New Beginnings

Here we are in February once again and I have been so busy that I forgot to celebrate the February festival of Imbolc (pretty neglectful for someone who goes by the name Witchmountain)however, since all the light bulbs in the house seem to have popped at the same time I did light lots of candles by default…

“It is traditional upon Imbolc, at sunset or just after ritual, to light every lamp in the house – if only for a few moments. Or, light candles in each room in honour of the Sun’s rebirth. Alternately, light a kerosene lamp with a red chimney and place this in a prominent part of the home or in a window.” (TheWhiteGoddess.co.uk)

Already the drive home from work is almost completed in daylight and I passed fields that in a certain light were slowly changing from brown, bare earth to green. A good time then to be taking part in an exhibition called New Beginnings.

I drove over to Nidderdale yesterday afternoon and with the “help” of my phone sat.nav. (“GPS signal is lost” was all it could tell me)  I found the studio gallery of Frances Payne exactly where I would have found it earlier, had I just looked at a map made of paper.Once the village shop in Dacre Banks, the gallery has 4 panels of beautiful, delicate stained glass with hand painted birds and it’s the perfect setting for this tiny gallery where Frances also paints and holds workshops. In fact, its tininess gave a renewed spark to the smoldering embers of my own shed dream.

I’m hoping to make the preview evening if I have the energy and enough petrol, after work on Friday, so that I can see everybody else’s work and met the other artists; it’s been good to do something with my own work again and I’m very grateful to have been asked to take part.

And so here is a story that warms my heart and makes me happy in so many ways.Remember the photo competition that Temporary Measure held to celebrate joining Facebook? Well Emma has now made some of the entries in to a new range of Short Story Cards , including this one of little me! I feel like a supermodel ( well, not right now, or in fact ever but if I could time travel…)and the caption is perfect…although the others are very,very funny and this is much more wistful.It’s a bit uncanny because I think that is exactly what I was like as a child, probably humming the theme tune to Black Beauty annoyingly and being incredibly serious about my imaginary horse. We happened to be in Keswick on the very day they were announced so it was a perfect excuse to call by for tea and a bit of chat about the weather, infectious diseases, dealing with “the public” and the joys of self employment. The cards aren’t on the website yet but you can see them on the Facebook page… look out for Womble Girl, my favorite, and be sure to get your order in!

Sadly no mountain pictures as we were stuck down by a mystery fever that left us looking forlornly at the snow dusted,sunlit peaks, too weak to walk further than from one coffee shop to the next and contemplating a future filled with park benches,tartan rugs and thermos flasks ( get well soon Rupert! x).

Now, I promised to giveaway a print when I reached 600 followers on Facebook and suddenly there even more than that! So in honour of all those lovely supporters, my daughter’s 21st birthday and my parent’s 50th wedding anniversary I will pick a winner at random next Saturday.Just leave a comment here or on the Facebook post and I’ll be making up some surprize,prize parcels.