Oaks and iron... and the new moon in the arms of the old.

It was a beautiful spring day today, and although I had planned on a good stint of drawing the day meandered into food shop, picnics and playgrounds and some lovely happy time with the children. Even better it was all four of us together - Tony had been gigging last night which meant no band practice today and as we both work six days a week, these opportunities don't happen too often so we made the most of it!
So late on in the afternoon I managed to hop over the garden wall into the field with a bag full of charcoal and ink, over to the row of Oaks that have been calling for me to draw them ever since we moved in.
I only managed the one ink and dip pen sketch, a bit rough and ready with a clogged up nib, but I really enjoyed just becoming absorbed in the looking and mark making sitting in the spring sun. It seems a long long time since I last put pencil to paper and eye to hand. Good to break the deadlock.
One after the other the children clambered over the wall to join me for a few drawings of their own before scampering back across the field to the house. After tea we all decided there was just enough time before bed for a walk, especially with the extra hours daylight.


The sun was already going down and we were aware as we crossed the rickety Troll Bridge to the sunken wooded lane that the badgers would be emerging soon, so we went cautiously. At the edge of the old laneway someone had recently left a campfire, the embers still glowing in the circle of stones. The drifting woodsmoke would probebly deter the badgers I expect, but further up the track in the bank of the lane there was a whole neighbourhood of very freshly dug badger sets, so with twilight falling we crept softly past.
Not much farther along Elora stopped to study some animal tracks in the mud we thought were probebly fresh badger prints, and just there we found a very old horse shoe - a good omen for our new home... and up in the field I found a chunky old hand forged nail, that as I carried along feeling the rough weight of it in my hand made me think of charms of iron against precocious faery folk. Upside down it looks like Thor's Hammer, perhaps I should bind some leather around it and wear it...
Two iron charms found at the turning of light to dark...

Walking on home in the deepening dusk the still leafless arms of the many oaks writhed upwards, black powerful gestures against the fading sunset, and a beautiful delicate eldritch moon rose which Elswyth said was a banana thrown into the sky!


The horseshoe slither of Moon was dancing with Venus and Jupiter making a lovely triad of light in the west, and the Moon was clothed in a ghostly earthshine. A friend tonight described it as 'the new moon in the arms of the old' which I love.

(Sorry about my rubbish pictures!)

Ever since I saw that beautiful spectral glow on the Moon tonight I've had the song 'Earthshine' by Rush in my head, one of my favourite bands. So I will leave you for now with this song... I love it, hope you enjoy it!