All of a sudden, I seem to have moved into a phase of communication and connections, old and new.  Emails and letters arriving from people I thought I´d lost contact with.  Old rifts being healed too.

Feels good !!

It has suddenly got very hot here and I have been lurking indoors in the shade.  Every time I go outside I feel wiped out.  And there is so much to do, particularly in the veggie and herb garden.  I keep planning really early starts that fail to materialise.  Hopefully, the Solstice sunrise will give me the impetus to get cracking tomorrow.

The past week has been an anti-climax after the crazy rush the week before to prepare for Simon´s party.  He enjoyed himself though (Mr "I hate birthdays" was quite jolly in the end).

Unfortunately, I managed to put a slight damper on proceedings by getting bitten by a friend´s dog.  My little Billy Boy picked a fight with Rusty who is about 5 times bigger.  Against my better judgement, I waded in to put Bill away - he was about to be flattened - and got a nasty bite on the knee from Rusty.  I was quite calm about things - the adreneline had kicked in.  However, when my trouser leg and foot soaked in blood, everyone started panicking around me.  It was a nasty wound but I passed on the trip to casualty.  Fortunately, I am healing well.

Bill has been subdued this week, so I hope he´s learnt a lesson there.  Look in the mirror you stupid boy and only pick fights you can survive!

It´s 8pm here as I write, and I think cool enough to do some work.  So, I am off to dig spuds.

Hope everyone has a festive and fun Solstice weekend.

I gave myself a few days "cooling off" after my last rant about Stonehenge.  From the responses I received, I realised that my tone was "off" and that I had not used my best judgement in how I had expressed my feelings.

I was also clearly wrong in my initial thought regarding the reason for the recent act of vandalism.  The lack of press coverage tells me that.

With the benefit of hindsight, I would have weighed my words more carefully to highlight the essential points, leaving emotion out of it.  I stand by the underlying message however.

I am posting this "Open Letter" I sent to Silverwolf as a reply to an "in Comments" discussion on PixieStyx's blog.

It's a bit of a rant, as I guess a nerve has been touched, but I would be happy to engage in discussion about it.  I think matters pertaining to Stonehenge and other ancient sites are core to the beliefs of pagans.

You know the line that says, "just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they're not out to get you"  ;-)

Look, I accept I may have been wrong about those two jerks.  What makes me think that now?  Well, because my husband was visiting England the day after the incident and he heard nothing whatsoever on the news about it all the week he was there*.  If I had been right, the papers would have been full of indignation and calls for further restrictions of access to the stones.

Nevertheless, I totally stand by what I said about English Heritage, the Police and UK Government who have demonstrated in the past that they want to curtail access to the stones and would stop at nothing to do that.  So this incident gives me the perfect excuse to rant about it.  People need to talk about it - if you are pagan, then this is your temple!

Have you ever been to Stonehenge? The place has an awesome power.  For anyone even a little bit sensitive, the energy that the stones give out is unmistakable.  And the authorities do not like pagans and hippies going there to celebrate.  They know that Stonehenge energy gives free-thinkers a sense of freedom and encourages them to reject the status-quo.  They are afraid that free-thinking will spread and they will loose their hold on power as a result.

At the Solstice celebration, the police precence is HEAVY.  They are there in large numbers, very "in your face", have no sense of humour and are very jumpy.  In 2004 I saw a young woman really roughly handled because she wanted to fire juggle and for all those who say, "Well, that's dangerous" - England is wet and, when left to police themselves, crowds back off from fire jugglers!

My husband has more experience of this than me, as he was going there to celebrate during years when access to the stones was banned.  He could tell you a thing or two about what the authorities get up to to restrict and control.  Just read the link I posted in my comment, or do a google on "Battle of the Beanfield".  I am sure you won't find much complimentary to say about the police.

Off my high horse about that now, and back to those who damaged the stones.  Of course I think they were wrong, but did you know that in the distant past visitors to the stones were handed out chisles so they could do just that?  Fact.  And what exactly would be in all the great museums of the world if treasure hunters of the past had not raped and piliaged the world's ancient sites.  I don't advocate "treasure hunting" but I think we should have full awareness of our own responsibility and culpability.  Put your hand up for instance if you have never bought a crystal.  Ha ha!  I have, even though I know that most of the crystals on sale have been ripped from our Mother by the use of dynamite.  So that makes me just as guilty doesn't it.

'nuff said - I'll just stand back and take the flack now !

*Amazing isn't it, that I had to read about it on a US website!

I would have enjoyed sharing my lunch with some of you today.  Sim is away, so I ate alone but I made the best food, laid up a pretty table setting, spruced myself up and set to enjoy it as if I were the honoured guest.  What a difference that makes compared to a hastily and grumpily assembled snack, eaten without engaging full awareness and attention.

Supreme Garden Risotto:

 I started with 2 chopped red onions, gently sautéed in a little olive oil and butter

 Then added 2 crushed & chopped garlic cloves

 Followed by sliced mushrooms and garden peas, stirred until lightly sautéed

 Added some cubed seitan (vegetarian meat substitute)

 Then added a cup of risotto rice, stirred for a minute

 A large splash of brandy (whoopee do), cider vinegar and worcestershire sauce

 Just barely covered with boiling water

 Added a teaspoon of dijon mustard, ground black pepper, a pinch of 5-spice, ginger & cinnamon (note, no salt for the sake of my heart)

 Broke in 6 tiny dried piri-piri chillies (perhaps 1 or 2 too many!)

 Gently cooked in the open pan, stirring occasionally.

 Meanwhile, gathered and chopped a complete selection of fresh herbs from my garden: parsley, coriander, thyme, sage, rosemary, summer savoury, tarragon, lemon balm, chives & mint

 Stirred these in near the end of cooking with a little more water

 Finally, at the end of cooking stirred in some broken rocket leaves & a large spoonful of cream cheese

 Served to myself with love after first an offering to Kali who stands in as my kitchen goddess, overlooking my cooker.