A time for thistle in your Bong, a Yurt and a song, so goes the clock in the merry meadows

[Papillon]

The grass heads hang before my eyes,
as the dirt rises up and facepacks the sky
The thistledown fallen lays light upon my back
nestling through my lashes all stacked

The dastard are now a faint murmur
for I exist now much firmer
in a place
where time
is a thistle in your Bong, a Yurt and a song

so goes the clock in the merry meadows

LOl Paps how long is this title?

That is a truly wacky poem! Love it and it sounds quite summery which is good for in my part of the lands it is cold, cold, cold.

In the bleak midwinter
Frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron,
Water like a stone;
Snow had fallen,
Snow on snow,
Snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter,
Long ago.

Yet we have a fire in the library and a wonderful tree decorated with birds and candles and thistledown painted by the fairies and each of us here has their own bauble to signify who they are in the yurt and further afield.

My bauble is glittery and painted like an impressionist painting with flowers and water and one mountain with an eagle flying over it.

There are candles everywhere including my favourite jo malone scented ones and the smell in the yurt is mingled with cooking and pine.

I am off to bake mince pies and make puddings, chutney and pickles. I have also made a wonderful cake and some of our famous cookies and buns ready for the solstice.

The title came out then the poem to go with it. My mind is a light frame of less is more

The bauble sound wonderful, my papillon is brown, red and white. She sometimes sits in one place and sometimes flies around the Tree to see the other baubles.

Today I have made Savoury scones, filled with vegetables and cheese for the children. As they run from one party to another. It will keep up their energy

Yum I think I will have one. I have made some cheese one goats milk and one blue cheese which has been in the yurt pantry for some time.

Am having a leisurely day visiting the masseur and the nail bar for festive nails alongside a trip to the yurt spa and relaxing on your summer deck in the sunshine which is a real tonic today. (rl rain rain rain and more rain)

We need rain here, its such a dry region. I enjoy a walk in the forest, a light rain falls like mist and I feel moisturised and nourished in a film of dampness.

It is warm rain and I continue on the birds fly with me, some rest on my arms and we talk in of the feathered frequencies of enjoyment.

Nearly the solstice and there is a big bonfire ready and the food lies waiting. The decorations glisten in the still waiting air whilst the animals quiet to welcome the light.

Your warm mists of rain sound lovely Paps but I am staying in the crisp cold today with sparkling snow and a fierce cold sunshine.

In the library I spy gothicmama lighting the fires and candles and gathering her babies around her.

Had a good solstice Paps and enjoyed the bonfire and cheer of yule. The night was cold and starry and the sparks from the fire lit the air and crackled all around us lighting our way for the next year and showing us the paths we will follow alongside glimmers of the openings which we will find before us in the coming year.

Three wise men walked into the Yurt
One of them was hurt
another recovered
the other yet to be discovered

now all three loved the same thing
and in harmony they came to sing
of a girl with butterflies in her hair
who romanced them into dismal repair

they cawed their case
each one intent on their hearts space
but the solstice will run its tide
despite their battle which will ride

until the butterfly settles down her wings

The horse Glimmer takes flight, Papillon upon her back she will journey into the four winds of all direction.

I too am journeying but on friday and for now am watching the fires and enjoying the comforts of food. We have spice from the orient and vanilla from Madagascar, figs dried in the sun and honey from thyme in mountains across Greece. We have oranges and clementines studded with cloves from Portugal and cheese from France. We have chocolate from Belgium and France and cakes from Spain.

Hams are cooking with cranberries from America and the lands smell exotic and homely at the same time as the scent of spice blends with the fire and frosty air.

I will take a sack of these things with me on my travels searching for messages brought to me by birds and animals in the New Year. Whilst the year is young I plan to take stock and to try to envision my year to come the hopes and dreams which will be met as the old year ends adn the new one begins.

To all in the lands I wish joy, peace and light.

The wind is my guide as my thoughts travel across the land, my body at the yurt lies quietly.

Over the land I feel the joy, peace and light Glitterfairy sent on her wishing harp. Recreation and direction are aride my breast and I wake to its call, feeling what I must, casting off the net of life and living above its pull as I astral travel.

When I wake I will contemplate, strength my body and astral work with yoga and eat a light meal, then retunr to travelling.

Ahhh paps that is the wind of change and you have brought it to the lands to whisper to us this New Year. At this time when worlds are moving and shifting, seasons breaking and forming and the old is giving way to the new the wind whispers of opportunities.

I ride the wind tonight reveling in its speed and strength listening to its voices and cries. The air is fresh and cold and the stars are so near. I think about the old times and those to come and know that I must take my future in my hands and mould it as best I can directing my life into new planes of travel this year.

I am drinking raindrops and singing a song of renewal.

Hello the lands! I have been carousing for New year with Beetroot and am now back to say hello and Happy New Year Paps!

I am going to spend a couple of days wallowing in a mud bath, visiting the massage therapist and aromatherapist and have my nails done. Then I am tripping off to the market to buy lost of healthy veg and make soup.

Happy New Year to you too Glitterfairy At New Year, I sat in good company and spirit, in the hot sparkling thermal pools. Creatures with elaborate head attire shimmered and moved, ethereal in manner and conversation about the pool engaging in winning social talents that lifted the spirits of everyone present.

I like my spirits being lifted Paps. I also like those pools and am jumping into them today for a warming experience.

After the pool I am off for a ride and a lounge amongst the prairie grass to look at the little creatures running around which I cannot see from my horse. As I watch their life in microcosm I will start to understand the Buddhist notion of awareness and to really look at the whole picture properly.

Lots of love to the little papettes this new year from all of us glitters.

A small seat in a large field has been placed within the realm of totem poles. There tonight will sit the Fullmoonfield, a glow upon her tranquil face as the lotus flower she holds on her lap, reflects her fullness and serenity.

In the distance the fairyflies watch, nimbly dancing in the gentle breeze of the night.

The heat of the day subsides and the grass heads wave goodnight.

My hammock is prepared for the night, under the boughs of the Bong Tree. She sways gently, rocking my soul into the slumbers of the subconscious. A slight afterglow from the field upon my form.

That should be "Merry Meadows" Not field hehe but fullmoonmerrymeadows doesnt have the same ring to it...!

and a very Happy New Year to Melsy, Gothicmama, ShinyHappy people, FullMoonField... and anyone else that has lurked, posted or accidently stumbled upon this land of kinship

Each petal of that lotus flower has turned to silver and the stone in the middle is a glittering diamond after the effect of the fullmoon.

I spent the night in my thistledown bed and am now walking today far and wide around the lands with a picnic lunch of bread and cheese and a few pickled onions which are my great weakness.

I am visiting the mountains tomorrow and camping in a hut for the night where the meal will be pasta soup with a little meat and veg added in and the bed will be hard but warm. The snow is deep on the mountains and I am having a lesson in using ice picks and crampons. My guide is a climber from India who is also discussing zen and the art of climbing with me as we go.

My guide today is a Tibetan Terrier who sniffs and learns everything in her path. We travel lightly as I sleep in the warmth of her long coat at night.

She is teaching me to be prey and predator. To intuit my felt reactions and sit serenely in myself whether moving at a fast pace or sitting at rest.

Papillon do you have to shrink to fit in her coat?

I like the idea of sitting serenely in yourself though. I ma not sure I ever have.

In order to get there though I have decided to undertake a further night on the mountain and to stay a while in my hut up here in the clouds. Every morning I shall seek out the rock at the top of the highest peak around and sit up there waiting for enlightenment whilst watching the clouds below and the birds flying.

Today it is cold and rainy in my part of the lands so I am flying off to visit paps in the sunny lands and to enjoy the warmth and sunshine.

I shall come back feeling more cheerful and refreshed and we will while away the day chatting and reading together. Oh and Paps you are cooking!

I like the idea of being shrunken to fit upon the back of a dog. Her movements become mine and me lets slip into her keen senses when I focus.

Today I meet Glitterfairy and we discuss serenity. It is a warm day while she visits me in the South, but we sit under the trees on cane recliners and the gentle breeze cools our brows. The breath of the wind plays the leaves, rustling of the gentle peace that serenity brings. A whisper takes our muscles and relax them. The tick of a clock grows quieter, the measure longer and slower as moments pass.

our breathing gentles and lengthens and we become aware of the smallest things, the veins on a leaf, the drowsy sound of a bee, the movement in the grass as the breeze plays with it and the patterns of light made by sun through branch and leaf.

We sit in stillness and admire the intricate and infinitesimal world around us each particle making up a joyful whole.

thistles move before us in orgone
the air becomes charged in concentration. We can hold the thistle and feel its energy, know it and be in a deeper dimension of this World. The drowsy sound of the bee is the thistle and the song of the Yurt can be heard before us and from behind. The eyes are not the only to see this vista before us, our sight roams further than the seeing eye, taking us on journeys in related calm and emotional succession.The fence holds green pasture in balance, each inviting to one another. The meadows are full of children making tunnels in the grass and huts in the shrubs.

The THistle is an interesting and beautiful plant often looking softer than it feels in the hand.

The children are drowsy now in the sunshine and from the screaming and shouting of their play. They are curled up in their huts in the meadows and we sip apple vodkas and pomegranate martinis in ice cold glasses whilst they doze talking of the world and exploring new and creative ways to meet the challenges to come.

After much travel upon a dusty carpet ride, we arrive to a carpark of 30 odd cars and a portaloo with a mirror and hand basin. It is not long till we discover the group who had gone ahead of us. wE walk the swing bridge and enter the forest, climbing a small ridge, it is dry but their are many different plants.

A 2000 year old Totara stands before us and ancient Cabbage Trees. Majestic trees of multiple human eras. After it is so hot we swim in the river and cool down. In the evening we fish by the sea, to hunt for our dinner. From forest to ocean traversing a jorney in one day.