getting better

The shelter is really coming along now. I have been helped by the recent weeks of rain that has made really soggy all the clay based mud that i have dug out in order to make the structure. I have become more skilled in its application too. The recent bits are far superior to the older parts...I have been making really effective wattle and daub from the wet clay/mud, straw and leaves and applying it over the weaved willow like a thick paste. This will eventually harden and it will be weatherproof.I am planning to cover the interior floor in clay as well, and when dried out from a few chiminea fires it will be spot on! then i can start the meditation properly. I meditate outside in the clearing often but i think that when completed, the dark and smoky interior of the shelter will take me to new realms and deeper depths of peace and visionry!

the main problem i have now though is the approach path. with me tramping back and forth over wet ground the path from the wood makes a beeline for my clearing, and although most would be put off by a steep slippy path bent in half under hawthorn trees it is still obvious that something is going on behind all the underrowth..too big for a fox track. I will have to hope that the golfers or groundsmen don't feel like exploring off bounds! prob safe at the mo, but will have to alter the approach, plant a few trees, make it a bit harder to see. Come spring, all will be well again, but this is the danger time around now. anyway, fingers crossed, i would be gutted if it was found now!

my son

As my son has accompanied me to the nature place lately i incorporated it into his bedtime story earlier. this is how it went....25 years from now, you are driving to see your cousin Lewis and his kids. You have your own 6 yr old in the back. You are excited because you are taking him to the nature place for the first time.You park up and call in . Lewis and his so join you and you all head down the familiar path to the golfcourse. No one around you run across the links and up through the wood, through a different path that you know now. It is familiar yet different the scene in front of you.The fir tree atop the high meadow is stretching up into the sky, thick and luxurious. You remember when it was small and say to your son 'your grandad planted that before i was born'.heading up into the upper bit, under he hawthorn trees and into the clearing. The shelter is still there but chaned. It has a small door on the outside and inside wooden floor and matting.the chiminea is there, blackened with use and pots ans pans hang up on hooks. a small wooden bed and a chair are there. candles. an antique paraffin lamp. you watch your sons eyes widen. 'wow' he says. suddenly grandad appears..he is 67 now, with a lined yet happy face. he brings in some kindling and lights a small fire on which a kettle of water is set to boil. While its boiling you show your son around. The pond is a haven of life, generations of frogs call it their home. Birds wash in it. the ground is hardened from years of walking on...and the early evening sun falls from the west where the gap in the trees allows a view of the distant mountains. All the trees have grown up. the fruit bushes are massive, and grandad picks off a juicy blackcurrant to give to your son. All these years it has remained hidden. an oasis. an inaccessible place. a place of vision, for those with vision. Only a few people have been here, trusted friends, poets, musicians, all to relax and soak up the vibes. Your son asks 'can i stay the night'...'one day son yes, when you are a little bigger'.....

progress made

I haven't posted for a while so thought I would give an update on the progress of the secret nature shrine. It is still there and still undiscovered. However, the recent few months visits have made very visible a definite path leading up through the wood, across the lower meadow, up a slope and under low hanging trees to the site. in the spring i will use the othere route and let this one grow over so as to keep it hidden.I am considering replanting one of my 'planted' fir trees on this path so in time it will form a barrier . i mix and match the paths, altering them and obscuring them and am ably helped by nature in this. however, at this time of year not much grows so its more difficult. but its not accessible from a public path, and i can'tt see many golfers being inquisitive to the extent of traipsing up a muddy path into a dark and undergrowth filled wood! the last few visits have been to do more work to the shelter itself...adding straw and cutting thin slices of clay out of the ground to act as tiles..its building up well. i added more inner branches to help contain the weight. as soon as the chiminea is installed i will have a few fires and get it all dried out properly inside. the spring and summer sun will do that on the outside for me.

The main change/idea is that i have begun to build a pond! this was my 6 year old sons idea, i had never thought of it so nice one son! i have ordered a pond liner and have begun digging the hole. helping nature and adding a different vibe to the place...frogs! i look forward to welcoming you to my sanctuary. i will post up the progress.