New Furniture

With Samhain so close I have been reviewing my life through the past year, and I realise I have living with the fear of Death. Not a fear of my own demise but even worse the loss of those I love and hold dear. Death has been a constant spectre this year, turning up in places I least expected to encounter him. I discovered him hovering over a young friends mother, entwined with an two old family friends, stalking my own mother, and for several months shadowing my beloved. Yet the aged family members (one of whom will reach her centenary next year) seem to avoid his notice!

The thought of losing those I love has always been a much deeper fear than losing my own mortality. It seems easier to let go of the aged who have led long and full lives. But those that are relatively young and it seems should have many years left to them suddenly find that their life will be cut short. No get out of Jail free card, no reprieve, and in one case not enough time to say goodbye. With Death hovering about so much, he has to me over the last year become apart of the furniture. I know he can strike without warning. I know he will take my loved ones when their time runs out, and who knows when that will be! So this Samhain I'm going to leave my fear behind, sit Death in a corner, put a vase of flowers on his head and deal with the loss of loved ones when it happens.

Happy Samhain/Halloween

Samhain by Robin Webster

Dancing ’round the flame of Summer’s end

sparks of golden yellow celebrate Samhain.

Twirling around tossing leaves in the air

laughing and giggling while catching them in our hair.

The last harvest is in as turns the new year

while the chill of Yule draws ever so near.

The dead will join our festive feasts,

giving glimpses of our past, present and future feats.

Come young maidens, mothers and crones

Let the whispers of spirits rattle your bones.

Embrace the silence of the coming dark

and join the Sabbat’s circle with open mind and open heart.

To Find out more about Samhain and the celebrations related to the festival visit http://www.chalicecentre.net/samhain.htm

Valentines Day

The celebration of St Valentine's day first became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished.

So now every year on Febuary 14th intimate couples are coerced by commercialism and the media to buy gifts and cards for each other, to express love, appreciation and commitment.  Yet most couples could do this at anytime during the year.  The whole Valentine hullabalooo is a huge commercial con to get us to part with our money.

As an avid people watcher I was today fascinated to watch both men and women pawing through hundreds of cards to find  "just the right one". I even watched a teenage girl burst into tears because the shop had run out of the card she wanted to buy for her boyfriend. The supermarket was full of last minuiteValentine buyers scrabbling for cards and gifts. Men armed with everything from cards to cookbooks hovering nervously in the queue for the checkouts. Women in the aisles discussing their plans for cooking meals, or going out with their beloved to share the evening with twenty-five other couples looking for an intimate space in a crowded restaurant.

OK yes I'm a cynic it's true. I'm cynical when mass media, commercialism and social pressure, conspire to tell me how I should feel about a certain person on a certain day!   But I'm also a hopeless romantic :)


For Gary Today and Everyday
I love you every minute of every day,
Wherever I am, whatever I'm doing not an hour passes without me thinking of you.
Sharing my life with you is one of my greatest pleasures.
You are my best friend, my lover and my rock.
You are my lighthouse in a stormy sea.
I love you for your loyalty to me and to everyone that matters to you,
and for the way you always encourage and believe in me.
I love you because you are as much of a dreamer as me.
and for your courage and strength in the face of adversity.
In fact I love you for every detail that makes you the man you are,
and you are more than I ever wished for.
I love you xxx

Faerie Feet and Hair Dye

So I finally find myself back here on my blog page wondering what to write.  I remember having the same feeling when I first signed up with Blogger.  Will people be interested in my thoughts on life the universe and everything,- the innane ramblings of a homonally challenged middle aged faerie? Well I guess I'm about to find out :)

Why Middle Aged Faerie?
When I started to toddle at about 2 years old. I did so on my toes and continued to flit everywhere on my toes through out my childhood ! Now I don't do so much flitting, but I'm just as comfortable on my toes as walking with flat feet.

Middle age has certainly caught up with me, and when I least expected it! One minute I was a busy mother of three kids plus various waifs and strays, and the next, they all left home and left me with an empty nest!   Don't misunderstand me. I had no problem with them moving out and finding their own way in the world.  After all I raised them to be independent for just this reason, but I couldn't help but be a little sad to see them go, knowing that an important stage in my life was over too.

It was only after I had been wallowing over my empty nest  for a little while, I suddenly realised I had become middle aged!. I had gained wrinkles where there were none before, my hair had smattering of Grey and my waist measurement was getting too close to my hip measurement!  I pondered this for a time, and not being used to middle age. I wondered what I should do! Then I woke up one morning and knew.   It was time to find a use for the spare bedrooms, buy some hair dye and join a gym!  Taking a deep breath I looked around my peaceful home and gallantly stepped into a new stage of my life.

I started regularly attending a Gym with a friend. I dyed my hair a lighter colour. One of the bedrooms was awaiting furniture to become a guest room, and the other had been converted into a makeshift recording studio which was keeping the "other half" busy. We finally had peace and our own space and it was wonderful! Little did we know, the storm clouds were starting to gather.