TREEHUGGER

I’ll come right out and say it, I am a tree hugger, there is nothing like throwing your arms round a tree or pressing your face gently against the bark and inhaling the wonderful smell of it. In Autumn you can feel the tree quietly preparing for its winter sleep and in Spring you can share the exhilaration of the juicy and zesty sap.

My daughter once told me that my son and her were talking about their names, luckily both are satisfied with them, but my son pointed out to her that they were lucky to have regular names, saying you know what Mum and Dad were like, we could have ended up Treehugger and Starshine. Sometimes to tease, I call this giant over six foot, hulking man Treehugger and visualise him hugging a tree.



My favourite tree of all is the Silver Birch, there is one just outside my back garden on the piece of common land, I love to watch the leaves appear in the spring and the wind rustling through its leaves on a Summer’s day. It bows and sweeps its leaves so majestically like a fine lady dancing a very intricate medieval court dance. In fact, another name in mythology for the Silver Birch is Lady of the Woods, which I think just fits exactly. The Silver Birch protects from evil and a broom made of birch twigs will sweep negative forces from your house. A few birch twigs in a vase at your door will invite healing spirits into your house. It also is a useful tree to take a tiny twig of in your pocket as another aspect is protection whilst on a journey.



The Silver Birch also represents and works with the Moon. Once every so often I am lucky enough to be able to watch the full moon through or over the branches of the Silver birch tree. Adjacent to the silver birch is a rown tree which compliments the silver birch, I feel so lucky to have both so near to me.



The Fungus Fly Agaric [other wise known as the Magic Mushroom] has a symbiotiac relationship with the silver birch as it merges with the roots of the tree and help it to absorb minerals in exchange for sugars from the tree. This is the mushroom beloved of illustrators of fairy stories from which we usually see fairies peering round or sitting on top of. I must admit I have never seen any of these around my Silver Birch, though I have been told it is only about ten years old, I have noticed how much it has grown in the time we have lived in the cottage, they are very fast growing trees.



This young man, my son, is 29 years old today. Wasn't he a sweetie? [Sorry mummyitis!] He looks as good as gold, as though he could never get into mischief, sitting on the chair with the statue he won for playing cricket. How deceptive a photograph can be, he was a cheeky cheerful little boy, that people would forgive anything, his fun and cheekiness were never malicious just natural boyish fun. He is still full of fun and can always make me laugh with his hilarious comments and stories. He will be spending his birthday evening DJing at a local club. Happy Birthday TREEHUGGER! [It could have been your name couldn't it?]

So this is my lazy weekend, I am just taking a break from being lazy by getting this posting done. We intend to settle in tonight to watch a dvd, have a drink or two and maybe even some chocolates. After the house returns to just the two of us tomorrow afternoon, I am going to pack up, ready to post, any projects that need to be sent and sort out some bits and pieces to do with admin for Daisy Lupin Designs, then another slothful evening ready for a good full week of creating.



As some of you probably know from Kai's blog, the first international meeting of the GPS will take place in Yorkshire, whilst Kai is in England. I am travelling over from Cumbria and Mrs Nesbitt is travelling from Whitby and we are meeting in Thirsk. Do you think the world can stand this moment? So if on 19th March you feel a jolt or suddenly for a few seconds that time stops, a sort of hiccup in time, it could be the four [Kai is bringing her sister] of us meeting each other. We will be sending out some pretty poweful vibes, maybe a good time to try and heal the Earth.
Will we recogise each other? What will we sound like to each other? Should we sprinkle glitter all over ourselves so we know each other? This is a very exciting occasion, and I hope the first of many for meeting my friends from cyberspace.

The other event I have been involved in since I last posted was an open meeting of my Local History Group for which I had engaged a speaker to give an illustrated slide show on our village and its immediate surroundings. It was a fascinating talk, and I think even people who have lived here all their lives found at least one new fact about our village. I was especially pleased as despite it being a cold night sixty three people turned up for this evening event. I am so glad that people are showing so much interest.