Mabh Savage's Blog: A Celtic Witch, page 22

Chocolate Tasting at Apperley Bridge Marina

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It’s nearly Yule and what better way to enjoy this indulgent season than with some delicious choccies? Apperley Bridge Marina hosted its first chocolate tasting event last night. We arrived under a frosty half moon with the boats glistening in still and cold water. The place was done out beautifully, with Christmas decorations, candles in cups of coffee beans and a delightful handmade light box church.

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The chocolates themselves were elegantly displayed on cake stands. Flavours ranged from three different types of Baileys to rhubarb and ginger gin and a whole gamut of tastes in between. I particularly enjoyed the creme de menthe! Vicky, the chocolatier, has created some genuine sweet treats and they are much in demand over the festive period. I purchased some of the Bailey’s Luxe milk chocolates for my knee half. They’re hidden in the back of the fridge now!

At £5 for entry, a hot drink and a taste of every chocolate, this was a really good value event and yet another reason Marina View Coffee Shop is one of our favourite places. If you fancy trying some of Vicky’s hand made chocolates, give them a shout on 07706046753. The coffee shop is also on Facebook and Instagram.

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Distracted by the Birds

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I often find myself distracted in the kitchen. I’m supposed to be jamming. Making jam, not music. But the pigeons coo, the great tits see-saw whistle, the blue tits chatter and the wrens scold, their huge voices belying their tiny bodies.

My feelings war between this scolding, this feeling that I ‘should’ be busy, and the delight of my avian company. Particularly during this holiday period, we are pressured to be busy, doing, making, buying; pleasing. Sometimes I just want to please myself. To sing, to speak Spanish, to read, to shout at the radio, to cuddle the cats and children.

Oh, I do love making jam, but it’s become a chore for now. Now the birds call to me. I can’t help but listen.

Wasted Tea Haiku

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Sometimes the tea is

Heavy, dense; peculiar.

Why did it go cold?

Solstice Decorating

We’ve not got much money this year so we’re finding new (old) ways to make the place look festive! Big thanks to Leeds Real Junk Food Project Sharehouse for rescuing flowers that were going to be thrown away by supermarkets. We got two lovely bunches on a pay-as-you-feel basis and they have certainly added to the festive feel.

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Old Ways/New Ways

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I’m frying things in butter

Oil in cupboard, with the clutter

Bottling rainwater from buckets

Standing guard until it chucks it

Down and how I check the weather

Smell of air and pinch of leather

Pine cone shrinking, mercury rising

Direct sun and cloud apprising

As if I can tell them what to do.

But I write this on my smartphone

Fruit of youth no Celtic bygone

And I check notifications

For my next purification

Crystal Jilly posts on Facebook

Love and joy, kindness and luck

And when the butter burns and smokes

Electric fan extracts while we tell jokes

About politics, science, art

Passions of the head and heart

Those ways, new ways, that show us

What to do.

The Path

This poem was written for Sue Dudley, one of the winners of a competition during the Pagan Federation Beltane Online Festival. Sue was happy for me to share the poem that she inspired. I just never got around to it until now! I am very disorganised… Sue gave me some ideas and told me a little about her life, and this is the poem that resulted from that. Thanks Sue, you were a great muse.

The Path

Of all the steps we take

The first step is the hardest

And I’ve taken mine

I’ve crossed the line

Into wonders wyrd and wild.

The dog, the man and I

Moving closer to the green

With fruit so sweet

And veg, and meat,

From our hills, ours hands; our lands.

A life of magic calls

The world laid out before me

Seasons turn

While passions burn

Beneath the Lord and Lady’s gaze.

My wishes manifesting,

Under Welsh skies, blue and grey

Woodland scenes

Sparkling streams

A far cry from the concrete maze.

My journey starts anew,

Walking with my ancestors, so proud

A path so new

But cutting through

The fog of all that went before.

A laugh within my soul

Which leaps, and reaches for the sky

My gods look on

And watch upon

My world; my change; my chance;

See my spirit soar.

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Flowing

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Waxing Gibbous

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Meet Mabh Savage – pagan, author and herbalist

via Meet Mabh Savage – pagan, author and herbalist

Big thanks to Wendy for such an enjoyable interview!