2006 Glastonbury visits

(nb a note for my friends on Livejournal who subscribed to my feed to here.. sorry I am not able to use a cut on these entries. They will get shorter once I have caught up with posting my website entries)

2006 Glastonbury visits

Fri 31 Mar 2006, visit 44

"I had a lovely day! I must admit than when the alarm went off at 5.15 I wanted to roll back over and go to sleep but I am glad I didn't, Glastonbury managed to miss the many heavy showers which were forecast too by some miracle, I only got sprinkled on briefly.

I managed to be early for my train which meant I got an earlier train and was in Bristol in time for the 8.30 bus. So I was in Glastonbury by 9.45! First I went to Wearyall Hill where there are lovely views. I worked out the zoom on my camera and took some photos. Then I went and spent a very happy 90 minutes in the Chalice Well Gardens. I wandered round, sitting here and there, took lots of photos, and did three quick sketches. I took photos of what I sketched as well so I can use the photos to fill in the detail.

Then I had lunch in Rainbows End as usual then a wander round the shops where a few things were purchased including two more "New age" CDs by a composer I have taken a liking to, Llewellyn. One is called Path to Dreams and the other Path to Faery. 

Then I went and had a lovely hour wandering round the Abbey ruins and taking photos. There are so many daffodils about all over the place. I think spring has finally sprung.

Then tired and weary I got on a bus back to Bristol and here I am now.

I took.. cough... 132 photos. Not many really is it? Almost enough for a whole web site." 

This was my first trip with my previous camera, a Canon Powershot A520. My last two film cameras were Canons, and I always liked them. It needed to be put through its paces and where better than Glastonbury! My current camera is a Powershot too and hoping to get my first DSLR soon, yes, a Canon!


St Margaret's Chapel


Wearyall Hill, the Holy thorn and view of the Tor


Daffodils and the Tor from my favourite swing seat in the gardens

Daffodils!



Daffodils at the Abbey



The Abbey ruins



More daffodils at the Abbey!

Sat 13/Sun 14th May 2006, visit 45

Ann and I went and stayed at Little St. Michaels for the weekend. It was a full moon so the gardens were illuminated and open in the evening, one of the most mgical things I have ever experienced.

Sat 13th May
"We had a lovely time. We had the same room at the Well as we had last time, Oak Room which is at the back looking out over Chalice Hill and a field of sheep. We spent time having coffee in Little St Michaels garden, having lunch at Rainbow's End, wandering round the shops. After a brief stop back at the house we climbed the Tor, it was very windy up there and we got very windswept and I took lots of photos. Then after showers we popped back into town for fish and chips.

It was a full moon on saturday (though we didn't actually manage to see the moon through the cloud!) so the gardens were illuminated and it was quite magical. They had put lanterns up all over the place, and the waterfall and Vesica pond were all lit up with lanterns and candles. We had 2 wanders, one at dusk and a shorter one later on when we sat by the angel seat and Ann lit her faery candle from Kirks Folly. "

Sun 14th May

"This morning we had a wander round the gardens first thing, then had our breakfast sat on the swing seat, with nothing but the sound of birdsong and the water flowing through the gardens for acoustics. We sat there for ages and several birds came by including a very tame little robin who got some crumbs off our plates. 

We spent a lot of time just relaxing and I felt so spiritually uplifted by the time we came home. We are going back in July just after my birthday."

I took 165 photos, the most ever  (which has since been superceded!)



Me and the Tor



Wearyall Hill illuminated by a shaft of sunlight



By the angel seat, I make flowery garlands so we both wore one.



Arthurs Court all illuminated with night lights



The little channel and Goddess at night

The little court near the well

The well



Earlyish morning, the healing pool in Arthur's court.



Robin



Sat/Sun 15/16 Jul 2006, visit 46

Ann and I went down to stay at Little St. Michaels. We had Yew room, at the front, it has a single and a double bed. As it was not long after my birthday I got the double bed!

"I am back and we had a lovely weekend. We had Yew room at Little St. Michaels, which has a single bed, and a double bed in an alcove. We were going to toss a coin for the beds but Ann said as I was the recent Birthday girl I was to have the double so I did and lovely it was too. I like all the rooms I have stayed in at Little St Michaels, I don't think I could choose a favourite.

We spent a long time last night and this morning in the gardens, when they are closed, unless there is an event on only staff or people staying at one of the wells cottages can be in the gardens and it is quiet quite magical then. We saw a rabbit come out to graze on the grass last night, lots of butterflies and this morning lots of birds and a dragonfly. We had our picnic with the faeries and Huggy* last night. I took a few photos.. about 160... still need to download them. This morning we spent well over an hour just wandering about and sitting in different places. Sitting on a bench by the ancient yews just above the Vesica pond I had a moments pure joy and happiness. I really felt that at that precise moment there was nowhere else I would rather be than in those magical gardens, listening to the sound of the water, watching birds and bees go about their daily doings, and be at peace.

I bought a few nice things, including a wonderful elvish star necklace with some of my birthday money.

Coming home was fine till I got to Didcot. I had to get a bus between Swindon and Didcot due to engineering works, and that was where I expected to get delayed... but that was all fine. But when I got to Didcot a train had been cancelled, the next one to Oxford wasn't until 17.06, and that ended up being 15 minutes later. So I got into my house about18.15!! Poppy pleased to see me and very soon I am going to have and very much enjoy a bath!!"

*Huggy Bear is the mascot of the fortysomething community on Livejournal and I had volunteered to host him. He went onto his next host just after this visit. We had a picnic with the faeries on saturday evening, I just love being in those magical gardens at any time.



Huggy having lunch in Rainbow's End



Decorated passage in the Glastonbury Experience



Lovely dappled sunlight near the well.

Huggy by the well.



Me in the gardens



My bed for the night!



Tue 1st Aug 2006, visit 47

I stayed overnight with Ann as we had an early start. We did an art workshop with Pamela Matthews, a fringe event at the Goddess Conference

"After having a very quick look round the shops Ann and I set off to find the Phoenix Project where our workshop was being held. I was clutching a map which had been emailed to me which showed it was on a street off Northload Street. So we set off and could we see it? No we couldn't. We got to the street after the one we wanted, but just could not find the one we wanted. We bumped into an American lady with the most gorgeous long blonde hair, colourfully dressed and who seemed kind of familiar, who was looking for the same place, and eventually there were probably about 8 colourfully dressed Goddessy ladies all wandering about looking for the elusive road. Eventually we asked someone, and it turned out what we needed was a little terrace we had seen called something like Albert terrace, beyond which was the street on the map and the Phoenix Project! Several people arrived late so I think there were other bands of lost Goddesses about that day!

Pamela Matthews and her partner whose name I can't remember, were lovely, warm and friendly and so welcoming. She later told us her partner was her soul mate and she had drawn him into her life. Over the course of about 2 months, she said she drew him, and then he found his way into her life via a mutual friend. 

The event started with a slide show of some of Pamela's wonderful paintings, including a Goddess deck she has done. She told us a bit about each Goddess. I have loved her art for a long time, and have several cards and prints by her in my collection. I haven't been able to find a web site specific to her, but there is a link on the leaflet she gave us which has one so I will look that up.

Then we got straight into drawing! The first project was to draw lines on paper in a colour (or colours of our choice) to depict nervousness, anger, happiness and I can't remember what the other one was. My nervous and angry lines were reds and oranges and surprise surprise my happy ones were blues and purples, and all the lines were swirly.

We had a break then and went out to the lovely little garden where we were like colourfull butterflies flitting about and chatting.

After we had had our break we got properly into drawing and painting. We used oil pastels and turps to smudge them so they looked like paint. I had never tried oils before and am happier with watercolour and pencils but it was so much fun to try something different.

First of all we did a drawing of where we feel we are in our life. Mine was a typical Jackie type figure with a swirly sun, the Tor, a swirly tree, a pentacle with a heart in the middle, a rainbow and some rainbow rain. That is how I see where I am, on an Avalonian spiritual journey and delighting in what nature has to offer. I don't see rain as grey and dreary any more, I see it as a lovely positive thing which is needed and which refeshes. It can destroy at times to but so much of nature can."

We had a lovely day, it was so nice to have a day when we could just paint and draw and learn new things and be encouraged.

The American lady was called Heidi and she had been staying at the Chalice well when we were there in May

My painting



Fri 25th Aug 2006, visit 48

A friend,  Monika, who I got to know via my Glastonbury community on Live Journal, came over to stay for a few days and we went to Glastonbury (and my 2nd favourite place Avebury, too).

I didn't blog this one so here are my memories instead. It was a lovely sunny day. We went to the Abbey first and had a lovely long wander all the way round the grounds, which are so beautiful. I think we had lunch in Rainbow's End. Then we walked to the Tor along Bushey Combe and over the side of Chalice Hill. We spent quite a lot of time up there, it really is one of my very special places. Then we went to the gardens and we did a lot of shopping too, Monika went home laden with books!





Bushey Combe

Robin in the gardens











Sat/Sun 21/22 Oct 2006, visit 49

Ann and I went back for another stay at Little St Michaels.We had Elder Room, the downstairs one. Sunday was very wet!

Sat 21st Oct

I think we spent most of saturday in town once we had checked in, shopping probably ;)

"One of the things I love most about staying at Little St. Michaels at the Chalice Well is that you can go out into the gardens anytime you want, except if there is a special event on. It is quite magical there at dawn, or at night, or early in the morning before they open. If you are really still you can feel nature busy all around you. If you catch a glimspe of movement out of the corner of your eye- it might be a nature spirit at work.

Ann and I had a dusky walk round the gardens on Saturday evening. There wasn't much of a sunset as there was a lot of cloud out to the SW but it was still lovely. The inbetween times of day- dawn, noon, dusk and midnight are the times of day the fae like best, then the veils between the worlds are thinnest.

Sun 22nd Oct

"Today has been a very wet sunday. But though I was not snuggled at home which I love to do on wet sundays, I still enjoyed my wet sunday. It started off with rhubarb muffins and banana hot chocolate for breakfast. Then it started to rain so Ann went and snuggled in the lounge with a book and I went for a rainy walk round the Chalice Well Gardens. Even in the rain they are beautiful and peaceful. I sat on the swing seat in the meadow overlooking the Tor for a while. I was kept warm and snug by the roof and by my warm waterproof purple coat. Then I sat on the rustic covered seat by the well, where I was serenaded by a Robin, I could see his little chest moving as he sang to me. There may have been nature spirits about too, there were odd little rustlings and movements in the leaves and undergrowth.

Then during a rare lull in the rain we headed into town. I had a bad moment when a cash machine almost swallowed my card. Thank goodness us ladies carry tweezers with us. Ann had some in her bag and I was able to get it out! We had leek and potato soup with lovely crusty brown bread for lunch in The Abbey Tea Room. It started to rain heavily while we were in there. But a combination of bus shelters, buses, railway stations and trains kept both or one of us dry all the way home. It felt quite cosy to be on the but then the trains in the rain. Its still raining hard here now so I get some at home wet sunday too.




Me by the well at dusk



Dusk Tor view





I love this little paved area near the well.