abundance – Penny Reilly Artist Beyond the Gate

Dreaming the future…

What does your core tell you about the current way of living?

How does environmental and human distress, impact on your daily consciousness?

Do you get out of bed each day and continue the same old same old that no longer satisfies any but your basic income needs but too panicked to realise any alternatives? Are you living your life in fear or joy?

If you tick yes, to any of the above, what are you doing to navigate the pitfalls of continuing on the same path versus those of changing to a more holistic approach?

Can you envisage an alternative route that still pays those unavoidable bills, brings you joy, fulfils and covers your basic needs without the stress of the tick tock world we live in?

Take a moment… slow down and listen to birds calling, trees rustling bare branches… can you smell late winter scents… breath… or can you only hear traffic and smell car fumes?

I’ve been talking to trees
they reply
in rustling commentary
Listening to birds
along the promontory
They whisper and scream
but the message is the same
Go to the hills
find the silence
…leave the noise again
Where will you be
when the earth makes her escape
Where will you live
with earth’s shuddering earthquake
What good is a sterile life
fed from supermarket stores
What will you eat
when they have closed their doors
You cannot eat
your botox lips
or taloned fingertips
You cannot feed your soul
stale bread and chips
Take stock as winds change
What do the trees whisper
…do you listen
to their wisdom of old
Where will you be
when solar winds set you free
safe in your bed
…or outside in the cold

I woke up this morning recalling vividly a long dream I had last night. I was walking the boundaries of our land, trailing delicate long sticks, one in each hand. In my left was Willow and in my right, Alder. I was humming a tune that I don’t consciously know or remember, but it still resonates with me as if I know it well from somewhere deep inside.

Moisture rose from the ground in the grooves the sticks were making as I trailed them behind me. Our land disappeared into the mist, a canopy forming like a dome over and below it. I woke feeling nurtured and protected from the everyday madness of the world.

What does your core tell you about this current way of living, so many cling to and yet so many are lost and entangled in, some, without truly knowing why?

What does your future dreaming consist of?

What can you do, even on the smallest scale, to create a sense of community and unity with neighbours, family and friends?

We dream… we all dream, sadly mostly of ‘one day when,’ with little appreciation of today, this moment and the fact that we’re here, alive, sentient and uniquely individual. We can become disheartened, forget that we can make a difference wherever we are on this beautiful earth home simply by needing/wanting less… not playing into the hands of the 1%.

What I refer to here isn’t about pottering in a garden or even taking a stroll in the park, rather more, finding a deeply rooted connection with all that is and looking at why we left or as many seem to think based on religious stories, kicked out of the garden for being naughty… well right now we are more than naughty and not just in the biblical sense, because the world that sustains us is diminished and creatures who have as much right to be in this proverbial garden as us, are dying out in droves and we are apparently blind!

Where
do you go
when the enormity
the tragedy
gives you no space
to breath
I wish at times
I was at one
with the breeze
…not the winds of war
knocking at every door
…without exception
No, this breeze
mischievous
wild
grants hope
without perfection
Simply raw
asking for nothing
giving more
than the tangled framework
of twisted minds
playing at kings and heroes
in a countdown
of digital ones and zeros
…stealing the light of souls
as the world rolls
leaking corruption
into oblivion
No
this breeze lifts me
away from the gloom
no sense of doom
filtering light and life
through the room
expounding courage
for others who need
yet, the 1%,
aware of their deeds
we all must confront
Stand up
let there be
no escape for them
…or thus
on that playful breeze
there will be
no escape for me
…for us

It’s not about hoarding as some have said about self sufficiency, rather about not having to dash to the shops for things we have no idea of re their origin, treatment (sprays and gassing) or road miles/fuel consumption but the feeling of satisfaction, when you know exactly where your produce is coming from.

If every person did just a little, we could feed the world.

So while I craft away at my art and the next book that’s very slowly taking form, and winter vegetables are harvest ready in the greenhouse, I think of the rat race life once led and commiserate with those caught on the proverbial treadmill. In order to leave said rat race behind, one has to want more in terms of peace and freedom but less in terms of status, things and more, more, more of everything.

We lack for nothing, despite high rates and the general cost of items we simply cannot grow or make ourselves, but then they’re not the throw away kind of things… not prestigious, not empty and sterile but full of life, (we party too), community and simplicity…

When did we decide we didn’t need nature?

I know there are many like-minded people “out there,” I speak to them daily and see the regular posts of information on climate conditions, which means nobody can claim ignorance and yet, governments approved more coal and gas harvesting, more old growth forest pillaging and as a result many creatures have lost their home territories and we feel we have the right to this… the end result may well be that we will lose ours!

AND DON’T GET ME STARTED ON DATA CENTRES!!!! Yes that’s me yelling, then.

Well… that got that off my chest but, that said, does anyone else feel as if there is no return from the horror of the world right now… and I won’t get started on the war, madness and mayhem?

I ask you again… when did we decide we didn’t need nature?

When did we disconnect from her energy and bounty. When did we believe her resources were infinite and that we could plunder them endlessly? When did we allow bees to die for the convenience of being fed by conglomerates rather than farmers, gardeners, local produce merchants or from our own back yards?

When did food, created practically in science labs, become more important than the growing of food in a garden or wild crafted gently from the environment in season. Yet, everything, absolutely everything comes from nature. Even man made creations have their foundation in her and she is the only planet we know of where we can survive… so why are we destroying our unique, crazy paradise when there is no Planet B?

Start slowly… deeply analyse your needs. What are you waiting for that delays taking those first steps?

You don’t need a squillion acres of land to begin a journey of rediscovering what our ancestors always knew and with today’s kitchen and garden books/videos and a few simple aids, we can quickly become garden and kitchen pros. At least enough to fill a pantry with healthy fare, enough to share.

A small garden, a verandah or balcony, a little greenhouse, or even a kitchen bench is a place to begin a new journey of discovery.

Yes, we planned ahead by observing the trends evident to all and we made the time earlier on (despite raising four children and working full time for many years), yet here we are, dedicated to the natural world, enjoying our life with no need for influencers, dedicated only to their own self image and sales quotas.

Dare to dream the future… dare to dream there will be a bright one for your children, grandchildren… great grandchildren…

Walk softly… edit the dream when it no longer describes your purpose… blessed Imbolc or Lughnasadh… Awen /|\

Penny

Changing skies… changing landscape… changing year…

I took a wee sabbatical and it’s been a couple of weeks since my last post but brightest blessings for 2024.

Family gatherings have been high on the priority list and with their departure it’s been more difficult for me to get myself back into a routine of daily writing. It’s been an interesting time, social media and blog free and very tempting to remain so but as author and artist it’s ‘the way’ to maintain a presence and to, as we all have do, make a living… although I try not to push my work on my followers and subscribers.

Before we knew it, another year passed and we’re half way through January. Flux and change have been the predominant aspects of these last years more than ever and I think we all may need to reimagine our lives, even reinvent ourselves, to find a simpler way of being that encompasses change and allows for more of a flow through.

Perpetual flow

rolling in

season to season

Blessed days of sunshine

rain and shadow

reflected

in how we

walk our way

in balance

wading

through emotional

waters deep

or rivulet shallow

or exhilarated

dive

immersing self

into life

and grounded

let seeds fall

in fields, once fallow

Needing less, wanting less, declutters our spaces, just as it declutters our entire lives… freeing us from having to maintain and care for items long redundant. I’m really not saying we rid ourselves of cherished items, loved for many reasons or to live the lives of monks and nuns, but rather to see how clearing space of physical things, also clears our internal space, our very consciousness, of so much neediness. There are always others that truly need what we hang onto, senselessly. I don’t do New Year’s resolutions quite honestly but this could be just the one we can easily adhere to… letting go those out-worn things.

We started our yearly declutter in the pantry, cleaning and checking use-by dates on home preserves or canned good and checking that dry goods such as flour or cereals were not invaded by weevil. What a simple task and yet what a lovely feeling to know our pantry is clean and renewed… actually making room for this year’s harvest as it comes around.

This is abundance for me… fruit and vegetables, flowers in bloom; mostly those that provide sustenance and that can be frozen, dried or bottled/preserved in a well stocked pantry that is constantly used and replenished as produce is harvested. No clutter to be seen ☺️

This year our olive trees flowered profusely but whether they will produce after the very cool wet summer we’ve had is another matter. Their scent is wonderful and their bloom so delicate and pretty.

As the summer season heads towards autumn at a frightening speed. and Lughnasadh is but three weeks away, hay harvest is done and there is an early chill on the air… although our summer’s are getting cooler and more like those of twenty five years ago. Our deciduous trees are changing their cloaks of green to amber hues very early, dahlia are in bloom and autumn berries are already ripening in the hedgerows.

…and so the wheel turns on again, birth, renewal, harvest, death and rebirth cycles on and on… where do you find your peace in the war-torn landscape of life?

There is a place

that we can go

beyond the muddy

tales of woe

where waters pool

in depths that glow

with dreams of hope

renewing

where bee-sung songs

drone of peace and plenty

bird-chorus sings

of a life never empty

With nature’s rhythm

gently flow

barely rippling the grass

…walk softly

In stillness lies

a sense of peace

within the mists

and the sound of wings

and in the silence between

a song up-drifts

and bird calls

the heart uplifts

our senses soar

in stillness growing

in deepest silence

across waters flowing

In nature’s rhythm

gently flow

barely rippling the grass

…walk softly

Wishing you all peace in 2024…

Penny

Beyond the Gate Studio and Farm

A seasonal spin…

Sorry, sorry… it’s been a while… late February and the season is already shifting from summer into autumn… a strangely cool summer and wet, too. A week or so ago there was a major storm in our region but once again, it skirted around our hilltop home acres. Let’s hope today’s storm warning does the same, although a drop more rain now would be wonderful to top up ponds and rainwater tanks. ‘Beyond the Gate,’ feels like a place centred in the magic of the earth and the kindly spirit; the Genius loci, is one of benevolence, strength and protection.

The last few mornings has seen us veiled in peat-scented, eucalyptus-perfumed, mists. Temperatures have been dropping from mid to high twenties, down to five to six degrees overnight… a very early change indeed as February has the tendency to be the hottest, summer month even in our naturally cooler climate. Not so however for surrounding areas, sadly, as wildfires rage, about ninety kilometres away, with great intensity.

At this time of year, creatures begin to go to ground… curling up in the long and probably exhausted sleep, after the courtship rituals and birthing of new generations is complete. That said, I saw the strange sight of a brand new wood duck, duckling family very late in the season. This couple lost almost their entire first clutch in spring to hawk and fox, so second time around is hopefully the charm, with nine wee ones as shown below.

Hedgerows are filled with crabapples, blackberries, rowan, hawthorn and elderberries… sometimes I feel as if I’m back in the Isles on an autumn day, where we would forage along country lanes and across the wild fields of my childhood… perhaps our deep connections from one place to another, links us on the byways between worlds… opening portals to remembered places of well-being and allowing the recall of those days to manifest elsewhere.

All things and places in the pathways of our mind are linked to another… everything is connected, spreading out to infinity like a tapestry of shining threads. Perhaps the Fae of those past days along with our ancestral culture, follow us down these lanes where our spirit was the happiest.

There’s a doorway

that takes us

to a timeless space

where all that we dream

may be found in one place

Offering ourselves

to the byways between

brings truth to our journey

to where we’ve already been

We can never go back

only here in the now

do we remember those times

when we made a sacred vow

to walk the crooked pathways

turning left and then right

beyond pain and pleasure

beyond the fear of night

to journey out of the darkness

into the warmth

…of Her light

…and so the season changes, the year moves on, hurtling towards Mabon/Alban Elued (Light of the Water) or autumn equinox to many.

Our harvest time is abundant… cabbages, lettuce, tomatoes, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, apples, rhubarb, onions, garlic and soon, pumpkin will form on the vines and table grapes, too… not to mention more herbs than we could possibly use, are hanging to dry in the dark, to retain their colour, some to be made into pesto to freeze. I’ve begun the process of making preserves, freezing and drying to top us up with fresh produce for winter.

This year, so much has been achieved already with groundwork done for a second greenhouse and four young hens added to our small flock as the older girls ceased laying… they will enjoy their elder days, foraging in the garden and still providing wonderful nutrients for our soil.

Everything in balance… to harvest and replace, equals renewal!

Perpetual flow

rolling in

season to season

Blessed days

of sunshine

and shadow

reflected

in how

we walk our way

in balance

…wading

through emotional

waters deep

or rivulet shallow

or exhilarated

dive

immersing self

in life

and grounded

let seeds fall

in fields

…once fallow

I promise to attempt to be more regular with my posts… summer/autumn are naturally busy times Beyond the Gate and in the quieter places between, my work continues on the tenth book, Wild Spirits Live Beyond the Gate… a book of days and new art, photography, poetry and text are currently simmering in the creative cauldron.

Until next time… keep well…

Walk softly…

Awen /|\

Penny