Into The Woods, Halloween 2012

 

 

 

 

 

"Like the word wild, the word witch has come to be understood as a perjorative, but long ago it was an appellation given to both old and young healers, the word witch deriving from the word wit, meaning wise.

....the ogress, the witch, the wild nature and whatever other criaturas and integral aspects the culture finds awful in the psyches of women are the very blessed things which women often need most to retrieve and bring to the surface...

To be strong does not mean to sprout muscles and flex. It means meeting one's own numinosity without fleeing, actively living with the wild nature in one's own way. It means to be able to learn, to be able to stand what we know. It means to stand and live."

 

Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Women Who Run With The Wolves

 Buy the book here

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Outfit

Black lace, velvet and satin ballgown made by my granny Kiki in the late 1930s or early 1940s.

 Provencal brown cotton cloak, handsewn in the 18th or 19th century, a family heirloom.

 

 

The Soundtrack

Bats For Lashes Fur And Gold.

 

 

Photographs taken by myself and Mr Eve, using my cheap and basic Kodac EasyShare digital camera.

 

 

Happy Halloween everybody!

 

 

Halloween Parties kindly hosted by Vanessa Valencia of www.afancifultwist.com, click on the website link to see her own party in full swing.

 

I'm also proud to be a part of Visible Monday, hosted by the glamorous Patti from www.notdeadyetstyle.blogspot.co.uk, click on the website link to see her outfit and those of many others.

 

 

 

Gypsy Carriage

Let me show you where we stayed earlier this year.

 

An old railway carriage, converted into a tiny home.

Painted in bright colours, like a gypsy caravan.

 

But more special, more unique.

 

It had a double bed up close to the ceiling.

 

 

 

And a chair to stand on to help you clamber in.

 

A roll topped bath.

 

Hand painted wood, the Somerset hills.

 

A recently planted orchard in the garden. 

 

 

 

Young trees pushing their spindly branches up towards the sky.

 

 

 

Everywhere, green life reaching out, striving to extend itself.

 

 

 

Strengthening itself against the oncoming blows of the wind and the rain.

 

 

  

Over time to bud and flower, to wither, to renew itself or to die.

 

 

 

 

 When we stayed there, I wondered what the railway carriage might have seen in its hundred years.

 

 

 

As it moved through the changing natural landscape, and changing human landscape too.

 

 

 

Who were the people who travelled within it

 

 

 

to their many destinations,

 

 

 

 

carrying the weight of their disappointments and losses behind them.

 

 

 

Driven forward by hope, and the light of the present moment.

 

 

 

 Those flashes of joy.

 

 

 

 

Driven, too, by their dreams of what might happen next in their lives.

 

 

 

I wondered, of those who found what they'd wanted, how many felt it to be enough? 

Perhaps some. Certainly not all.

 

 

 

And those who felt they hadn't enough, did they keep moving on with the propulsion of the railway carriage, forward forward forward until grinding to a halt, hoping finally to be restored?

 

 

 

 

 

 

These photographs were taken at the gorgeous Orchard Carriage near Frome, Somerset UK.

The carriage is available for holiday let, and you can contact the owners and make a booking at:

http://www.canopyandstars.co.uk/britain/england/somerset/strap-lane/orchard-carriage

 

 

 

 

A Halloween Invitation

 

Hold on to your bedpans, the Halloween blog party is drawing near!

I have been invited by the delightful Vanessa Valencia to a spooky Halloween celebration to be held by bloggers across the world. Vanessa is an artist and sculptor based in Arizona, well known for the parties which she photographs for her blog. This year I've decided to join her in inviting you all to a Halloween party of my own.

Please come join us for a frighteningly fun Halloween party on Saturday 27th October, held at my place, Vanessa's, and the homes of many others including YOU if you so wish to participate!

Visit Vanessa's previous Halloween parties, which are on the left side bar of her blog www.afancifultwist.com, to see just how much fun they are, and I do so hope they'll inspire you to create your own or simply to check out our blog party posts on the day.

I look forward to spooking you then.....