who think they aren't ordinary that gets me most lol. I'm sure you know who you are..................   :)

Flowers...................................

I very rarely buy flowers; I like bits and bobs out of my own garden - flowers, foliage, twigs etc. I had to buy these last ngiht though, the colours are just gorgeous - a shaded pink flower with white insides and creamy coloured stamens, light green leaves - one of my very favourite combinations of green/pink/white. One reason I rarely buy them is because they are often imported; not only air miles to consider, but use of land that could well be used for growing food for domestic consumption by that country. That might be a simplistic way of looking at things, but it's how I see it .  You can often buy Fair Trade roses, which is a step in the right direction, but I still ahve the food growing niggle.
So, I was delighted to buy these last night - British grown (could have been in a hot house though :( - down point), adn reduced in price from £5 to £2.55. When I got them home, I discovered that there were actually two bunches in there, but I've  put them all in one vase, and have them sitting on the ktichen table beside my laptop. Gorgeous.

Imbolc

IMBOLC BLESSING

Blessings of the growing light


Blessings of the quickening earth

Blessings of the morning chorus

Blessings of the first shy flowers

Blessings of Nature waking

Blessings of Maiden singing

Briganti’s fire light your path

Briganti’s blessings on your hearth

(top image and blessing shared from  http://paganpoetry.tripod.com/index.html)


The holiday was, and for many still is, a festival of the hearth and home, and a celebration of the lengthening days and the early signs of spring. Celebrations often involved hearthfires, special foods (butter, milk, and bannocks, for example), divination or watching for omens, candles or a bonfire if the weather permits. Imbolc is traditionally a time of weather prognostication, and the old tradition of watching to see if serpents or badgers came from their winter dens is perhaps a precursor to the North American Groundhog Day. A Scottish Gaelic proverb about the day is:




Thig an nathair as an toll

Là donn Brìde,

Ged robh trì troighean dhen t-sneachd

Air leac an làir.



"The serpent will come from the hole

On the brown Day of Bride,

Though there should be three feet of snow

On the flat surface of the ground."


Imbolc is the day the Cailleach — the hag of Gaelic tradition — gathers her firewood for the rest of the winter. Legend has it that if she intends to make the winter last a good while longer, she will make sure the weather on Imbolc is bright and sunny, so she can gather plenty of firewood. Therefore, people are generally relieved if Imbolc is a day of foul weather, as it means the Cailleach is asleep and winter is almost over. On the Isle of Man, where she is known as Caillagh ny Groamagh, the Cailleach is said to have been seen on Imbolc in the form of a gigantic bird, carrying sticks in her beak.

(illiustration borrowed from http://crookedways.wordpress.com/)



Fire and purification are an important aspect of this festival. Brigid (also known as Brighid, Bríde, Brigit, Brìd) is the Gaelic goddess of poetry, healing and smithcraft. As both goddess and saint she is also associated with holy wells, sacred flames, and healing. The lighting of candles and fires represents the return of warmth and the increasing power of the Sun over the coming months.