Spring at Traou an Dour 16-3-23

Before getting back into the DIY I took the camera for a spin around the garden…

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The heather has started to flower…

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This rockery flower is ~0.5cm across…the bugs are back

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The magnolia is starting to unfurl…

This has been dipped in sherbet…

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Daisy plus bug with psychedelic wings…

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Simple yellow primrose … there are loads of these starting just now

Monsieur Le Heron has started to chill a bit

Grape hyacinth in full bloom…

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Pine cone in the making…

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Baby dandelion with assorted bugs…

Pine needles close up

Rescued azalea coming back to life..

Her Royal Highness – Bowie

In the Bleak Midwinter

The idea was to try to find some colour…

First primrose ~ 1cm across

My glamorous assistant Bowie the non binary stray cat.

Magnolia bud

Pretty in pink

Daffodils will be ready well before Dewi Sant..

Water drop at Traou an Dour

Toffee apples?

Kate Moss?

Daffodil soldiers standing at attention

A rose by any other name – starting to bud already!!

Vibrant violet….

Late November Pondscapes

After the drought the pond is very nearly full, at last. Today there is high pressure and no rain.

As you walk around the pond the lighting changes.

Les Soldats have little leaf left.

Spot the stray cat, top left.

If we sell the house I want this image to be in the blurb.

Next to Le Jaudy looking through the Oaks.

The Oaks on the bank of Le Jaudy taken from Coypu corner.

The Pampas mirror. So far they have survived the Autumn gales…

The Oaks from the football pitch…

The Oaks from near the greenhouse.

Autumn at Traou an Dour

The grass needs cutting and the central section needs clearing up.
As if by magic….
The mowing ninja is back…long shadows at 4pm CET…we are as west as Plymouth
Fresh growth in the field across the road…the earth is a beautiful shade of fertile brown. The farmers are very neat.
Lovely blue sky, les soldats are nearly naked plus a passing magpie..
Mr Heron catching the last of the rays in an oak before dusk…I need a tripod and bigger lens at this range…

The Unhappy Heron

When I went out to work on the pond today, the heron who had been sitting in an oak, flew off in an unusual direction and complained at me. I am pretty sure he was not happy with me. I have been working on the pond on an off for the last week or so. He might be a tad peckish.

Le Jaudy is half way up to our footbridge and in demi-flood.

By the cat bowl method we had ~2cm of rain overnight.

No lunch for Mr Heron from Le Jaudy today..

The nasty human being has been tidying up around the pond and removing my weed cover.

We had beautiful light for a couple of hours. One more session and the pond is done.

Autumnal Hues

There was good light this morning. So I went out into the garden with the macro lens before the stormy rain came. The theme was colour…

ready for red…

just hanging around…

New Zealand rugby…

fluffy white and red

pine cones to be…

there is a bumper harvest of acorns this year…shadows

life at a snail’s pace, reds and greens

the calla lillies are greening up.

wet moss on one of les soldats

Cider With Rosie? check out the grass…

time for a little nap…

An Autumn Contemplation –

If you open the images in a new tab it is better…

My Thai style Avalokiteśvara with patina…

Autumn shadows – I am a big fan of this plant – lots of texture…

Bombus Pascuorum ? Bumble bee on flower with fragile ice like stamens.

Who is the daddy?

An emergent leaf on a rose in the Southern Precinct. Two open palms accepting an offering…

Pampas grass and micro-bug….guess which way the wind blows….

Trippy pink rose tunnel into another dimension…

A sparkling tear from heaven on a pristine rose.

The lady in red – Schizostylis Coccinea – Hesperanthus

Y ddraig from Beddgelert…

Strimmer Frenzy

Oh dear the grass looks long…

If I cut the bank now it will be ready for the primroses early next year….

This is going to take some shifting…

It is about 50m down to Le Jaudy…

It is time for strimmer frenzy, the lawn needs a cut soon too…

The strimmer is 2m long and weighs 15kg…it makes a mess…it has a high vibration 2 stroke motor.

That looks better…

I swept up the cuttings….

Two hours later … I now feel like the strimmer looks…knackered…

The Temple Annexe

This is a visualisation to assist in Dreaming Practice:

It is one of those hot, balmy, end of summer nights. You are dressed in white linen. The sun is low on the horizon and in the process of beginning to set. The sky is starting to pink just a little. There are a few wispy clouds.  You are in a vast field of ripened wheat, the heads of the wheat are curled over and near ready for harvest. You are carefree, no-one is watching. You allow your left hand to fall to your side to touch the wheat, strolling through the field allowing your fingers to touch what one day, will become bread. The feeling of lightness and joy is upon you.  All the stress has gone from you, you feel young again as you stroll through the wheat field. You come upon a tall dry stone wall and start to explore. You run your fingers over the stone, it is much taller than you.  You notice that the sun is now setting and you must go home. Because you have loved the field so much you resolve to come here again at dawn.

It is now just after dawn, and you are back in the field. The air is as crisp as apples and there is a faint dew on the wheat again you allow your left hand to caress the wheat as you meander through the field. Your eyes are bright and alive. As you approach the wall you wonder what lies beyond it. You follow the wall round to your left touching the sometimes mossy stones with your fingertips. Soon you come upon an archway in the wall. It is taller than you and there is an old wooden door there. There is a metal ring painted in black enamel which you know will open the door. Slowly you reach down and raise the lever. The door opens before you. In front of you, you can see an exquisitely manicured rose garden. The scent wafts over you enticingly. You step forward into the Southern Precinct of the Toltec Temple. There are bed after bed of the most exquisite roses, the scent is overwhelming. In the near distance you can hear the soft gurgle of a fountain. Here in a sunken part of the garden the fountain is surrounded by stone benches, roughly hewn.  You sit and open up your ears to the fountain.

When the utter serenity of the place has begun to deeply imbue you, you decide to explore further. A little in the distance you can see a man working in the rose bed. Today he is tending the yellow roses, turning over the earth and whispering to the roses. As you approach he winks at you. He is the venerable gardener, master of the Southern Precinct.  He has a gift for you. He hands to you a single yellow rose of considerable beauty. He has cut it just now. The cut on the stem is diagonal and perfect. The leaves are dark, dark green and lustrous. The rose itself is of such vibrancy, never have you seen yellow such as this. The flower head is only partially open and the swirl of the petals overlaps in a radial display. The scent is heady.

Taking this single rose you walk along the gravel path to a building which lies ahead. You know this to be an annexe of the great Toltec Temple. As you approach you can see an arched doorway carved in stone. The doors are open and beckon you in. As you pass within you are almost overcome by the sensation of utter silence. You walk upon the black and white marble floor sensing the aeons of its construct. Ahead of you in the Eastern corner is a white marble slab. It is lit by the light of dawn issuing sunbeams onto the altar. You approach the altar and genuflect, cradling the rose in your hands. You lean forward to place it within the sunbeams on the marble slab. As you do so a single drop of dew rolls out of the rose onto the marble slab.  A single tear trickles out of your left eye at the same time. You feel it wind down your cheek.  It drops onto the altar and merges with the dew. You know that soon you will be home.

Rising now you nod your head and retrace your steps out of the annexe, along the gravel path. The venerable gardener has disappeared. You walk past the fountain and out of the archway. Slowly you close the door.  You are now again in the field of wheat, you trail both hands through it, feeling such a sensation of utter poignancy as you have never had before; somehow though you KNOW this feeling only too well.

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