Life is such a joy when you find that your path once again crosses with special folk but for quite another reason. Neil Geddes-Ward and his wonderful wife Alicen (I’ll do a separate blog on this lovely lady) came into our lives many years ago when they visited our sons Steiner school in Somerset where I was helping teaching and showing new parents round. (We also met again in the Blue Note cafe in our beloved Glastonbury where I often took our boys for a baked potato treat!) Then, when Drew and I became more involved with the Faerie world, we of course all found each other again and I was so excited to meet up with these like-minded souls. Neil is a fantastic guy who makes me laugh till my sides ache. He gets on with everyone, with a knack for putting all folk at their ease. The only sad thing for us, is that their home is so far, far away up in Orkney but what a fantastic place to live, paint, write (as Alicen does so beautifully) and bring up their children – we can’t begrudge them that at all! Especially as they began a Faerie Museum and Gallery up there which is truly enchanting - www.orkneyfaeriemuseum.com Neil’s awesome and evocative pagan and visionary art can be seen at www.neilgeddesward.com and I urge you to visit… Just don’t encourage him to wear his sporran!

Spiders are most welcome here in our home as, living opposite a dairy farm, we get lots of flies – so we see these eight-legged arachnids as our friends! Therefore, how could I be so cruel as to sweep away their homes, wherever they may be… well, that’s my excuse anyway. Watching a spider spin its web is the most fascinating thing to witness and so clever! It makes you stop and breathe slower just by the wonder of it. I’m in awe at observing a fly get caught in a web, the reaction of the spider as it senses the vibration and then the gross part where it wraps its prey in silk, yuk. (Apologies if this has creeped anyone out.) In the mornings, Drew normally draws the short straw to walk down the garden path as the webs will be spun across our way and the first one through gets caught in them all! I love seeing the strings of silk in the grass get caught in the breeze and shimmer. (In the springtime, when all the tiny, perfect babies emerge from a nest it is a delight as they're so fast.) But my favourite of all are the webs that are covered in sparkling dew, especially when the sunlight catches them or when there’s a hoarfrost - that is pure magic to behold.

Magical Blessings, Be

“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” – Ralph Walso Emerson