August

Heart-full and snot-full and awe-full

Here we are again, hurtling towards the end of another month. I know some of you love Summer and want it to stay on forever, but I am loving that subtle feeling of autumn in the air. It is hard to describe, yet we all feel it. A shift in the light, the air, the colours change a hue. It is still warm and sunny here and we are still in a drought and wishing for rain, but there is a glimmer of something that made my heart quicken and smile. I am an autumn person through and through.

This month has been heart full. Full of small joys and big ones and moment when I stood still and silent in awe of what was around me.

I used to take August as a quiet month, Time to rest and enjoy those late summer days and to spend time with my family in Sweden. This year, others have conspired to keep me busy and my rest time disappeared. We can plan as much as we like but we can’t control external circumstances and there have been a lot of those to stop my rest.

The Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair is in October. (Tickets are available now if you’d like to come)

It is a huge amount of work to prepare for and I was hoping to get everything else done so I could spend August and September focussing only on it. Ha. Life had other plans.

Trump cancelling the de minimus for imports caused a huge amount of fear, worry and chaos here. Weeks of work attending webinars, searching for info, writing emails talking to those in charge to sort things. I had to make and send a whole year’s worth of Tribe birthday gifts out in the space of a week before I went away, in case shipping was halted. Not a peaceful start to my break!

Hopefully there is a way forward soon, Royal Mail say it will be up and running as of yesterday, but it isn’t yet. I can’t believe how much time and stress it has taken up for me and fellow creatives. A handful of men in this world cause a lot of chaos for everyone. I wish we could find a way to live differently, more cooperatively as world. So many of us want it but are ruled by a few who are destroying, hmm… well, everything.

I persist in spreading joy whatever is happening and to this aim I have been working on book edits for the last in the Tales of the Turning year series; Spring. I had hoped to have them done before August but my timescales and others didn’t match and here we are working on them now. The draft arrived just before I went away. It is taking shape and nearly there and just the last proof tweaking of text left to do and finding the cover image which is proving tricky.

I am so excited to show you the Gift Gatherers next Spring.

I realised the Celestine and the Hare 2026 Calendar needed setting up too as I wouldn’t have time to do it when back from GNCCF Manchester so I’ve been wrangling photoshop and glitchy files and it is now, finally, after a lot of panda words ready for the printers. Just waiting for a quote from them for pricing and I’ll put it up for preorder. (Subscribe to my email list if you want to be informed when they are ready to order or reminded to get one as they are to order only).

It did feel good to tick off a lot of jobs but they have all eaten into my prep time and my shoulders are up round my ears and I’m looking at the list and thinking eeek. Too much to do!

Last on the list was write to you lot cos yes, I have set myself the ‘at least once a month’ deadline despite myself.

Just before I went to Sweden I caught a cold. I usually shrug them off, but this one settled in and I dosed myself up and ignored it while away and swam in the sea anyway. This holiday was brought to you courtesy of All in one day and night max strength cold and flu remedy haha.

Sweden

Sweden filled my heart with so much joy. Some years I am ok to come back, others it is a bit more of a wrench. This year, there were tears left in the sea as I had my last swim. Partly I think because it was just perfect summer there. Warm sunny days, little wind, clear seas warm enough to swim in and warm enough for 2 year olds to splash about it too. We ate outside, we walked and splashed and rowed in the dingy and ate berries, chatted and just hung out as I spent time with my family. There is something about just living and hanging out with people that is so joyful and easy than meeting for lunch or such. Small talk and catching up on news turns into idle chat and just being, sometimes in silence. My fave sort of being together.

My heart was full and it feels so quiet now without a running commentary from my beloved grandkid who turns two in a few days time.

I came home and my cold floored me along with a huge migraine tension headache for a few days. I’ve been swimming in snot and coughing for the past couple of weeks and everything is on a bit of a go slow.

I am learning to be more philosophical and think it is what it is and if I have less animals at Manchester, then that’s how it is. There are some advantages to getting older. The wisdom is helpful.

Lupin had the best time while I was with his beloved dog sitter. Walking dear Lupin in the woods and hills heals my soul a little and there are some changes afoot for us in the coming months, which, whilst a little daunting are exciting me a little with new possibilities. Having a break always fires my inspiration and I am full of new ideas to try next year.

I’ve been missing the wild a little recently (I know I sound spoilt when I live here and it is wild compared to a lot of you) Sweden gave a bit back and there are some changes afoot to rekindle my wildness, my feral nature a little. More anon on that one.

I went up into the Welsh Mountains with my son and grandkid the other day. We stopped the car and I got out and my breath stopped. My heart expanded and I grinned and stood silent for a long time. Those phrases of ‘takes your breath away’ etc all came true in that moment. Remember a few posts ago I was talking about soul homes and the landscape where you grin and feel alive? Sweden has always been it for me and I am content here, but I long for the uplands of Scotland, that sharp granite awakens. Up those mountains, that upland Scots/Swede in me let out a shriek of delight. I came home feeling so alive and joyful

And at home.

The feeling lasted for days. I shall be training my nervous nellie of a lurcher to be in the car a bit longer than 20 mins without a meltdown so we can go up there walking a lot.

Rubbish pics cos I was gaping. The views were for miles with lakes and more mountains, sheep and ponies wandering around too.

So now I am back in the Shed and itching to do some new things but first is Manchester and Christmas which are planned, and then next year my itchy feet might get some fun with some new ideas I have spinning around.

There are only a handful of little International Visitors left from the new collection (thank you so much( and I hope one or two of you might make them feel welcome to your home

We need all the welcoming we can get for visitors to our shores eh!

I came home to some lovely post that also made me shriek with delight. As a small child, my ambition was to be a witch. I told other children I was a witch and they laughed at me. I had a toy witch hanging above my bed and I made up spells. A hedge witch. I never found anything to feel at home in that feral way of being a nature being except when alone. Now as an adult, I can be that way and found others too, but then Claire Barker wrote this book which was published this week and it made 5 year old me feel heart-full, joy-full. It made me smile that little kids like me might find this book and say yes, that’s me! It is a delight for any age to be honest, and I’ll be reading it and not sharing with the young uns around me, I’ll need to get them their own copy!

I got my copy from Wonderland bookshop who are just delightful! Tell them the Grandmother Badger sent you if you order a copy.

Hettie Nettle's Handbook for Hedgewitches by Claire Barker

So, here is to welcoming in September. The month I used to dread as it was the end of the summer and back to a job I was very unhappy in. Now I celebrate day of the Shed, where schools across the land go back and I say ‘I’ll be in me Shed’ :)

And in my pocket are two stones, to keep me linked to my precious places.

Here’s to small joys and moments of awe and I hope you find the change of seasons a positive thing for you.

Sending love from the Shed to you

Karin x