With the end of the first draft of Berserk! in sight, I have started work on the cover design for the book:
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| My original photograph of one of my local woods |
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| Work in progress on the book cover for Berserk! |
Berserk! Cover Design
Epsom Salts and Nag Champa
Having a nice long epsom salt bath in the hope that it eases my continuing back pain. Burning some nag champa incense to soothe my soul...
Berserk! 2 More Chapters Needed!
Well, it looks like I need another two chapters to finish off the first draft of Berserk. This news has surprised me!
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| Story-boarding Chapter 11 |
Summer Solstice Writing
I sat out in the garden this Summer Solstice afternoon to do a bit of writing. By a fluke of timing, the chapter of Berserk! I was working on was set on Summer Solstice and details a Summer Solstice ritual. I love coincidences like this :)
A Misumena vatia Spider
I will conclude today's celebration of Summer Solstice with these two pics featuring a Peacock Lily and something rather curious I found lucking within its petals:
Misumena vatia spiders are curious little creatures which actually change their colour to camouflage themselves. The spider hiding in my Peacock Orchid was as white as the driven snow but this species can take on the most spectacular colours in their bid to surprise their insect-prey. I am no real fan of bugs, arachnids and other such critters, but sometimes the creatures you find amongst the garden flowers you grow can be just as fascinating as the plants themselves.
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| A Flowering Acidanthera Peacock Orchid |
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| A Misumena vatia Spider with it's Breakfast :o/ |
Bee Resting On Arum Lily
It is not just flowers that flouring during Summer. Insects do too. Here is a shot of a bee taking a little rest on an Arum Lily in my garden :)
Lavendar in the Sunshine
Another Summer Solstice image - Lavender in bloom, backlit by an intense Summer's sun really does make for an eye-catching magickal scene :o)
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| A Magickal Scene ~ Lavender in the Summer Sunshine |
Feverfew
Another Summer Solstice Celebration post, this time on a pretty little herb I found growing naturally in my garden - Feverfew:
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| Feverfew |
Feverfew was used in medieval Europe to relieve many ailments, including inflammation, menstrual pain and general aches and pain. It was also used as a protective charm against plague.
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| One of my cats exploring a Feverfew plant |
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| Feverfew |
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| Feverfew |
Field Poppy
An on my Summer Solstice celebrations rage, this time with a short post on the Field Poppy:
Field Poppies (Papaver rhoeas) are one of Britian's most vibrant and beautiful wild flowers. Given their delicate splendour, is is no surprise to find the flowers are rich in folklore and symbolism.
Most people know of the poppy's connection with Armistice Day (often called Poppy Day). This association grew from the WW1 battlefields in France, where the fighting churned up the soil and brought thousands of dormant poppy seeds to the surface and decorated the land where so many had died in swathes of the gorgeous red flowers. The colourful scene which marked the fields where so much horror had suffering and death had occurred is, perhaps, best remembered in the following poem, written by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae:
Field Poppies (Papaver rhoeas) are one of Britian's most vibrant and beautiful wild flowers. Given their delicate splendour, is is no surprise to find the flowers are rich in folklore and symbolism.
Most people know of the poppy's connection with Armistice Day (often called Poppy Day). This association grew from the WW1 battlefields in France, where the fighting churned up the soil and brought thousands of dormant poppy seeds to the surface and decorated the land where so many had died in swathes of the gorgeous red flowers. The colourful scene which marked the fields where so much horror had suffering and death had occurred is, perhaps, best remembered in the following poem, written by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae:
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
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