Easter

Also known as Oestre or Ostara this is a special festival as far as I am concerned. Then again aren't they all? I think its special to me as it is the true beginning of spring. The birds are nesting and the Land is becoming more fertile by the minute. Next thing we know and it will be Beltaine , my favourite festival.

Still no Easter egg hunt this year, at 19 and 14 the children are too old to do it anymore. That's old as in mature , or so they tell me. In their minds perhaps, but to me they will always be children.

And Persephone has returned from the underworld, well she's back for Easter with her head full of essays and a bag full of laundry

Roots

I'm certainly more in a spiritual mindset at the moment, I feel I need to attend to this by getting out onto the Land, doing a bit of walking, visiting some sacred sites and perhaps a bit of dowsing along the path. This is something that I haven't done for sometime. But the weather both here and throughout the UK has been very stormy with winds of up to 60 mph in places. You can hardly get out of the front door never mind visiting any stone circles!

This weekend my daughter is back from uni. Its great to be a family once more. I think this is a great way for us to reconnect, its another way to celebrate Earth too. The family being the heart of all things to me. We've spent some time catching up and I can't get over how mature she has become. She's done a grand job of looking after herself. I'm very proud of her indeed.

Towards Lammas

It's difficult to even contemplate Lammas without sunshine. We've had a long spell of showers accompanied by thick grey clouds in every shade of grey. The sun occasionally peeps through the grey carpet and I rush frantically to sit in the sun chair with a coffee, trying to capture a few precious rays. It doesn't last for long and I end up sitting in the dullness with a cold coffee.

Last week there was a short bright spell and I took the children to the local beach to make the most of it. Now this is a special beach. There's miles ofl fat sand and plenty of dunes to explore, in fact it's a wildlife sanctuary and at the moment home to nesting ringed plover.

This is the place known in Welsh mythology as Cantre'r Gwaelod (one hundred beneath). An ancient land sunken beneath the waves where there lay many villages and forests. It's part of the story of Cerridwen and Gwion. Some say that the floods occurred when Cerridwens cauldron cracked and spilt over, others say that the surrounding walls fell down when a drunken guard failed to secure the gates. Who knows? It certainly is a special place and I'll be heading back there for Lammas with the children for my personal celebration. Hope the sun comes out.

The heart of the home

What exactly is the heart of a home? The fireplace, the kitchen or the family that live there? I explored this recently when, for the first time both my children were away on school trips at the same time. Approaching this with feelings of discomfort I quickly realised that I had not prepared myself for the feelings of loss and emptiness as I missed my children for the few days that we spent apart.

Initially, the separation was difficult but gradually things began to improve as I wondered what we had done with our time all those years ago in our child free days. I needed to fill my time doing all those things that I intended to do but not got round to yet. But I did miss them. Loads.

It was an absolute joy to see them return and have the house filled with people, sweet wrappers and arguements about what to watch on TV. I'll never complain again! The house seemed so quiet and empty without them. The family really is the heart of the home.