Green Smoke and Goddesses

We had a rather exciting July – finally after much waiting and saving of pennies (and many pounds) we were able to get the doors and windows painted. The tatty old gate, which I’ve been apologising for since we opened, has now been replaced. Our face to the world is considerably smarter and I can relax, knowing that the old latch won’t lock people out anymore. People who then have to stand in the street shouting my name…. (I’m still embarrassed about this).
From white to green, a bit radical, but so much nicer. And historically correct, I’m told. The colour is Farrow & Ball Green Smoke, which seemed to me a pretty good match for the kind of greens which would have been used back in the early 1700s.
Alex the painter told me that when scraping the windows he had found white, cream, dark red, brown, black, and dark green at  the bottom which was probably the original Georgian paint. Some of our windows are nearly 300 years old, which is why they rattle a bit, and stick, and have bubbly thin glass. I love their wonky ways, but occasionally weaken and long for  double-glazing.
​
The last week in July is the Goddess Conference and we have a house full of lovely women all connecting with the energy of the Goddess. There’s a huge program of talks and activities running all week.  A usually quiet Sunday morning was livened up by the sound of drums and singing. A procession of women (and a few men) drumming and chanting, all dressed in their bright red and yellow, flowers in their hair, with sparkly body paint and make-up process by, on their way to Glastonbury Tor. A lovely sight and sound. They’re carrying large three-dimensional figures of the goddess flanked by two lions, this year’s theme being the sun, and the solar goddess. I can’t resist taking some photographs with our house in the background.
Hence Green Smoke and Goddesses.

---