Cob Houses

Over the weekend, I read an article about a local artist that creates wonderful Cob structures to live and play in and fell in love with the look of them. What a great alternative to the conventionally built house!

I did a search on the web for information about Cob Houses and found this video.

An Old Woman Of The Road

O’ TO have a little house!
To own the hearth and stool and all!
The heap’d-up sods upon the fire,
The pile of turf against the wall!

To have a clock with weights and chains
And pendulum swinging up and down!
A dresser filled with shining delph,
Speckled with white and blue and brown!

I could be busy all the day
Clearing and sweeping hearth and floor;
And fixing on their shelf again
My white and blue and speckled store!

I could be quiet there at night
Beside the fire and by myself,
Sure of a bed loth to leave
The ticking clock and the shining delph!

Och! but I’m weary of mist and dark,
And roads where there’s never a house or bush,
And tired I am of bog and road
And the crying wind and the lonesome hush!

And I am praying to God on high,
And I am praying Him night and day,
For a little house – a house of my own –
Out of the wind’s and the rain’s way.

– Padraic Colum

Wisdom of the Tao

Mercury Retrograde

Mercury goes retrograde today, and will remain so until May 30th.

The best way to get through a retrograde is to remind yourself to relax and let go of any expectations you may have and just go with the flow.

This weekend the full moon will be in Scorpio. Here’s a little something to soothe and inspire.

“Mercury retrograde isn’t bad; it just takes some planning to cooperate with the energies. It’s meant to be spent assimilating experiences, reviewing the past, and redoing, in general. As a matter of fact, if you really want to get the most out of Mercury retrograde, confine your activities as much as possible to those that have “re” attached to the beginning of the word. Reschedule appointments, repair vehicles, return to the past, rewrite documents and agreements, and so forth.” – Steven Forrest

Gaia

“Those of us who consider ourselves to be somehow involved in the birthing of a new age, should discover Gaia as well. The idea of Gaia may facilitate the task of converting destructive human activities to constructive and cooperative behavior. It is an idea which deeply startles us, and in the process, may help us as a species to make the necessary jump to planetary awareness.”
– James Lovelock

Beltaine Eve

Here’s some beautiful music to stir the heart and set your feet to tapping. Tomorrow the gates of Beltane swing open as we celebrate the return of the light.

May the blessings of good fortune, health, and prosperity be yours.

“Welcome, with your lovely greenwood choir, summery month of May for which I long!” – Welsh, Fourteenth Century