Whimsical Kitten

At 10.30pm I took myself outside with some snacks, a blanket and cushions and settled down to watch the annual Perseid meteor shower which is at its best on the 11th and 12th of August each year. The event is called the Perseids because the point they appear to come from, lies in the constellation Perseus (the Greek mythical hero who killed Medusa and rescued Andromeda from the Ceto a sea monster). Anyway, no sooner had I settled down located Cassieopea, then Perseus and started gazing up at the stars glittering in the sky when some whispy candyfloss clouds came drifting overhead and completely obscured my view! Simba and Ursa love it whenever I do odd things in the middle of the night so we all continued to sit outside on the patio in a big heap woofing at the strange noises eminating from the spinney at the bottom of the garden. Then I got a bit cold and came in and paced around considering whether or not I should give up and go to bed (where Ben was sensibly located and fast asleep). After 15 minutes I decided to have one last look and to my delight found the sky completely clear and seconds later saw my first shooting star. I counted a total of 15 shooting stars, some of which were really spectacular and finally retired to bed at midnight when the cloud cover once again came over to obscure my view. I didn’t have the technology to take any photos, so here is a picture that I found on the internet to illustate what I saw.

I can’t recall a time for a while now where I felt so much love and happiness, we spent a wonderful day, with wonderful friends, a hog roast and barn dancing.

9am round to Kates house for the Bride, Bridesmaids and Matron of Honour to have breakfast and get ready.

Then off to the Registry Office to have the legal ceremony.

Then a journey to the site of the handfasting ceremony in Alex’s very fine Land Rover.

All the guests start to arrive, family and friends.

Then the handfasting ceremony commences.

Then we eat, drink and are merry – with a beautiful wedding cake made by Rebecca, and a fantastic feast from Auntie Maureen.

Blessed Be!

Kate had in addition to a wonderful traditional Hen Night, a Moonlodge with her girlfriends in my back garden. A Moonlodge was in ancient times a place where the women folk of the Tribe would retreat, as the name suggests at the time of the full moon (our Moonlodge was two days before the full moon and sadly it was so overcast and rainy we didn’t get to see the moon at all!). Together they would discuss the affairs of the tribe, any new medicinal knowledge aquired (very apt as Kate starts her nurse training in October) and their understanding of the earth and the universe. They would also counsel and heal each other and often the Moonlodge was a right of passage from girlhood to womanhood or a symbol of rebirth. As you can see from the photos we camped out despite the rain so as to be close to nature, a lovely time was had by all including my dogs, and we fully intend to continue the Moonlodge tradition within our circle of friends.

If Ben & I lived in Springfield we would look like this!

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