A Herding Croon

The cattle are to-day going a-flitting,
        Hill-i-ruin is o h-ug o,
        Ho ro la ill o,
        Hill-i-ruin is o h-ug o,
Going to eat the grass of the burial-place,
        Hill-i-ruin is o h-ug o,
Their own herdsman there to tend them,
        Ho ro la ill o,
        Hill-i-ruin is o h-ug o,
Tending them, fending them, turning them,
        Hill-i-ruin is o h-ug o,
Be the gentle Bride milking them,
        Hill-i-ruin is o h-ug o,
Be the protective Cailleach keeping them,
        Hill i-ruin is o h-ug o,
And The Three at the end of their journey,
     The Three at the end of their journey.
        Hill-i-ruin is o h-ug o.

 

~ From Carmina Gadelica Vol. 1 {slightly altered}

A "Critter Hotel"

Over the last few days I have been working on converting a part of our garden that is dedicated to pollinators, which involved moving some plants that they don't like {such as feverfew} and adding more that they really like. 

To this bed I added some more bee watering stations and some toad houses {a post about those to come!}, but the main feature added is a mini habitat sometimes called a "critter/insect hotel". Ours is a little bit different from some others one might find, being that the structure is an old bundle buggy, although it is pretty much the same idea.

I buried the buggy about 8 inched in to the ground and added some half-composted sod to the bottom on the inside. On top of that I started layering things such as sticks and garden pots to give some sturdiness. Inside all sorts of pretties are stuffed in there to create various living conditions in the hopes of attracting more wildlife friends.

On the top I added some compost and moss, planted some lobelia and placed a piece of an old log with some holes in it for solitary bees.

To find out more about insect hotels and to get ideas on how to create you own, watch this great video. 

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Sláinte!

Laurel

I Have Been in the Mood for Yeats Lately...

...or more so than usual.

And now I wander in the woods
When summer gluts the golden bees,
Or in autumnal solitudes
Arise the leopard-coloured trees;
Or when along the wintry strands
The cormorants shiver on their rocks;
I wander on, and wave my hands,
And sing, and shake my heavy locks.
The grey wolf knows me; by one ear
I lead along the woodland deer;
The hares run by me growing bold.
They will not hush, the leaves a-flutter round me, the beech leaves old.

 ~From The Madness of King Goll  by William Butler Yeats

 

Garden Lovelies

Things have been so busy around here with renos happening to our home, including water-proofing our foundation and fixing our drainage, which resulted two of our garden beds needing to be dug up. Now that part of the renos have been finished I have been scrambling to get our gardens caught up.

 

Here are a few photos that have been taken over the last month or so.

fiddleheads! {sensitive fern}

more baby sensitive ferns

cowslip

lilac

lily-of-the-valley

wild ginger
 

lady's mantle



dandelions

woodland poppy

sweet woodruff

periwinkle

mayapple

turkey tail {?}

johnny-jump-ups

ostrich fern

bleeding hearts

hen and chicks

more johnnys

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More to come!

 

Sláinte!

 

Laurel

And the Winner of the Portable Apothecary Giveaway is...

...Witchycrafts!

Thanks to all who entered! I hope to have another giveaway in the near future. :)

Portable Apothecary Giveaway Now Closed

I will be announcing the winner to the Portable Apothecary Giveaway shortly. Thank you to all who entered!

Lovely Paintings & a Darling Poppet

Two of my lovely friends that I do swaps and make purchases from recently sent me some pretties that I wanted to share to let other folks know about their shops.

 

Witchy's Crafts

 

I did a swap a while back with Hawthorn and one of the things ey sent me was this lovely foxglove painting. 

 

still needs to be framed but has a home in my herby room

 

I love it so much that I asked em to make me two more custom paintings:

opium painting that is a housewarming gift for a friend

rowan painting for my herby room

Hawthorn also sent me some eir healing salve which is used regularly and has kept nicely in the fridge, and black salt that I gave to a friend who has since purchased more because she loved it so much. Check out eir shop here where you can find folk magic staples such as spell candles, incense, and divination supplies like handmade rune sets.

Purple Daisy Alchemy

 

Trace is a fellow magical practitioner and crafter from here in Northern Ontario and recently opened an Etsy shop, along with the equally talented Smoeii.  When I Trace's poppets my heart just melted because I think that they are so adorable. In our last swap she made me a custom one pictured below. 

 

<3

She also sent along some spell tea lights, bonfire wish charms, and ethically harvested rowan wood for my quickly dwindling supply.

 

whole poppet kit, tea lights and bonfire wish charms

In their shop you will find folk magic supplies that have her own spin on them as well as divination tools such as scrying mirrors.

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There are other wonderful crafters that I want to post about in the future, so stay tuned. :)

 

Sláinte!

 

Laurel