Shed Stories #12 ‘Oh the Wind and the Rain!’
Well, weatherwise it has been a month of two halves! The first half very much brought this to mind:
No sun,
No wind,
No rain,
November.
I thought it was a poem by Roger McGough but seems we, in the Abbott household, have slashed a completely different poem by the 19th century humourist, publisher and poet, Thomas Hood. His version is much longer and has a different charm, do look it up!
Anyhow! What a dreary couple of weeks it was of ceaseless darkness and grey, still weather. Although it was somehow wearing it was very good for working at my lightbox. But one can’t work every day and I did have one very wonderful day’s walking in the atmospheric gloom up on the Cat’s Back in west Herefordshire with my daughter, Nettie and my sister, Clare, finishing up with a late lunch at the fabulous, Bull’s Head Inn, Craswall. I would definitely recommend it even if it isn’t the site of ‘The Slaughtered Lamb’ pub in An American Werewolf in London as I had thought for decades!
The second half of the month has thrown every type of weather at us as if in triumphant retaliation for our moaning about the boring weather! Snow, ice, wind, torrential rain, biblical floods and blessed sun – we have had them all. Thank goodness for the sun though! We have been extremely fortunate to have had some stunning walks in our local area and the sun has kept us all from going completely mad!
However, last Sunday was truly awful. I was driving up to Gregynog Hall with my friend and folklorist, Pam Thom Rowe. Black skies poured forth torrents of rain and I was forced to drive a tortuous route to avoid floods at nearby Leominster and Tenbury Wells. My imagination galloped off with me into Armageddon and I thought I should have stayed tucked up at home by the fire. Fortunately the roads were clear in Shropshire and Montgomeryshire and we were relieved and delighted to reach our destination safely.
I have wanted to visit Gregynog Hall for years. It is a place that has hosted Elgar, Holst, Vaughan Williams, Benjamin Britten, as well as being home of the Gregynog Press which produced some very fine books in its time. We had gone to see Sam Lee and his band and they seemed to channel the energies of those that had gone before in their performance. It was truly wondrous and a reminder of the uplifting nature of live music. What a night!
With regards to work I have been really enjoying ‘getting into the zone’ in my workshop. I have had some of those days that we all crave where the world just falls away and one becomes completely absorbed in what you are doing. It’s the dream isn’t it? As a result I have just sent off several new pieces to Seven Fables, Dulverton so perhaps some of you will manage a trip down there. It’s a magical place at any time of year but especially in the run up to winter solstice and Christmas.
This weekend I am looking forward to an informal get together with other women stained glass artists in Hertfordshire and then, when I am home again, I am hoping to hunker down and embrace the darkness, the fire and the sparkling lights as we head towards the longest night and the turning of the year.
I hope that you all have safe journeys over this winter time and avoid the worst of the weather by keeping snug with your loyal familiars, family and friends.
Solstice Greetings to you all and may we continue to hope and pray for peace on Earth.
See you next year!