One thing you may not know about me......

I rarely read novels.    I find my attention span is low and I lose interest very quickly.     One thing that has always fascinated me,  is writings on the English countryside.     The myths, legends and old country beliefs that link the fabric of the landscape.

Tales of witches abound, linked with such creatures as hares, bats and toads.    
Springs and wells were once the objects of pagan worship.....we have an old well in our garden.
I remember the day we discovered it.    My husband and I lowered a bucket into its depths.
Should we drink.   I decided I would.   I can remember Mr P's face and his words.   "Well if you are going to drink it, then so will I.  That way we will die together."    We live to tell the tale....the water is wonderful   :)

One of my great joys is walking the English countryside with Nella each day.     I like to sharpen my senses to observe and appreciate more closely the ways of the natural world.     I collect feathers, bones and many other objects en route.    Poppi and Riley love to look at them on a cold winters evening when they sleep over.      I teach them, the little that I know, and find it a joy that they are fascinated by my stories.

 Let me leave you with an extract from one of my books.....Amazing and Extraordinary facts on The English Countryside by Ruth Binney.

 The Sacred Tree

It was beneath the oak's spreading branches that the wizard Merlin is believed to have worked his enchantments and because of its associations with the gods is said to be the first to be struck by lightning in a thunderstorm - farmers will plant oaks near buildings to act as lightning conductors.   At Yule, the ancient ritual from which many of our Christmas customs derive, an oak log was always chosen as being the most likely to draw the sun back to the earth.   To the Druids, whose name means 'oak men' the tree was - and still is - sacred, and thought to embody the spirit of their god Esus.

The mistletoe, which occasionally grows on it as a semi-parasite, was believed to guard the tree from evil.    Cutting it with a golden sickle, on the sixth night of the moon will, they believe, preserve its magic.



Many many months ago a fellow blogger asked if I would do a post on 'Ten things you may not know about me'  To be truthful I have forgotten who asked but I did say to her at some point I would join in.   I forgot :)     So todays post is the first......I thought I would write something every now and again through the winter.....until I have completed my task.