Winter arrived with a boom… days of autumn sunshine and colour one day and the white out of snow from out of nowhere… brrrr, -3°.

Still… winter brings introspection and Yule, deep into the cold and dark days… brings hope because we know, underground movement will be afoot… green shoots unfurling to break through the icy crust. When I close my eyes, I imagine them slumbering, waiting and with animism, perhaps anticipating, how the light will feel on their green sprouts… sunlight, pulling on them, tugging them to reach up to the light after the darkness beneath.

I do love to connect in this way to the earth and all things by knowing I am a part of it all as it is all a part of me… all of me…

Life is a moment and in that moment, all moments exist. Life can appear fleeting or be forever in full consciousness. There is no separation between who we once were in the scheme of things, are now or will be “one day”, for all is now.

Complex thoughts, and yet not, unless one thinks in straight lines, past, present, future rather than in circles, and cycles of ascension and descension… expansion and contraction. There again, perhaps that is the challenge, overthinking. Does nature think, “I’m a daisy; I wanted to be a rose.” Does an amber-coloured leaf in autumn, wish to be green again?

One droplet of water, part of a sea, a lake a pond?

Observing nature, we see there are few straight lines, except those we create. Nothing is linear. Droplets of water constantly change shape to adapt and, are a part of a greater body, ocean or small pond. If we understand everything is energy in constant motion, where there is a void space, something always rushes to fill it and, there is no judgment in the process.

When we become aware, strength lies in the allowance of emptiness and in not filling empty spaces. In this knowing, we can choose substance to fill the void, and in fact always do, even by not choosing. Waiting, empty, gives us clarity to know what we truly desire. I speak not of “having” for the sake of it …because it’s the most recent fad or gadget, but more the awareness, “being in emptiness” can bring. It has its own taste, smell, sound, sensation and there is nothing to fear there, except the proverbial, fear itself.

My waking and sleeping moments, fill with the rhythm and scent of nature’s cycles rather than the tick-tock of the business world. Although that said, I run my own studio… one has to live, but the key is to find the ultimate balance between the perceived mundane and the “spiritual life” …and there we have it – everything is spirit/energy, and therefore, spiritual.

Our natural state
of being
is magick
Moving between
full, exhilarant joy
and oft, comedy tragic
Spaces between
filled with
liquid notes sublime
in cycles spinning
adhering to the rhyme
Diaphonous, silken threads
on the loom of time
fading in and out
annual, biannual, diurnal
We are but a blip
in life eternal

Whether at work to earn our living, pottering in the garden or soaking in a bath, changing a nappy or holding someone’s hair back as they vomit… whether it’s a perceived, inanimate object or a living, breathing tree, all is energy and thus spirit/spiritual.

All energy is in motion constantly, in waves and pulses, just as our body is in flow and flux, birth to death, with each waxing and waning moon. We are ultimately 78% fluid, and our body is at the mercy of those internal and exterior tides unless we can be observant, present in awareness as those tides turn. Thus, we can see ourselves not as helpless puppets, but empowered by those very tides, toward the shores of creative consciousness

If we can reconnect to nature’s cycles, movements, brief pauses, breath held and let go… a beating heart, a pulse within myriad pulses, we simply become. Every cell becomes luminous with cell-wisdom-memory of everything experienced, and in the remembering, remembers Source…

Sow the seeds
Weave the web in time
Weave
sow
Grow
wisdom
knowledge
of the
life stream
and the
soul spark
of
intelligence
…breathe
All one
Awen

Warm wishes and blessings… Awen /|\

Penny

All ©️ reserved.

It’s been longer than I expected to post but it’s strange times that govern the planet recently!

Winter makes progress… all our senses are involved… a welcomed change in government and a feeling of relief imbues every social media post with hope, even joy.

Here at the farm, we begin our journey inward… days are shortening as we head towards Yule… dark by 5.00 pm and not light until after 7.00 am. Hearth fires are lit… candles for the ancestors… small gatherings with hot soup and crusty bread around a bonfire or fire pit… we begin to mellow into the coming cold.

Hollowing out
emptying
seeking
the purpose of life
in simply being
Giving up
the fight for more
allows
unhindered
flow
Just living
Simply being
with no place
left to go
Past
present
future
merges
the well of life
upsurges
the wheel spins
on and round
All places
all seasons
emerge
as sacred ground

In the studio… a tight fit in the corner of the dining room, while waiting for the building materials to arrive… not long now before I have a grown-up artist’s space and eventually a little gallery too. I say grown-up but really, I feel like a wee kidding waiting for Yule to arrive.

Work continues though, in both farm greenhouse and studio… kasundi is made from surplus tomatoes… filling the house with spicy aromas… alongside the aforementioned soup of curried parsnip and pear 🍐

Nothing much goes to waste and what scraps are left, the worms, chookhens and Pip the terrier will finish off.

In the studio, I’m finishing off several ink and watercolour pieces… I discovered gel pens too… such fun in earthy tones or stark white… and metallics in silver, copper, bronze and gold… also invested in a few distress sprays… a work in progress!

Next will be more ink making experimentation, trying out new plant matter from local herbs and playing with eco printing, after a lovely workshop a month or so, ago.

All in all, quiet times, in terms of season and knuckling down with work… the book needs attention too but I’ve been distracted by world events…

I’ll settle soon as the shortest, darkest day approaches…

Life is awareness
Layers of being
Birth to death
seeing
renewal of life
Excepting
all things pass
some
wide-eyed
on sweet
green grass
effortlessly
fearlessly
the last breath’s hiss
releasing
…we can learn from this

Warm wishes and blessings from Beyond the Gate… Awen /|\

Penny

All art, photography and verse copyright ©️ Penny Reilly all rights reserved.

As we move through autumn and into winter, the robins arrive to foretell imminent snow. Freezing winds strip you to the bone no matter the layers but there’s still plenty of work to do in the garden and greenhouse… gathering in.

Two art shows have meant busy-busy times; one is still underway, so I feel safe to leave my studio work for a little while to finish off the harvest and to plant anew for winter – spring, crops.

Alpine Strawberries are a gift that keep on giving… cabbages, leeks, beetroot, lettuce and onion are developing rapidly now, followed by winter veg… brassicas and silverbeet, more beans have broken ground.

Post Samhain is a rather wistful time… four years ago our daughter passed away in her sleep… no illness, no warning and so the month of May, filled with family birthdays, including hers and my own, are overshadowed by grief and loss.

It’s easy to say that life goes on… and it does but we are all forever changed… a beautiful piece of us is gone.

Yule… Feast of Fire, flame and renewal… again the wheel turns and we gather for longest night… light will return, slowly, barely noticeably but underground, life stirs unseen…

I am the essence that lives, all unseen
I am found in all things
the world renews, clear and clean
I am the one you hear
under Lady Moon’s light
as my hounds run and bay
at the gathering night
Yule approaches and my time is done
but soon a new battle
will be fought and won
as the Oak King I’ll come
my vows to renew
while the veil is thin
and the Fae wander through
I hear all your fears
wipe your tears dry for you
so gather with me
at the first Feast of Fire
Light promises to return
and the flames leap higher
come to me in the dance
of the passing year
follow the sound of my horn
…there is nothing to fear

…to be continued…

Blessings from Beyond the Gate Farm and Studio… Penny

Samhain is past but the energy lingers… it’s cold and very damp now… autumn leaves fall to become a luscious mat, allowing fungi spoors to multiply and also food for worms to create more, rich loamy, soil.

Although extremely toxic, there are local creatures who nibble on these colourful fly agaric, (Amanita muscaria), perhaps the toxins in tiny amounts, are beneficial for them… I noticed the resident Wallaby, nibbling on the very edge of one while holding a pawful of other varieties that it loves to stuff its chops with.

Meanwhile, nature slows down… harvest time may still be busy and there’s never really a time of year when we have nothing to do but it’s as if our consciousness begins to slow in sync with the season. We are as always active but we become more mellow in our approach to life… honouring the land and the nature of our existance.

Thoughts of a warm, glowing hearth fire, become reality, daily… mist-enshrouded mornings are the norm and tiny birds, visiting for the autumn/winter seasons are like leaves blowing across the fields.

Robins are visiting now… (my photo wouldn’t upload, sadly), a precursor to frost and snow… their cheerful, full-throated song is as bright as their darting colour… they have long been known as messengers from the otherworld as the veil thins and the gates beyond, open.

It’s a particularly busy time for us as we continue to build and develop our home… a laundry, an extra bedroom and bathroom and a studio pod for me, to be followed by another for a wee gallery. Eventually, there’ll be a little shop to sell my organic inks and paint pigments… farm surplus, such as eggs but also candles, herbal tinctures and teas etc. It’s never say never, even as we age!

…and so the wheel turns on… food is grown, processed and preserved for winter… art is produced… words fly onto paper and a winter hush falls across the land…

Warm wishes and blessings… Awen… Penny

You can find out more about me, my lifestyle and work at…

http://www.facebook.com/pennyreillybeyondthegatestudio

http://www.instagram.com/pennyreillyartistbeyondthegate

Very soon, there will be a portfolio and shop to browse for my creations… prints, cards, art originals and more to follow.

I’ve been elsewhere… sorry! It’s such a busy year already in both garden and studio, with exhibitions this year already underway.

Autumn… Alban Elfed is past and in truth, with sun and a full, harvest moon aligned on the same trajectory on the 18th March, it occurred early… and at that moment, days became shorter and nights lengthened, rather than on the ‘calendar date’ of March 21st.

Light is a little more muted, although the sun has a sting, UV rates are high but soon the days will fade and the dark will overcome the light.

Harvest… wildcrafted berries go in the pot for syrups, jams and even inks of wonderful colour… blackberries, elder, hawthorn, raspberry and strawberries from the greenhouse are like jewels in the hedgerows. Late roses are fading and shiny hips form… they will become syrup, jam and possibly ink or natural dye.

Below, the elderberry ink I made is simple and quick to create and gives lovely shades from berry red to faded burnt sienna.

Gather your elderberries in season, when they are just ripe and juicy… about five handfuls will give you what you can see in my little jar above. It’s easy to make extra to store in the fridge until needed. I made twice the amount shown to give to friends as little gifts.

I pour a little water into a non-reactive pan with the berries, bringing them to a low simmer, crushing the berries as they soften with an old potato masher (use old tools because it really does stain everything… including your hands!). When berries are thoroughly softened I add a little white vinegar and simmer a little longer before straining everything several times through a fine strainer… you can use an old, clean stocking foot or muslin cloth but this too will be stained and no longer usable, so a metal strainer is the best way, I’ve found, to go. Vinegar helps the finished ink to dry a little quicker… the ink can be diluted further for a lighter colour, naturally.

When cooled, strained and no sediment remains, the fragrant ink can be put in dropper bottles or small spray bottles… old fashioned cartridge pens can be used to load up with ink for fancy writing etc., but I love to use a simple nib or a very fine brush for both writing and painting as seen in the photo above. Be creative… for instance, I am drying the pulp on trays and will then crush and process to make a fine pigment for paint.

Aside from this, I made a batch of elderberry syrup, for staving off those winter chills.

Then suddenly, we’re racing toward Samhain. It’s my favourite time of year when trees are in full change… their colours brilliant, as leaves float across emerald fields.

Last week the first frost lay on the ground and we lit fires, to take off the chill. Shadows fall differently across the ground and wintering birds return to feast on birch seeds, acorns, Blackwood pods, fallen fruit and berries. It’s a busy time on the farm… both harvest and bed prep for winter cropping, propagation of herbs, roses and trees and we begin planning for the following spring and new landscapes form as the land shows us what it needs.

…to be continued…

I saw stars shine

through an overlay of misty cloud

I heard the wind sigh

Trees danced to the rhythm

I felt the earth shift

A new season approaches

Leaves fluttered

branches moaned

Must we retreat

must we let go

our tenuous hold on summer

but as leaves are released

from their photosynthesistic journey

colours begin their change

to match the softer light

Breath held

I smell

the approach of autumn

when soon enough

dew-besprent grasses

bow their heads under naked trees

where fungi bloom

and silent owl flight

calls the season home

Bright blessings… Penny

Photography and verse, copyright Penny Reilly, all rights reserved.

As the season draws to an end; summer, fading into autumn, we find a place inside to prepare for the emptiness that winter can tend to be.

If we are uncomfortable in emptiness… filling it with anxiety or restlessness, we will naturally refill the space with the same content… so rather sit in the empty until, by choice, embracing the magick of change, we renew the space with our deepest needs for wellbeing.

Nature doesn’t stop… she breathes in and out in cycles and seasons… we take her in with every inhale and release her again, taking into our body all it needs before letting it go. This can be applied to life in so many ways. When we are filled with anxiety, we forget to breath and so our bodies are depleted. Sitting in nature we can refill and reenergise ourselves on every level… it’s not just food we need to fuel us.

Wellbeing is something we have greatly misunderstood, I feel… thinking through things instead of feeling through things… or a better yet, a balance of both. We cannot think straight if our adrenals are on overload… it’s our fight or fight mode that can leave us exhausted if not addressed with appropriate rest. We clear so much that clogs our system through breath… nothing fancy… just deep belly breathes and when we do this in nature our brain/mind/body all respond, to give us the sense of letting go, even when we’re unaware what we’re letting of.

Does a tree, mourn it’s leaves when first they change colour and shed or do they feel relieved of the weight on the bough?

I am empty

…with what, will I refill

health, wisdom, joy

…a new skill?

Why am I empty

…because I have overflowen

and in the inner garden

…dry grasses grown

Do I wish to remain empty

…is there nothing left I need

is there new abundance waiting

…a new seed

Will I fill the emptiness

…or wait for it to grow

then, by choice, fill it

…let new seeds, self-sow.

Walk softly… find your centre in emptiness… Awen /|\

Penny

As autumn creeps up on us, fragility is obvious in the landscape, alongside great abundance and the clear light of a changing season.

There are moments in a day when things become translucent…when light falls specifically on one blade of grass, a water droplet, a bee’s wing, ripples on a pond, a fragile leaf… the world slows, stills… and the white noise of the world, falls away.

All that is left, is the ebb and flow of life… a heartbeat song.

Walk softly… let things flow towards and away… Awen /|\

.

Hello and greetings!

Many of you know me from my former website, blog and through my daily posts of art, photography and poetry on Facebook and Instagram.

Life moves in strange ways and after being hacked by persons unknown, my whole presence, both here on my new website and on social media, will change radically to match.

It is an opportunity for change however, and to be grasped fully, much like grasping the nettle, it has stung dreadfully, losing years of work to a fraud and a thief, nevertheless I’m making it my rallying cry to move forward.

Life is a moment and in that moment, all moments exist. Life can appear fleeting or be forever in full consciousness. There is no separation between who we once were, in the scheme of things, are now or will be “one day”, for all is now.

Soon, I will outline my plans for the future, which will include introducing a few additions such as teaching mixed media techniques, creative journalling and a little of my philosophy on country life and self sufficiency.

As the saying goes… watch this space.