Come, Brendan, from the ocean,
Come, Ternan, most potent of men,
Come, Michael valiant, down
And propitiate to me the cow of my joy.
Ho my heifer, ho heifer of my love,
Ho my heifer, ho heifer of my love.
My beloved heifer, choice cow of every shieling,
For the sake of the High King take to thy calf.

Come, beloved Colum of the fold,
Come, great Bride of the flocks,
Come, fair Mary from the cloud,
And propitiate to me the cow of my love.
Ho my heifer, ho heifer of my love.

The stock-dove will come from the wood,
The tusk will come from the wave,
The fox will come but not with wiles,
To hail my cow of virtues.
Ho my heifer, ho heifer of my love.

I am gearing up for the camping season again but oddly can’t motivate myself to look at my seed packets yet. Something is at odds in the ether. I can’t work this out yet. All my energy currently seems focussed on Beltane Camp – might also be because its my next holiday and I do really like those. There’s only so much of work I can have then I jut HAVE to have one! I suppose in that I am not alone!

I have commissioned him outdoors to create a hanging contraption in my bell tent. This is based on a wondrous cord and rod system created by a very clever Druid camper which I observed and reported on last Lughnasadh. I must have somewhere to hang things – its a serious problem with a bell tent as opposed to a tradtional tent, design, though current models are coming with rings on the pole and you can buy a gripping device with sort of ‘brakes’ on it to hang various lightweight things on.

My latest purchase in the pimp your bell tent campaign is a ‘bushlite’ candle lantern. Again, I spotted one in another bell tent last summer and it emits a wonderful warm light, and a surprising amount of it. Much nicer than the nasty harsh white light from the LEDs on my old wind-up lantern. I spent the last week going somewhere I thought I never would – fishing discussion fora – to check out the best make to buy. Uco do a stylish looking one which runs for 9 hours off an Uco candle, and 15 they say off one of their beeswax ones. But the candles are a bit pricey and possibly hard to get hold of.

The Bushlite runs on ordinary Price’s houshold candles, so I opted for that one. Plus a reflector and a fancy carrying case. So now I shall be illuminated with a warm ambiance this Beltane – the reports say that they knock out a surprising amount of heat too, certainly enough to take the chill off and keep the condensation down, which will be welcome on fresh April evenings!

Over the past year algae has developed on the chalk and he needs a bit of revamp, does the lad, so the National Trust are setting to to fettle him up a bit. Its no wonder really, considering the events of last year, when the Pagan community was outraged when a same sized Bart Simpson figure was spray painted on the hillside next to him, desecrating a sacred site and potentially damaging flora and fauna. I don’t know what the National Trust were thinking of – I mean, you wouldn’t do that in St Pauls, would you?

A similar disgrace occured at the Long Man of Wilmington when Trinny and Susannah marched scores of women up the hill dressed in white with the intention of giving the Long Man a sex change, complete with boobs and a hairdo. Some of the Druids I know mounted a peaceful protest at the site in robes, and were largely ignored and occasionally maligned and certainly misrepresented. I believe that there was an apology to the Pagan community after that, but it happened, and insensitivity to the Pagan traditions and to the sanctity of the land seems rife.

Our only wish is to care for the land which sustains us all, and which we love so deeply.

Four Bright Poppies

Its been a long road with my good friend, artist Sue Bartlett. She is of ‘mature years’ and yet has clearly always had a talent for artistic expression. She is also one of the most vibrant, optimistic and ‘present’ people I know – which it has to be said is unusual for an artist. This boundless energy and enthusiasm of a person awake and alive in a world full of colour and potential, sings in her work.

I first met Sue when I stumbled through her art class on my way to my pottery workshop where I was making handbuilt goddess figures, much to the concern of the vicar’s wife who sat next to me and worried that I was gong to start on a male version, which sadly I did not get the opportunity to do. This was because Sue, in her bright eyed way and showing me her beautiful and impressive nudes, drew me right into her art class, and there is another story…

A couple of years later Sue emailed me to say that she had been to look at a BA Fine Arts course and the smell of the paint and the stacked up easels had been too much for her, and she had enrolled on a three-year part time degree course. I saw less of her as she slogged it out, working very hard to fit the degree in with running her business. I had the pleasure of student shows, one of which was in Brick Lane in London, and supported Sue both with presence and encouragement, watching her develop and grow through some tough feedback from her tutors. For me, she was a perfect example of someone who listens, takes on feedback well, uses it and grows with it. When we are able to do this we push ourselves into the achievement of our potential. This is what Sue has done.

Since Sue completed her degree she has become highly successful. When she takes her work into galleries it is often described as ‘sumptous’ and it is highly unusual, vibrant, colourful and organic, using coloured wax as its main medium. She is a top seller accross Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Surrey and we suspect that one mega superstar, who the gallery owner quite rightly would not reveal, now owns one of her ‘cup cakes’ – a favourite theme.

What is wonderful for Sue is that she has now been able to devote more of her time to her art, and works for 3 days a week from her studio! She has taken some convincing of the fact, but she is now a genuine, real McCoy, practising artist!

All this would explain my great pleasure to recieve my beautiful invitation yesterday to Sue’s very first solo exhiition at one of Oxford’s most prestigious galleries. Sue has been working hard in recent months to produce an impressive body of new work. The exhibition, entitled ‘Pausias Passion’ at Sarah Wiseman Gallery in Summertown, Oxford, promises to be a visual treat, and well worth a look at.

Toby won a gold for his garden made from recycled materials at Gardeners’ World Live this year, so I am pleased to see the Geoff Hamilton tradition continuing in organic gardening making the most of what is to hand – its certainly the way we do things around here – very little gets wasted and what does go goes to Freecycle!

I am a tad disappointed not to see a woman at the GW helm – as it was certainly time, and there are lots of us about, lets face it. Alys would have done a grand job, I’m sure.

It shows the Caminito del Rey (the little walkway of the King), which was an approach route to Andalusian climbing country, and was sent to me by my other half, who is an avid mountaineer and is planning a Himalaya trip as I type. If this is the sort of thing he does then I’m better off not knowing anything about it!

What I do quite like about it, in an anarchic sort of way, is the total ‘up yours’ to risk assessment! Although it has to be said that the entrances to the path have been blocked and walking it is prohibited – bonkers thrill seekers have still managed to find their way onto it, as the video shows:

Here’s the link

I have just spotted an intriguing piece on Damien Hirst’s installation Pharmacy in the Tate Modern. Damien tells of how he came to make the work when he considered that people trust medicine more than they trust art. Prescribed drugs are seen as beyond doubt – problem solvers, death defiers, cure-alls. Clutching their comforting little prescription, people swallow the pill thoughtlessly, and yet they question art. The installation contains four step-ups with a bowl containing honey placed on each, and an insect killer mounted on the ceiling. This is Damien’s challenge in the chemist’s shop – where death is a thing which is denied, he invites it in and has set it up in the form of lures and electric shocks. The four beautiful apothecary bottles lined up on the counter represent the four elements – earth, air, fire and water.

It leads me into thinking about healing and personal responsibility – and how so many of us have surrendered our power and total trust to the world of conventional medicine.

Bell Bottom battened down for a stormy evening

My new bell tent has just been out for the third outing, and considering the vast range of weathers it had to cope with, I thought it was time for another report!

Bell tenting has really captured the imagination of the Druid camping community and there is now a large array of them, and very beautiful they look too nestled together around little hearth fires like tiny settlements. As we happened to be at the bottom of a large field, with the caravans and ‘pleasure palace tents’ at the top – dubbed ‘Knob End’ – it was inevitable that ‘Bell End’ was the emerging nomenclature, though we did prefer ‘Bell Bottom’!!!

As described in the first report, I had decided to go for a 4 metre standard tent as the weight of the deluxe version, with its sewn in heavyweight groundsheet, had put me off. The ‘roll-up’ sides of the basic model really came into their own this week though – it was a sauna in the tent without this and the through breeze was very welcome on the extremely hot days we experienced. Some bell tenters have really ‘pimped up’ their tents with sun canopies outside as well – the shade was a very popular spot with lots of us crowded around under it!

4 metres diameter seems like a huge space with usually only me in it, though I am not too well at the moment so my teenage daughter put the tent up for me and stayed in it on the first night. She managed absolutely fine with direction from the camp chair with me in it!!! The ground was very hard after the heat and a mallet was essential. We did however have some very high winds, thunderstorms and torrential rain, which was very refreshing after the heat, with many Bell Bottom residents dancing joyfully in the downpour! The tent withstood all of this and was perfectly dry. My pegs needed bashing back in a couple of times as the wind got up and I am thinking of investing in heavier duty ones for the base of the sides, which can come loose and flap about, leading on one occasion to the escape of a pair of knickers which had been carelessly tossed aside!!!

One  bell tenter had invested in a 5 metre which looked absolutely palatial – sheer luxury, and with his beautiful dog Chief guarding it, represented the Chieftan’s roundhouse at the entrance to the village!

Having only bought my tent in April things are still a bit basic and I am planning improvements. I need more flooring so am saving old quilts and rugs. I also need a burner to brew up independently rather than cadging hot water off other campers. I also checked out a very beautiful hanging device in a couple of tents using heavy duty string and wooden rods, which allowed for hanging a lamp and rigging up a lightweight washing line for airing towels etc. Very useful.

I am planning on going to the Wilderness Gathering with the tent but the next big trip will be at Samhain, so I am thinking now of insulation and warmth as it can be very cold at night going into November.  Many tenters are thinking about woodburning stoves but this freaks me a bit, not to mention the cost, so I am looking at a small catalytic heater just take the chill off at bedtime and in the morning. I have reserved an inner tent as well, which provides another ground sheet and extra insulation, making a four season tent. As I am a tent slob, it should also help to keep things tidy by having the bedding and clothing (including the knickers!!) zipped up during the day!!

All in all, summer bell tenting was a wonderful and romantic experience. I am well and truly ‘hooked’ and can’t get out in it often enough!

Wow, this stuff is REALLY exciting now – I have never enjoyed or eaten so much stuff I have grown myself ever before – and I LOVE IT!!! I read something Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall (my hero!) said the other day about the ‘throw away’ food culture – when you have grown it yourself you treasure it – it means a lot to you – so you cook it and eat it with respect, whether that is a radish or prize beef. Even my thinnings we either eat or compost, and all outer leaves, unsuccessful plants, carrot tops etc. go back into the compost bin to feed next year’s crops – its a way of life now. Yes, it takes longer to wash and process things, but it is an act of love and respect and I firmly believe that this love goes back into our bodies, along with super fresh, super foods. Here’s some photos I took this morning of my pride and joy!