The Late Winter Forest

We're just into February and the forest is deep in the slumber of winter, or is it?

As I take my weekly walk, I can see little buds on the branches. These will be the new leaves of the spring, very slowly building their strength. There are little surprises too as snowdrops and what looks like out of season harebells blossom among the bare dark trees.

I've no idea what these magenta berries are but they stand out glowing against the winter forest.

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My Grandfather's Seafaring Adventures

Patrick Toner was a glazier from Glasgow. However during the first world war, he was in the Royal Navy, stoking on an armed cargo ship called the HMS Mantua. The evidence for that was in his marriage certificate in which he gives the ship as his address. Recently I found the logs of the Mantua for that period on a very nice website called Naval-History.net. The logs are transcribed and scanned in here . This page records the day Patrick and Ellen got married and, sure enough, the Mantua was in the dock in Glasgow. There is a family legend that my grandfather Patrick survived a torpedo attack during the war but I can't find the incident in the Mantua logs. I'll try and find his military service records and add some more detail but the log of the HMS Mantua is a fascinating read for now.

21st Century Wet and Windy

After our brief winter wonderland of last week, we are back to the globally warmed version of winter that's become normal over the past decade. We had to turn back from a visit to Penrith today as the rain closed in on us around Carlisle. With stormy winds to add to the picture later this afternoon, it was a prudent decision as the journey back would have become very dangerous. So, as we look forward to Jocelyn, our tenth named storm of this season, we hunker down by the window and watch it pour. Pour the hot drinks, please!

The Art Of The Storyteller

Tonight we had our last storytelling session of the winter. Once a month we gathered around Simon, our seanchaidh, to hear ancient stories from around the world. Tales of the Celts and the Norse, the Mediterranean and the Middle East. And where else would you tell such stories but in a mead hall or a pub? After the summer break we will gather again in the Riverside Tap and share tales of entertainment and meaning. This time we had the tale of the Dog-headed Warrior of Canaan and two tales of the Feanna of Ireland. The tales of Fionn MacCumhaill and his warrior friends were especially apt as we had our Hebridean friend Mairi with us. She can remember that, in her grandfather's time, the storyteller would come to visit the neighbourhood and tell those same stories, but in Gàidhlig. We can keep the stories over the spring and summer by visiting Simon's digital storybook. He has put a number of great tales on his Youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/thefloatingmonastery . So ...

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