Hello Wild Soul,
I cannot believe that we are coming to the end of March and I have to say, it has been a wild one for me, how about you?
There have been some beautiful Spring moments, like hearing the birds singing, or feeling the sun warm my skin, but there have also been the days where I feel my Winter cave calling me right back in as soon as the temperature drops or the sky turns grey.
The thing about this time of the year, is that my mind is full of ideas and yet my energy cannot keep up with them and quickly becomes overwhelmed. I have found some of these Mindful Spring practices, really supportive this week, and so I am sharing them with you, in case they can be of help too.
Last week, we did a job that had been on our list for some time; to organise Chris’ wood shed. Last year, he inherited his grandparent’s shed and decided to turn it into his dedicated crafting space.
Over the past 5 years, we have slowly been gathering windfallen woods, getting to know both the wood, and the trees from which they came intimately. Since that very first piece of Birch wood we have built up quite the collection and so we wanted to create more of an organised space to hold it.
Using materials that we had available to us, we set about creating shelving, and making some pyrography labels too and he is already enjoying this newly improved space!
A new wood…but not from a tree
I recently shared a sneaky clip on Instagram of Chris working with a brand new wood, and a few of you shared guesses of what you thought it might be. I perhaps should have mentioned that the wood was not from a tree but from a woody plant…
It is always exciting to work with a new wood, especially one that is quite unusual because we have absolutely no idea how it will turn out, or whether it will even work for a pendant.
This wood comes from the vine like growth, of the wild Clematis (Clematis vitalba). You may also know it by one of its alternative names of ‘Old Man’s Beard‘ or my personal favourite ‘Traveller’s joy’
This woody plant is a member of the buttercup family, and is most likely found clambering along hedgerows or growing up trees where it produces these vines that hang from trees and always speak to my inner Tarzan when I see them!
This plant has a rather mixed reputation. In some areas of the UK, it competes with other plants and is considered to be invasive particularly outside of its native range of the South of England.
It does however provide an important food source for wildlife. Its small white flowers produce pollen throughout the Summer which is enjoyed by bees and hoverflies in the day, and moths at night. Its seed heads are eaten by many birds throughout the Autumn and Winter including Goldfinches and Greenfinches.
It is perhaps most widely recognised for its fluffy seed heads which develop in the Autumn and earn Clematis its alternatives names.
And if you have ever travelled through the countryside and caught sight of it, lit up silver by the the low Winter sun, you may well recognise why it was named ‘Traveller’s Joy’ by those roaming ancient trackways.
To honour Thursday’s Full Moon, we will have a small collection of Traveller’s Joy pendants in store at 7pm. Our hope is that they will bring you a reminder of the joy that exists on any journey, whether physical travel, or navigating our inner journeys too.
Wishing you some moments of joy this week,
Nic x
Wild Fen 