Week 28 – It’s a wrap! Puppets, Bender opening, Simonne, Squares, shared lunch

September 2021 to April 2022 (Elders Weaving in the Woods – Samhain to Equinox)

The last day of term. Later there would be news on further funding, giving hope for the re-opening, but for now, we settled as we do in our familiar circle, among our community, some of whome had been with us for a year.

Armoral had worked wonders with the Pearlie coat

We all bought a variety of finger foods to share, Annette topped the bill with the best ever chocolate brownie.

We had an order of service with at least two errors!

Our question was what do you see in this piece of wood? It is the wood we will use to frame the beautiful tapestry we took off the loom last week. The wood is Elm. The patterns manifested different things for us

Crows feet
A map of trees and rivers and homes
Like a beach when the tide is out and all the worms come to the surface
A birds eye view
Alaskcan totum pole
Canoe war
Wind turbines
It’s heavier than I thought it would be
A lot of work!
Sea creatures
Birds flying
Sad
Like the patterns on my grand mothers piano
Mystic writing
Weatheringset vicar and armies of creatures
UFO
Networking systems

After our circle Shona invited us to wander around the wood, and collect up anything we fancied taking back with us, as some had suggested last week taking a leaf to press. Shona provided some small glass phials into which we could put small pieces of Kaliwood. Half way to the cabin were books we’d bought from charity shops, which could be used as leaf presses.

The last Chi Gong under the hornbeams had a strong energy to it, as we all enacted the Eight pieces of Brocades Chi gong practice
Two hands hold up the heavens
Archer shooting
Separating heaven and earth
Touching the feet
Thrusting the fist

These movements all work with different meridians: lung, large intestine, spleen, stomach, liver, gall bladder, kidney

Simonne arrived! Fresh off her flight from Paris, she enthusiastically air kissed many, many times, greeted all new and old, before beginning her art instruction, charcoal trees.

Many enacted different moments in our year. Making and playing with conquors, Paul talking to us about trees, The Journal Girls, making tea and scones, Meg, making the bender.

Gabrielle introduced us to the honey comb she had retrieved from Kaliwoods hive a few hours before. How sweet that honey tasted.

We ended with the Cauliflower song led by Nikki. Meg would have been proud of us, we sang in two groups.

Bertie donned the Pearly Coat, and we made our way to the bender.

Music from the International Space Wagon invited us in the time frame, with The wind and the Rain. N, inspired by the bender and her theatrical past, introduced a reading between Alex and Pippa:

Alex read from James Aske. Then Alex and Pippa enacted a part from Twefth Night (not as the programe said, Tempest)

Make me a willow cabin at your gate
And call upon my soul within the house
Write loyal cantons of contemned love
And sing them loud even in the dead of night Hallow your name to the reverberate hills,
And make the babbling gossip of the air
Cry out ’Olivia!’ O, you should not rest
Between the elements of air and earth
But you should pity me…

Bertie opened the Bender, cutting the ribbon, With music to Penny Lane, we danced a bit, before processing through.

Finally, naturally, scones and tea around our fire. We gave our gratitude to the wood, our missing community of Mary and Pete, Irene and Roy, sending them our love, gratitude to our funders, our community here. Finally, for Bobji doing something I have not been able to in my life – get pregnant: she is carrying 5 pups. The next time we meet they will exist. Such as time passing.