The Turning Of The Wheel

 Yule  = Wheel 

The Winter solstice is traditionally time for 'the turning of the wheel'

The wheel of cycles and the wheel of life. 

This year Dec 21st will be our darkest day and the longest night, with it the 22nd marks the returning of the sun, there will now be an increase in the amount of daylight we have, sparking off the return of the growing seasons.

It is the perfect time to embrace the darkness and go inwards to find the parts of us we need to let go and the parts of us we need to nurture and grow. 

All of the ingredients in this post represent just that, I hope it will inspire you to go out and forage for some of your own yule time magic. 

• Holly:  A Protector plant- reminding us to look inwards at this time and reflect
•    Ivy: Representing growing through adveristy and Binding us together 
• Pine: Representing strength, fire and longevity
• Yew: Representing transformation and rebirth
• Mistletoe: The sacred plant of the druids- healer, protector, representing fertility and the giving of life... Also great for kissing!

Our Christmas tree is always toadstool and reindeer themed so I was delighted to find this article (thanks to Karen) all about 'Mother Christmas' and what the Reindeer and Amanita Mascaria symbolise at this time of year

Sorry Rudolf! 

http://gathervictoria.com/2014/12/04/doe-a-deer-a-female-deer-the-spirit-of-mother-christmas/

The wreath you see in this post was made at a Sensory Solutions wreath making workshop held at Deans Court. Go and have a read about what they do, they are very special ladies changing the face of how we medicate and heal ourselves. 

 

I spent the day with some gorgeous like minded ladies, really getting to know the plants, learning all about their medicinal and healing properties, drinking homemade Chai tea, singing carols and listening to gorgeous Fi's endless wisdom. It was very special day and I came away feeling so inspired. 

Winter Solstice blessings and a very Happy Christmas to you all. 

xx

Everlasting

Granny's Hydrangeas and river side forage. 

Everlasting and completely compostable... No glue gun or metal wire in sight!

If the traditional wreath style is more to your liking them join myself and Ellie, the Deans Court gardener, on Thursday 10th December for a lovely day of foraging, tutoring and Christmas festivities in the Deans Court grounds. 

Hope to see some of you there! 

Honesty and Hellebores

This post is somewhat of an explanation / apology for all those many months were my blog fell silent. I hope there are some of my old readers still here, still reading? If so then this is for you and thank you!  If you are a new reader then I hope you enjoy this very honest post and learning a little bit more about me.

I remember very clearly one of my the last nights in London was spent having dinner with friends. 

The conversation natually went to that place of "but what are you actually going to do when you get there?"

We had decided to move to the countryside, leaving behind great jobs and great friendships, a life that was nearly Ten years in the making. Obviously everyone around us thought we must have some incredibly secure plan for our new future... We did not!

My reply was along the lines of... "Above all I want to be happy, I want to do something that makes me happy. I want to spend my days in and around nature. Using the skills and knowledge I have already gained and build on them, learn every day and set myself on a path where one day I can genuinely say that I LOVE what I do. Where happiness is priority, not just climbing a career ladder."

Blank faces and mmmhmmm's, led to a silent, unspoken "Yes that is everyones dream, but realistically how are you going to do that!?" " You are giving up EVERYTHING!"

I was trying to convince people who had watched me work incredibly hard at building a successful career in the city, already doing something 'I Loved',  I was also, more than anything, trying to convince myself, because I was very scared! 

So just to reassure them/me, I went on to talk about about a vague plan of " hoping to somehow stay working in styling with vintage and props but perhaps try and get into the wedding industry, and if I could do all that combined with learning and being in and around nature, then that, right there, would be my dream job!" "Plus it all obviously has to happen in and around The New Forest."... No biggie! 

They were still worried, I could tell... They still thought I was crazy, but knowing how blindly optomisitic I am, they decided to humour me and waved us off with concern hidden behind their smiling eyes, probably waiting for us to turn back just before hitting the M25.  

Yes I am blindly optimistic, I always have been so, but my optomism has always lead me to where I needed to be. Plus I am very very stubborn! Once my heart was set on persuing my dream life in the countryside then that was what I was going to do (dragging Craig along for the ride) and it WAS going to work. It had to, I believe that thoughts become things and they always do!

 So there you go, my vague plan/ big dream has manifested itself into my new journey of floral styling and being involved in the weddings at the incredibly beautiful (and inspiring) Deans Court, in Dorset. 

 There is still vintage and styling and there are still props (much more of that to come). 

My Etsy shop, much like this blog, has fallen silent but will be re-opening again in May, and it has all been so that I could focus on my new floral adventure. 

Hence the very botanical turn this blog has taken. Things will be changing a lot around here. There  will probably be less pictures of me in pretty vintage, (which does still happen but I have less time and want to document it), and if honesty really is the flavour of this post then the 'honest truth' is that I'm more likely to be seen in my Barbour jacket than my Edwardian shawl! 

Practicality over prettiness but all in the name of vintage, props and flowers so I guess I can be forgiven? 

The pictures in this post are all taken by me and are dedicated to the heavy headed Hellebore, or 'Winter Rose'. 

A large boat vase arrangement and a Boutineer using Hellebores, plus other delights found in the Deans Court garden and my own. 

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Anemone

In the days when the gods walked upon earth, Venus the goddess of Love and Beauty was at play with her son Cupid, when she was slightly wounded by one of his arrows. 

As they returned from their games on the outskirts of the forest, the hunt passed them by, for in those days all brave men were such great hunters. The bravest of these was the handsome Adonis, and when Venus, smitten by the shaft of Cupid saw the fine young god, she straightway fell ardently in love with him. 

Knowing Adonis' reckless passion for hunting, the goddess councilled him to beware of the wild beasts of the forest; but he was far too keen a hunter to heed such a warning.

One day in the heat of the chase, he pensrated deep into the forest, far ahead of his companions, and was attacked and killed by a wild boar before they could come to his aid and rescue him.

Venus, hearing of his death, mounted her chariot drawn by doves, and hurried to the forest. Kneeling by the dead body of her beloved, her golden tresses unbound, her matchless countenance buried in her white hands she was lost in grief. 

Beyond lay the grizzly bulk of the dead boar, his terrible tusks glittering white in the dusk as evening drew on. 

At last Venus roused herself and cried out: "Oh! Adonis, each year you shall return to the earth, that all mankind may delight in you and remember your prowess."

Where Adonis had fallen there sprang up drifts of anemones, nodding in the evening breeze, carpeting the woodlands in remembrance of the fearless young hunter. 

A Wreath Of Flower Legends

Anemones all from the Deans Court garden. 

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A Talent For Textiles At Deans Court

 

In May Deans Court hosted 'A Talent For Textiles' and I spent the whole day pinching myself to make sure I wasn't about to wake up from a very lovely dream (and to remind myself that I was in fact at work).

 

  

A Talent For Textiles is organised by the lovely Linda Clift and Caroline Bushell and it is made up of stalls selling antique and vintage textiles, clothing, lace, accessories and costumes from a selection of the South West's best antique textile dealers.

I finally got to meet the lovely Liz of 'The Washerwoman' fame, discovered the beautiful world of Donna Flower and visited an all time favourite at Old Albion.

I could have bought the whole room, far too many beautiful things in one place.

If you would like to know more about A Talent For Textiles then visit Linda's blog here.  For more Deans Court news then head on over to the Facebook, we update it reguarly and i'm sure some of you will want to see more from my colleague, Orlando the Goat.

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