Keeping a promise. The Maha Mantra

I almost forgot. Even though Charles, one of the waiters, is Catholic, he asked that I put the Maha Mantra on the blog. We had a discussion about Lord Krishna, Rama and Sita, the Ramayana and The Mahabharata (Hindu bible). He seemed quite impressed that I had read it cover to cover, as it is 9000 pages long and most Hindus only read sections at a time. The recitation of this mantra gives, and brings, favour and reverence to those that recite it and, more importantly, to Lord Krishna.

Hari Krishna Hari Krishna
Krishna Krishna
Hari Hari
Hari Rama Hari Rama
Rama Rama
Hari Hari.

More India photos

These photos are of the Park Hyatt Hotel and Anjuna Market. As I mostly recorded the trip on my digi video, the photos don't show too much. The hotel was surrounded by one big swimming pool, the biggest in India, and as you walked round, you crossed it by a series of bridges. Outside of our rooms was a lagoon with a view to the sea on our right.
Anjuna market was complete madness with everyone hassling, shouting or begging for you to buy. After a while you became immune to the mayhem. The sound of people saying "Na, Na, Na", which means no in Hindi was everywhere you went. However, when considering that you can buy a T-shirt for £1 or incense for 9p, it was a fantastic experience.

India Photos

Solstice Greetings/Hari Rama, Rama Rama, Hari Hari,etc...

Greetings one and all and may your solstice have been as good as ours!! We have been home just 24 hours now and are still a little jet lagged, but relaxed all the same. Goa was everything we expected and the hotel was brilliant. The service was more than I could believe, I swear if you dropped a bit of paper it wouldn't reach the ground before it would be caught by one of the staff, and everyone made every effort to ensure you had a relaxing time. The weather was a steady 34 degrees with a light breeze which was very welcome. We mainly stayed around the hotel or on the beach but ventured North to Anjuna one day to the market there. The market was crazy and a tale in itself, let alone the drive there on majorly potholed roads with a driver who spent most of the trip two inches from the car in front or in the middle of the road!!! We bought loads of crystal, fabrics and incense for the shop and it was good to be buying direct from source, rather than lining someone's pocket over here. We even made arrangements with this guy we met, called Farook, to send stuff direct to us here in the UK !! There were two guys at the hotel who were really friendly called Charles and Richard and we made sure we gave them fat tips when we left. The average wage, in India, is about 700 rupees per month (about £9) so they were well chuffed when we gave them 500 rupee tips on the last day ! As usual, I have shed loads of photos but will only post a few at a time.
Tree and I had a particularly good solstice, watching the sun set on the beach. It was made very special, for reasons to be revealed later, and will be one I will never forget !! Now all that is left is to look forward to the New Year and all that the future holds, a certainly brighter one than in the last few years.
Catch ya soon.

....and Breath

At last, a quiet moment to catch up on the blog ! That is not to say that I have been rushed off my feet with customers, but rather that I have been busy finishing off all the fiddly bits like shelves and electrics. We have been fairly quiet midweek but are hopeful for the weekends. The main thing is getting people to come up the passageway. The rent has been covered for this month already, so no complaints !!We have already been described as “ The best kept secret in Ledbury”, and we have had a lot of positive feedback regarding the pagan items we stock. Someone remarked that we were similar to a shop in Glastonbury, which I was pleased about. Although the shop looks good as it is, if I say so myself, I want it to evolve and grow in a free form, rather than a conventional, way. Otherwise, there isn’t any news other than the fact that I feel guilty for ignoring everyone at the moment, but it can’t be helped. When things are a bit settled Tree and I will visit you all…promise! In the meantime, India is just around the corner, time wise silly, not literally, and I can’t wait ! Catch Ya soon.

We are in business !!!

Well the shop finally got open on Friday and just in the nick of time. Thursday night and I was still signwriting and varnishing the A board. Tree's mum and dad came over and gave us a bottle of Champagne, which was nice. I could rattle on about the whole set up but I thought the photos would speak for themselves. The top photos are the shop as we took it over and the bottom how we opened. Spot the difference ?

A man of independent means.

What words can adequately describe the joy of no longer being in the employ of a capitalist corporation ? To be honest I am not sure, but who cares ? After twenty seven years, I am a free man !!! It hasn't quite sunk home yet as I am working very long hours getting the shop ready. The walls are painted and the displays mounted. The counter is made but not glazed and I've yet to carve the signs and make the 'A' boards. We have decided to open on the 17th November, as this gives us a bit more time to get everything ready. As I write, the printer at my feet is churning out flyers ready for the launch. As I said in previous blogs, I must apologise to anyone we have left out or ignored over the last few weeks and we will catch up as soon as the shop is open. By the time we get to December I will need the holiday in India !! Of course this could now be a chance to meet some new suppliers directly !! Love to one and all. See ya soon.

What d'ya mean Blogged out ? !!

I can't believe a whole month has gone by and I haven't blogged !! So much has been going on of late, I just haven't had a chance. To summarise, Wales is not in our plans for the near future, I've quit my job after 27 years ( yes folks, 27 years!) and Tree and I are opening a shop in Ledbury. So as you can see I have reasonable justification for not blogging. Basically, I am finishing off at work, then coming home,then going to the shop. Ooh, the excitement !! The shop was just a shell when I started but now is beginning to resemble something quite good. A complete refit, with a counter made by my own fair hand, and we hope to open sooner rather than later. Anyway, I am busy even now so I will have to post short updates until the shop is up and running. Sorry to anyone we may have inadvertently ignored and we will catch up soon, promise.

Oliver Postgate drops a Clanger

I don't know if you knew, but Oliver Postgate wrote an excellent piece in the Guardian yesterday about global warming. If the man who wrote The Clangers, Bagpuss, Noggin the Nog & Ivor the engine doesn't deserve a listen, then we are all doomed. Check out his blog.

You're in my face mate !

What is it with cats ? If they can't get your attention the easiest thing to do is stand so close to your face you can't see anything but fur. The particular culprit is Ziggy who cannot resist climbing all over me whenever I sit down. I thought it was cupboard love at first but Tree disagrees, as he normally does it having eaten. Can a cat be infatuated ? Bless !!

M is for missing photos

I've just checked out my last blog and realised that a couple of photos from yesterday haven't uploaded correctly. The top one is Lord Shiva, the bottom, Lord Ghanesha. I also forgot to mention that I met a man in Broad Street who sold me a book I have been trying to get for ages by Satsvarupa dasa Goswami. It explains some of the more difficult translations in the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanisads. Altogether a good bay in Brum.

B is for B'ham, I is for India, V is for Visa

What a day ! Tree and I were up at the crack of dawn to go to Birmingham to get our visas for India. We were told, by someone in the know, to get there early, so we arrived about 10 minutes after the doors opened at the consulate. This was not good on our part as everybody who has been before knows to get there about an hour before. We took a ticket, number 422, as they were serving number 315. As you can imagine, we didn't hang about and went round the jewellery quarter instead. We came back about an hour later and still queued for another half hour. That is not the end of it though ! After you have submitted your application you have to go away and come back after 4pm to collect it ! We went back into town for lunch and spent the afternoon at the City Art Gallery. As I pointed out in a previous blog, people don't look up much and in this case I noticed how nearly everyone at the gallery missed the splendour of the building itself. Understandable you might say, given all the fantastic work on show, but I would argue that the ceilings, in particular, are an artform in their own right. There were at least four huge stained glass domes in the roof that were quite spectacular. I lay down on the floor and took several photos, which produced some interest from other gallery visitors. With regard to artwork, the Pre-Raphaelite work was inspiring and the Buddha gallery beautiful. I was also mightily impressed with some textile work using a method I had not come across before and liked the chrysalis, hanging from the ceiling, most.

A change is as good as a rest !

Not a lot to report since my last blog. Tree and I have just come back from a long weekend at Croyde. We hoped to catch some surf but Tree has been very unwell, temperature and everything, so we left the boards behind. A good job really as the swell was almost into minus figures it was so flat. Tree improved while we were there and we had good weather, so I was happy. Even though we only stayed two nights, it felt like a week and we agreed we definitely needed the break. On the way back we stopped at Glastonbury and had lunch at our favourite, The Rainbows End Cafe. I think a few issues, concerning where I am going, have been resolved, and that is a weight off my mind. It is a pity that I now have to face the endless barrage of complaints at work, about the branch closure, for the next two months. Oh well, things could be far worse !!!

Rain stopped play !!

As it was, Tree and I were going to have a nice day out, working the Green Fair at Gheluvelt Park, but then realised that the Ragged Hedge Fair was back on, after ten years. We contacted Will, who owns the wood we were handfasted in, and asked if we could trade there. Unfortunately, we were too late. So we decided to just go and check it out anyway. However, we hadn't allowed for the weather and after sitting, looking out of the window at the rain for ages, we decided to just forget the whole thing and chill at home instead !! The day is not lost though, as we have just booked our holiday in India. We got an excellent deal on a 5 ***** hotel and we upgraded to deluxe as well !! Our room has a sunken bath and looks out over it's own lagoon ! Plus, the hotel has the biggest pool in India. Fantastic !!!We will just dream of golden sands and sun from now on.

Westonbirt Tree Festival

As part of Tree and I having a relaxing weekend, we went to Westonbirt Arboretum for the annual tree festival. Amongst the usual wood sculptures and crafts we found some particularly inspiring work by artists such as Malcolm David Smith. His chairs are described as, "seating that just might be alive" and you would well believe it ! Tree and I have promised ourselves one each when we move to Wales. We bought some wood and had a good lunch in the restaurant. I do find it interesting how people pay to visit the show, yet miss some brilliant sculpture in the shape of the roof of the restaurant itself. During our meal I didn't see one person look up. When I build my workshop I intend to incorporate this style of roofing with a reciprocal roof centre window to maximise on the natural light whilst I work. We stopped at Ragged Hedge Wood on the way home and visited the circle where we were handfasted. I still love the calm within the wood when nobody is there. A perfect end to a chilled weekend !!

B Days III

Festie Eve

The shower was worth dancing about !

Amy & friends

The Fairygarden


Listening to the Deep Sea Jivers..Tequila!!

Worm & Diane

Gonen & Keren

At the risk of being quite boring, I shall post the final selection of photos of Beautiful Days. Although, if you were there, then it's a wholly different viewpoint.

B Days II

Blimey ! A week has gone by already since Beautiful Days and it still seems like only yesterday. Tree and I decided to take time out this weekend, just for ourselves, and started by going to Ceci Paolo's in the morning, for an exquisite lunch, and then on to Cheltenham in the afternoon. Cheltenham has become a bit of a disappointment these days and doesn't seem to retain the air of sophistication it once did. Anyway the point was for Tree and I to relax, and we did, so that's what matters. We stopped outside Bredon on the way home and picked wild blackberries. Tomorrow we are going to do sweet FA for a change. Can't wait ! Anyway, here are some more photos from B Days. There was a masked ball at the end and these are just a few of the hundreds that went by our tent.

Beautiful Days - Retrospective

(L-R, Alice, Diva, Gonen, Keren, Holly, Denise, Rosie + 2 old hippies)

We arrived back yesterday from a most interesting, successful, weekend at the Beautiful Days Festival. The weather was rain, sunshine, rain and,let me see now, more rain. In actual fact it wasn't that bad, apart from the tent leaking a bit on Friday morning, and we soon sorted out any leaks with a cover over the top. When we arrived we had some time to spare, whilst they sorted out the pitch, and got talking to our neighbours, Denise, Holly, Alice and Diva. We mentioned we had a spare ticket going to waste and they suggested a friend of theirs, Rosie, come down and help us. We got set up quite easily but we're knacked by midnight and decided to chill and finish in the morning. Trade was good and by the time Rosie came we were glad of the assistance. Rosie was a fantastic help and a lovely person to boot !! Our neighbours on the other side, Gonen and Keren, from Israel, introduced themselves and offered very welcome cups of rooibos tea. Gonen plays and sells didges and takes workshops as well. Every morning we had about ten to fifteen people playing. Keren is an artist and was painting alternative tattoos on people, in glitter. We all got on really well. We saw loads of people of all types and persuasions, so many I will not be able to mention them all. Special mention goes to Amy Coulshaw and her sister, Amy gave us a CD of her beautiful music, Worm and Diane who voted us the best stall of the festival and everyone who gave us support and compliments over the whole festival. Most of all, our thanks go to Rosie, without whom we would have had a much less relaxed time. I shall post photos a few at a time, as I took about two hundred in all !!!

Beautiful Daze or one hundred uses for a dead (cannabalised) flag.

At last, after all the hard work preparing for the Beautiful Days Festival , including P.A.T Testing, fire certificates, extending the tent, Public Liability Insurance and loading the van, with only a centimeter to spare, we are finally ready. To celebrate, after being in a whirlwind of organised chaos, Tree sorted my festie "Spiral" hair. What an excellent job it is too !!! In addition, we have created a special rasta stylee "Beautiful Daze" flag, so you can't miss us whizzing by in the van. Have no doubt, a full report of the days ahead shall appear soon. Ooh.. I'm all in a daze !!

A short break and thick nobs.

We've just come back from a few days in Wales and feel refreshed and ready to face the challenges of everyday Worcester life. Although the weather was hot, we still haven't managed to get into the sea at Mwnt, but I'm sure we will next time. We explored the north of Aberystwyth and decided that we prefer to look at the Cardigan area to live. Whilst out and about we went to a car boot near Sarnau and met a nice couple there, called Claudine and Simon. Simon is a tree surgeon and makes handcrafted wooden furniture, how ironic is that !! We spent a long time discussing the merits of moving to Wales and they have kindly offered to look out for smallholdings for us. Anyway, I've posted a couple of photos of Aberystwyth, taken from the top of Constitution Hill, just to post a photo really. Oh, and I almost forgot, we stopped at a golf club for a spot of lunch at Newport, whereon we got a very snotty reception and we're told we had to book for lunch, whilst being looked up and down. We sat outside the main dining room, spoiling their view, judging by the way we were looked at, so I left a little reminder for them, made from a crisp packet, before leaving. It's good to confirm peoples negative stereotypes sometimes !!!

Yew seats, you see, Yew seats !!!

As promised, I have just uploaded the photos of some chairs I've just finished to the Wyrdewood site. But, in case you're too lazy, here's a taster.

I'm not ignoring you...Honest !!!

Oops ! Another two weeks have slipped by and I haven't even noticed. Work is well under way getting ready for Beautiful Days and I've still got s**t loads to do. Amongst other things, I am extending the back of the Haj tent. A bigger job than, at first, I anticipated. I feel like I am neglecting everything and everyone, so I am determined to take some time out and catch up with everyone.

P.S I will be posting some pictures, of two chairs I made this week, onto the Wyrdewood website. So keep 'em peeled !!!

B6 Photos

Just a quickie, to say the B6 photos are here as I couldn't get them all on this blog. Also, check out Dan's photos here .Catch ya later dudes !!!

Blissed out !!

Tree and I have just got back from Blissfields , a lovely, small, friendly festival near Basingstoke, and feel tired out....yet strangely relaxed. We had a good time and met some lovely people, an especial mention to Bryn and Clare of The Tiny Travelling Craft Exhibition, and Dan and Vincent of Veggie Heaven. Each, in their own way, provided a ray of sunshine in the rain. If you get the chance, seek them out at a festie this year !!! The weather was not too bad either. We had a bit of rain and lost the new pergola to the wind but, hey, worse can happen ! We have to thank Cuthbert St George for all the free coffee as well. It kept us going when we were flagging the most.We also got to see a fair bit of Dan (Worcester Dan) and tribe, which was good.At one point, on Saturday morning, Dan and I seemed to be the only people alive and ended up clearing the whole arena of rubbish from Friday night !! Paul and Mel had the usual look of exhaustion about them and said things along the lines of " maybe we'll take a break next year", but we will see !! I have too many photos to post, so I am going to post a few at a time over the next few blogs.