The delightful Katy Marchant is the director and founding member of this wonderful group of medieval musicians and theatre players who are a visual treat and capture what it must have been like so many years ago when this kind of entertainment was our way of storytelling. Their amazing music is played on authentic instruments and this troupe mix together their great musical talent with drama, dance and old fashioned stilt walking skills, using hand made masks and traditional costuming to fantastic effect – these original entertainers take us back into our past and a time when humour and interactive story telling was the only way to hold a crowd’s attention and of course nowadays hold us transfixed! Their attention to detail and authentic reproduction of their sound from the Middle Ages and visual effects are astonishing, together with their understanding of how folk used to celebrate festivals intertwined with the natural rhythms of the year. Daughters of Elvin are such a treat in this modern high tech world and reverently carry with them a tribute to our folklore heritage, the keepers of the old magical treasures. As their web site is being redeveloped at the moment, you can learn more and hear them at http://www.myspace.com/daughtersofelvin

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(photos here) When you were little, did you ever hold a buttercup underneath someone’s chin to see if the delicious colour reflected in their skin, knowing that if it did, then they liked butter? I love it that every new generation of kids think they’re the first to figure this out, I was asked to partake in this experiment many times when I was a teacher on playground duty. I still adore these bright, deep yellow, wildflowers that creep and grow profusely in our garden and bring a welcome warm feeling on gloomy days. I know that buttercups are thought of as weeds, but how can one be offended by something so happy looking, they’re like little suns dotted all over the grass and along the hedgerows!

Magical Blessings, Be

“Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you.” – Maori proverb

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

Many years ago I was fortunate enough to be invited to an evening out at Gloucester Cathedral to hear this gorgeous ensemble. I adore our local cathedral and although I’d never heard of them before, I went willingly and truly had the most delightful evening, the amazing acoustics in that ancient space perfectly amplifying these ladies beautiful voices. The Mediaeval Baebes are not only lovely to look at but their music is an important echo of days gone by, with complicated harmonies made to sound easy, accompanied by instruments from long ago, melding together in a wonderful sound, timeless in its appeal. (Having gone on to briefly study this period in our musical history, I can vouch as to how challenging it is to sing and play.) There is a magical quality to the Baebe’s sound that enchants your ears as they make long lost music relevant today, playing with the melodies and often singing in the old, traditional languages. I was also thrilled to see them perform again a few years later, as they do each year, at our local castle where they grace the annual Joust and make their entrance on the arms of knights in shining armour! Their web site is www.mediaevalbaebes.com where you can find details on their albums, all of which I can heartily recommend.

(photos here) I am addicted to hanging crystals in all of our windows because I love the rainbows that the prisms make, dancing all around the rooms as the sun shines in. The colours are so pure and bright and as the air moves them, these seem to touch everything with their magic. These crystals even sparkle in the moonlight and that brings its own special enchantment… This is one of my simpler blessings and, maybe as I live in the UK, I’m more grateful for sunshine than others, but these beautiful rainbow colours are something that I give thanks for, every time they grace my home.

Magical Blessings, Be

“It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that things are difficult.” - Seneca

A few years ago, through the visionary artwork of Jack Shalatain (EFBlog 8), I came across an amazing composer called Neil H - www.neilhmusic.co.uk - Jack’s wonderful paintings were gracing the covers of a couple of the CD’s, one of which being ‘Secrets of Faeries’, that Neil H had produced and fitted the sounds beautifully. Neil’s music is evocative and gentle, and having had the great pleasure of listening to his music with him live, I found it was an extremely relaxing place to be! This is music for meditation and inspiration, with melodies that soothe the spirit, aid clearer thought and take you to another realm if you wish. Neil is a lovely man whose entrancing and heartening music often provides the perfect music for us here.

(photo’s here) I wanted to share with you our experience last year of these two squirrels that had taken up residence in the roof of our old goat house. Now normally, these grey animals drive me nuts (!) not only because I am a huge fan of the gorgeous native Red squirrels that are so endangered possibly due to this grey variety, but that the ones in our garden were constantly hogging the bird food and had succeeded in munching through many feeders before I was forced to buy the totally squirrel-proof ones!! They would sit for ages, helping themselves to anything that dropped or manage to climb up impossible poles, hang upside down and balance with great agility. (JellyBean and I would keep guard and fly outside to shoo them off, but they’d just run away a few feet and boldly wait until we went back inside.) In the autumn we had been watching them with amusement prepare for the winter, collecting hazelnuts off the bushes, playing together and jumping on each other, suddenly sitting straight up like Meerkats, revealing their white bellies when they were alerted, and gathering leaves and dry grass for nest material with which they’d scamper back to their house with their mouths all stuffed full. Then, by late spring, there were three – yup, they’d had a baby and totally didn’t have him under control at all. This little youngster of theirs, had them chasing him all over the place, he was racing up and down the trees faster than his poor parents could follow and then trying to leap from branch to branch and often slipping, which had us all worried too. All the while he squeaked and squealed and had us in fits of laughter and educated in the facts that even squirrel parents have trouble too…

Magical Blessings, Be

“It is better to have lived one day as a tiger than a thousand years as a sheep.” – Tibetan proverb

Blackmore's Night is the magical combination of the gorgeous Candice Night, whose voice is wonderful and is as lovely as she looks! and Ritchie Blackmoor who is one of our treasured music heroes whose breathtakingly talented guitar playing leaves one speechless. Together with their fantastic band, they are Blackmore's Night and make the most enchanting music you could wish to hear. If ever you have the opportunity, please go and treat yourself to an evening like no other. These two special folk have devoted fans all over the world, including our family, and are welcomed with open arms wherever they travel. Their beautiful, evocative and inspirational music is a joy to listen to, from haunting, dreamlike, melodic ballads to upbeat, infectious, thrilling rhythms that bring you to your feet and all this with a great sense of humour and warmth. Their web site is www.blackmoresnight.com - make your ears happy! (Candice is also Faerie Magazine's Faerie Queen and I shall write more on that special subject another day.)

 

Magical Blessings, Be

“To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides.” - David Vissott