Good Afternoon my loves,
Today the sky is covered by a white grey blanket and I am spending the day listening to Osho's guided meditations, lectures (can Osho be said to lecture?) and music, reading 'I Capture the Castle' by Dodie Smith and drinking tea. 'I Capture the Castle' is a book that I've seen so many people talk about, I first picked it up many years ago in the highschool library but could never get into it, so now I'm trying a little harder, with a little more focus. Today seems a rather good day to read this book, Cassandra talks so much about the rain and dreary weather beating against their castle home that I can imagine it very clearly.
I bought myself a variety of Francesca Lia Block books last week which are now starting to arrive, I'm afraid I read the Weetzie Bat books a thousand years after everybody else so I'm only now delving into Francesca's sugar and lemon writing. So far I have 'Violet & Claire', 'Psyche in a Dress' and 'Ruby' to read, I have 'I Was a Teenage Fairy' yet to arrive.
Yesterday on the way home in the car we were listening to an interview with Rolf Harris. I have to say that he is one of my heroes, I grew up watching him on television and I just love his personality, his voice and his positivity. He just seems like such an amazing man, I never know the answer to the question 'if you could invite anybody to a tea party who would you invite?' when I'm asked, but at this moment I would certainly say that Rolf Harris would have a place for sure!
Here are the photos I took on my last night at home. I was feeling restless after we ate dinner so I went out for a walk with my parents and their dog to the lake next to our house. It was a lovely walk and I just soaked up the smells of everything and the sights, everything in bloom. This lake is where my young soul grew, immersed in all the greenery, scrambling and crawling around with my friends or alone. We made up so many stories of this place, these lands, scary stories and sweet, we explored places we were not meant to be, and places that were secret. This was a place that gave the impression of being endless, you could walk and walk and it seemed as though it never ended. Every place you found seemed like it was only yours, like nobody else had ever or would ever find it, and like you too might never find it again. Nothing there belonged to anybody, it didn't even belong to you, it belonged to itself and that was how it should be. I grew up in a world of secret places, my cousins and I built dens and hideaways in places that nobody else went.
The land itself is protected, over the years so many businesses have tried to get the rights to build on it and have been constantly denied. It needs protection, it would break my heart if it were ever destroyed. When you go there it is so peaceful, so perfect as it is, I can't imagine wanting to ever make it into anything else.
When I go there I remember everything I've done there, all the people I've been with and the times I've been alone. Some of the memories are still painful yet it seems that the place just soaks up all those memories and all the pain and holds you, just as you are, and promises that when you come back in the future and remember where you are now as the past, it will keep your memories of now and hold you then.
It is the green sweet scent jungle of my soul.
Grandfather Clocks were abundant all over the place, you could make a thousand wishes and still have a thousand more.
The fence where we used to climb over as children has grown over with trees.
A young Sycamore tree growing, the new leaves are still purple red.
We went to search for tadpoles, something I've done since I was a little girl. We found them and I climbed down the bank and dipped my hand into the cold water. When I was young we used to collect them in a bucket and bring them home to transfer into a tank with stones for them to rest on as they grew. I'd watch them every day, changing, and when they got older and turned into tiny, perfect frogs we would set them free again.
Mayflowers were out in full bloom, I never realised there were so many hawthorn trees planted there.
I wasn't sure what this was when I first found it, and I must say I'm still not totally sure, but it may be a wild lily, and you'll see why soon.
The Wise Eye Tree. Doesn't the knut in the tree look like a perfect eye? I love finding things like this in nature. It's still a very young tree, though it has a wise soul, and it will grow and grow and share everything it knows.
Does anybody know what these are? We couldn't determine but there were a lot of them growing.
I believe this is some form of wild orchid, it is so tiny. There are very rare wild orchids at the lakes somewhere, though there isn't a specific mention of their location anywhere so people can't find them and pick them.
I spotted a lot of snails, like little secrets left on the leaves for you to find. Rewards for looking deeper.
I'm not sure what these are either, some form of wild grass. They're very pretty.
We met a Labrador with his owner, his name was Teddy. He was extremely playful and raced in and out of the water and kept coming up to my parents dog to try and play, but I must admit she isn't the bravest of dogs!
My family picking dandelions for their bearded lizard (and the locusts that he eats!) to munch on. I picked some dandelion flowers for the rats.
A field full of cows. I thought all the fields for cows had been made into houses so I was really, really happy to see these here. Steven always laughs when I tell him how much of my childhood I spent trying to convince my cousins that we really didn't need to go cow tipping, but it was a real problem! Why on earth little boys want to tip over poor sleeping cows I don't know, what is that about?
A young bull was feeling a little solitary, though he seemed very happy. He was laying down for some time just before I took this photo.
Wild Morning Glories growing in the hedgerows. Aren't they beautiful?
and wild Lilies! I was so surprised to see these because in all my years growing up there I never once spotted them before. This is why I'm wondering if the little shoot we saw before was a lily too.
My mama blowing on a Grandfather Clock that I picked for her.
Look at her little froggy gremlin face! She truly is a very good Goblin Mama!
and a little sneaky thing from my parents garden, I'm not sure of the flowers name but it is very beautiful.
Did you have a special secret place growing up?
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