I just have to share with you one of my favourite bands from the enchanted world, The Gypsy Nomads. This vibrant duo, are a joy to behold, not only talented but humorous with their original music too. I was lucky enough to catch them at the Spoutwood Fairie Festival, and they had me transfixed. Their mixture of genius musicality together with an obvious enjoyment in what they do, is a delight. Scott Helland and Samantha Stevenson have such energy you cannot believe that there are only two of them on stage, playing guitar, drums, percussion, with great vocals! My feet were tapping from the minute I heard them, swirling dance moves were in my heart (and are what I do at home to their unique sound), such fantastic rhythms! Having had the pleasure of also chatting with them, they are really lovely folk too, and so happy that we appreciated their music. Scott is also an artist and you can see more on their site www.thegypsynomads.com

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(photos here) A few years ago in the summer, we rescued a baby bat from our garage floor. It was a tiny, perfect Pipistrelle, complete with minute fangs! This was the first time that I had been so close to a bat, let alone had to care for one around the clock. As dusk falls here the air is alive with these amazing creatures, flitting and sweeping through the air, right near to the house but using their echolocation of course to avoid collision. We took advice from our local Animal Rescue Centre who told us what to do and they did warn us that if the bat was too young to have prematurely left the maternity roost, then the chances of him being able to build his body weight quickly enough to be able to fly back into the wild were pretty slim. We, of course, still wanted to try, and fed him mashed up dog food and droplets of water from the tip of a fine paintbrush (see how useful these can be!) This was a regime I stuck to with great devotion as he clambered over my hand and arm using his little wing hooks. When he opened his mouth wide, like any baby expecting food would, he actually had a pointed tongue – no wonder these creatures have become so mythical! After a few days we were then advised to try to encourage him to fly. So as evening came, we climbed up high onto the tree deck and, while holding a blanket underneath in case he fell, we held out our hands with batty upside down, holding onto a pencil, in the hope that he would sense the night air and his fellow beings, and take off. Sadly, although we tried this for several days, he only ever began to fall and after a week in all, we found him dead in the shoebox that had become his temporary home. We were all devastated as he’d become like part of the family and we felt as though we’d failed him. But the Rescue Centre explained that his chances had always been extremely doubtful and one doesn’t normally ever see these babies if they fall from their roosts, as predators usually find them, it was a fluke that we’d even got to him first. That week will always remain special to me as I felt deeply privileged to have been able to give that little guy at least a fighting chance, and so honoured to have shared those days with such an interesting creature. This precious protected species, with his big ears and tiny clicking noises, quite audible to us, was such a gift and although he just couldn’t manage to build up his body mass enough, even with our help, we have wonderful memories of that time. Let’s hear it for batty bat!

Magical Blessings, Be

“Do one thing every day that scares you.” - Eleanor Roosevelt