Days of Small Beauties

Waking to blue skies and sunshine for several days in a row. I love that feeling of waking up and being excited at the thought of the sun on my skin.

The wild imagination and delight of small boys when they are offered a story all of their own.

That the world seems to have exploded with spring wild flowers! On Friday I visited the churchyard of St Mary's, Plaistow, a favourite wild flower haunt and found snowdrops,my first bluebell of the year, red deadnettle, celandines, primroses, narcissi, crocuses, daisies, green alkanet and then off to St Blaise's Well where I spotted wild red currant, cow parsley, more snowdrops growing perfectly by the Candlemas well, and tiny sweet violets. And not to forget the vibrant green of baby nettles and cleavers, come to wake us up for the spring! Bliss on earth.

How happy~sad and grateful I feel when I see celandines, of which I see many these days. I grieved deeply for celandines when Will died and I lost the boat, as celandines had been such a beautiful sign of spring, and that matters on the water where the winter is often so hard. I didn't remember ever having seen any other than by the water and felt deeply sad that they would no longer be part of my spring. And then, last year, I found a patch of them in a park and now I see them often; yesterday quite near my house! I feel blessed by the memory that they stir and by the glossy sunshine beauty of their petals.

Discovering that female yew trees have flowers and that great clouds of pollen float from them when the breeze takes them! Beautiful!

Sun and shadow on yew bark.

Being in St Mary's churchyard at just the right time to catch someone unlocking the church for a moment and letting me in too explore. I have never found it open before and have had to be content with pressing my nose up against the glass door. I very much dislike churches being locked and it was stunning inside; beautiful stained glass windows, a glimpse of something in one of them that I decided was Fly Agaric mushrooms, and the most beautiful high altar. Also a lovely child friendly thing they have there called 'Twinkles', and a massive collection of soups in a fabulous book for £3. I loved it and I felt norty being inside!

Spending a few moments filling my ears, my heart, and my soul with the song of a wildly singing little robin and hearing the response of another robin far away. I became very aware of the sound-web of communication and song that birds weave around the planet. Powerfully beautiful.

How nervous people get when they see someone standing still in an alley staring up at the sky ~ you know they want to ask what you are doing, and I would have shown them the robin, but of course they didn't. This is England.

The sun shining through the leaves of white crocuses.

My second visit to St Blaise's Well and, this time, having more of a sense of where the true well water runs from and taking two red roses as offerings; one given to the well and one to a yew tree. I loved the clear flow of the water, how it tumbled in a shallow stream around gently rounded stones, how tiny green plants have begun to grow in its waters, how deeply it sings of life and all that is holy and wild in our land. I am so blessed to be able to go there.

That, when I left the house that morning, I hadn't been sure whether to go to the well as I have so much to do and then I opened Sharon Blackie's new book, 'When Women Rose Rooted' and the first thing I read was a poem about wells and how we have to 'return to the source', so I did. And that is the simple magic of the everyday.

From 'When Women Rose Rooted' by Sharon Blackie ~ everyday magic!

More drifts of tree pollen, this time from a Twisted Hazel. I'm not sure that I have ever seen tree pollen before!

A jaunty hello from a man on a tractor!

A flurry of lovely feedback about my tarot readings, some of which made me tearful, and how generous people are to me.

Coming home to find a mystery package containing sweet and thoughtful wonders.

Unexpectedly receiving just the right money in the post to pay for the crow snacks that I had just bought for them. Beautiful abundance.

Powerfully deep, real, and vulnerable conversations with Himself; such love and wild trust, in ourselves and in Life!

Spending my days unearthing layers of memory and clearing away cobwebs and old ghosts. This is the work.