Friday

January is nearly over!

We’ve suddenly got all crafty at Rhos Hill. Jim decided to make a traditional cottage door. We need a lot of doors; there’s none downstairs and we’ll also need doors in the extension, once it’s finished. He made the door out of fairly narrow, well-planed spruce planks and used black ironmongery to add even more charm. We waxed the door, rather than stain or varnish it, and I’m so delighted with it I go in and out of the lounge just so I can use the quaint little latch. 
Meanwhile, I’ve taken up knitting again. I haven’t knitted since the kids were young. Viv and I used to knit together, side by side, when I lived in Fanshawe Road while Viv’s Adam and my Joe were getting up to  mischief in one of our bedrooms. But I was a terrible knitter; I dropped stitches and got the shape all wrong. I gave away all my patterns and equipment. So I had to go out and buy 2 pairs of needles to get going again. I’d been looking to purchase a pair of wrist warmers all the rage round here, darling – and realized I could knit them at half the shop price. Since then, I’ve done myself a woolly hat and made Jim a pair of  leg warmers for when he sits down in the evenings. I’m on a scarf now...watch this space.
I went over to Vicky’s house in Brongest (about 2 miles up the road). She runs a book club, which I’m planning to join. But she also runs a knitting club, and was trying to recruit me for that, as well. I did try to explain that my knitting skills were patchy, at best. My enthusiasm might turn out to be patchy, too. But I will report back on both clubs at a later date. Vicky lives on her own in a massive old red house. I loved her home and garden; full of flavours of the East, with a massive Buddha in the front garden. She’s raised four children, all of whom have flown the nest and are doing well. The area is chocked with lovely people - slowly we’re meeting so many of them.
The roof is finally going up on the extension; luckily we’ve had exemplary weather while we wait for this development. The oak windows are being made; we’ve got to leave later to chose the shade of oil coating. We had some hiccoughs with the roofing; our project manager wanted a massive slope that blocked out our landing window. The builder (whom I looooove) told us we could have a much small slope; good for heating and light and the look of the thing, and cost! I thought it was supposed to be the Project Manager who kept an eye on the builder, but in our case its the opposite way round. Can totally recommend Huw Parsons, who’s a great builder.

Can’t wait to sit in our new lounge....hopefully all the readers of this blog will join us at some point to sit there too.

Wednesday

January 11th

Hope you all had great pressies for Christmas; we had some great ones. My second favourite is the wonderful richly coloured gown that my freind Ana gave me. I've already worn it to a party!
Rhos Hill snowdrops
But my first has to be the joint present Joe, Bex and Mark gave both of us. A Kindle. Yes, us...a Kindle! I've been enjoying it tremendously. It's going to be particuarly handy when we're away, no more lugging five books with us. But right now, what I'm loving is the ease you can download the book you fancy; when you fancy it, and often for free or a few pence. I'm going mostly for classics I've always wanted to read, because these are often heavy with small print and a feeling of 'worthiness' about them that is sadly off-putting. Reading them on a Kindle means the font can be a comfortable size, and the book is as slender as a sheet of cardboard.

Jim's first buy was Ronald Hutton's Stations of the Sun; it's one of the few books by Ronald we've not read, and that was specifically because the font in the paperback was so tiny. This book moves through the seasons looking at traditions of the British Isles, and begins right now, at Christmas and the new year. It inspired us to Wassail our apple trees with apple juice. We paced around the chosen tree chanting the rhyme...Here's to the, old apple tree, Whence thou mayst bud and whence thou mayst blow! And whence though beat apples enow! Hats full! Caps full! bushel-bushel-sacks full, And my pockets full too! Wassail! Wassail! Wassail! We are hoping for a mammoth crop of apples after all that hard work.

Meanwhile the buiders are back and the extension keeps extending. The man for the windows came yesterday, bringing a sample of the oak windows he's going to fit, and planning is looking to reduce the roof size so that we can still look out of the landing window. It's looking exciting...just a bit cold and wet, without a roof or windows, but it grows ever day and we can't wait to get going on the inside...once there is one.

Tuesday

Unlocking the Secrets of Ancient Worship : The Ness of Brodgar


Ten or more years ago, my imagination was captured by the mind-blowing discoveries at the Ness of Brodgar in Orkney, where the archaeological dig had unlocked some amazing  secrets.

https://www.nessofbrodgar.co.uk
Investigating a prehistoric complex in the heart of Neolithic Orkney

Archaeologists started uncovering this new discovery in a 2010 dig. Brick by brick, bone by bone, they are revealing a 5500-year-old temple complex with more than 100 buildings, surrounded by a 10ft wall. Some of this complex is possible more than 800 years earlier than Stonehenge and could be as, if not more, important than the Wiltshire site.



An artist's impression of what archeologists are uncovering
The full era of the various temples was as long as the whole of the middle ages at least - some were pulled down and new ones built. The doorways into the buildings were twisted and concealed...all of this does suggest that magic was a major part of the world-view of the Neolithic communities, as the sort of worship that might have gone on in the temples suggest a certain ritual element. This only confirms for me personally, that working with ritual magic nowadays is something that is locked into our DNA and only needs to be re-discovered.


The Ness of Brodgar, the thin spit of land where the dig is taking place, links two of the stone circles we saw when we were in Orkney. In the centre of the Stones of Stenness is a square defined by kerbstones. To the east side of the circle is a small ‘cove’ – three waist-high stones. I had no idea what these inclusions are, but then neither did the guide, pontificating to the little crowd of people he’d brought to the site. But he told them (I was lying on my back in the centre square at the time, looking up at the intense blue of the sky), that one night, unable to sleep, he’d come here in heavy mist. He’d got out of the car and become quite disorientated in the mist, not even able to see the stones until up close to them. But when he lay in the square in the centre and gazed up, the stars were clearly visible above him. 


At the other end of the Ness is the Ring of Brodgar. Originally, 60 massive sandstone monoliths stood in a vast circle between two lochs, surrounded by tumuli. There are still enough standing stones to make the heart skip a beat as one walks slowly round, touching them, listening to them. The centre is filled with the purple of heather and dreamy puffs of cotton grass. Each stone is taller than two men, and have slanting tops as if pointing towards the sky, although this is the natural way the stone breaks, apparently. The sandstone is quarried very thin and has the appearance of wafer biscuits.

The Dig will go on, and every year amazing and exciting artefacts are revealed, and our understanding of early man widens. But excavation on this scale is expensive. Each season in the field costs over £100,000. You can donate here,

and find out more about the dig here


This was a fantastic discovery. The full era of the various temples was as long as the whole of the middle ages at least - some were pulled down and new ones built. the doorways into the buildings were twisted and concealed...all of this does suggest that magic was a major part of the world view of the Neolithic farmers, as the sort of worship that might have gone on in the temples suggest a certain rtual element. This only confirms for me personally, that working with ritual magic nowadays is something that is locked into our DNA and only needs to be re-discovered.
We went to Orkney before the dig began but  it was quite apparent to us  that Orkney was a hub of society at that time, rather than an 'outback'.
 We loved our first visit - there's a brief account of it HERE - or you can click at the top of the page to read about all our pilgrimages to the sacred sites of the British Isles.