My Rainbow children! mayday 2011 local beach & Garden

SPLASH!

splish splash

sea shower!

who needs a swim suit!

splashy sisters

Enya being bendy

ohh its cold mummy

I hate sand in my shoes mummy

daddy and Freyja

ohh its cold mummy

Abi Spirit Oak the colourful peacock!

Spinning rainbows!

Enya Sky dances around one of our apple treees

weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

This is pretty much what we got up to on bank Holiday Monday 🙂 all taken locally! My wee family!!

why I have been AWOL!

HELLO ALL!!!!!!!

I would like to introduce you all to Freyja Astarte, born ‘early’ 3 weeks ago on 4th April! She is our new baby daughter and reason for my long absense from blogging!!! Here she is with her sisters Abi Spirit-oak and Enya Skye!

      

The name Freyja, in Norse mythology, is a goddess associated with love, beauty, fertility, and Astarte of course, is after again the goddess 🙂 She is our tiny , dark haired little miracle godddess who certainly had a journey to be with us all!!!!….

Without going into details lol…Freyja’s birth followed what felt like a very long and ill pregnancy, in which I suffered from sickness so severe I was hospitalised, the ‘hyperemisis’ was so bad it was like severe food poisoning..this didnt really settle for the duration of pregnancy.  To add to the drama the girls and I were in a car smash when I was 36 weeks pregnant( a car ran into back of us) , so inevitabley… from I guess shock, I went into ealy labour the following week! ….I ended up with emergency c section in which I lost over 2 litres of blood ( from what I believe 3 is the limit anyone can lose without , well dying), I basically had a uterine rupture……from a previous c section scar….so it has been one hell of a ride & I am fully aware that I am one lucky lady to be here with my wonderful children and Husband!

  SO…… I am here to blog and to catch up with you all…and to share, laugh..and a small part of me needs to blog to heal and make sense of the last months goings-on..writing has always provided me with therapudic value… 🙂  so my absense from blogging really followed a very traumatic 10mths!

Glad to be back!!!!  Oh Gods reminds me I mentioned ‘husband’ yes mark & i sneaked off and got married 5 weeks ago LOL!  what a month eh!!!!!!! 😀

Now I have to figure out where to get a background that i like, how to change the colour of the fonts and so much more lol! I hope I have correctly added those of you who are over here on wordpress….so bare with me if my page changes colours etc for a few weeks to come!!!

   

Pagan Journey to local Earth works

About 10mins from home, in a small inlet village Portballintrae, where the River Bush approaches the sea, there are two large earthworks, possibly prehistoric in date, each with a central area enclosed by two surrounding banks, and with a wide space between these banks. Rob & I discovered them(well didn’t discover them ‘historically’ LOL but you know what i mean)..and I wanted to take Mark & the girls back for a look..The larger (SW) earthwork has a roughly circular inner enclosure, surrounded by an irregularly oval outer bank. The whole area is damp but, in particular the inner enclosure is very wet and seems to have been built around a natural spring. Both the date and the purpose of this site remain a puzzle.

Click HERE to see Google maps  location of it.

So we took the girls to it last week on a wet Sunday , photos were not great as you really have to be at a great height to experience the circles, but the girls had a ball running about 🙂

And of course on the way home stopped into a bakers and got a fruit pie 🙂 ideal for sea-air induced hunger , for supper on a damp evening 🙂 🙂

 

Photos and videos of ‘St Aiden’s’ Chapel

I go out and about everyday. I love the local area and am cataloguing as many historic sites as possible. (I hope my love of history rubs off on the girls! )Here is St Aiden’s ancient Chapel.This is 25mins along the coast from home.

Bit of History-The earliest remains of a church here date to the 13thcentury, but an ancient holy well indicates that this has been a spiritual site since pre-Christian times. Indeed within St Aiden’s ruin is a stone with pagan carvings on it. The church is said to have been founded by St Patrick, and is named after St Aidan, a follower of St Colmcille. The remains of the medieval church can still be seen in the graveyard and was last used by the Church of Ireland community until 1772. The modern Roman Catholic Church was built in 1826, at a time when the Penal Laws against practising the Catholic faith had begun to relax.

Some photos and videos-

Here is video of the Mass bell that I thought was so beautiful and quite eerie..

Here is video of The Inside Of The Ruins. I audio swapped the video(badly LOL) to block out the sound of the awful wind-it was deafening). Oh not me I might add LOL!

Below car view of the new chapel with ancient St Aiden’s behind it on hill.And beside that Enya, Abi & Holly pose for a photo 🙂

Below Abi asked me ‘who is the lady’    The girls first time in chapel LOL

To the east of the medieval ruins lies St Aidan’s grave. below(the mound at foot of the cross in photo) For hundreds of years people have reached into a curious hole in the ground at the corner of the grave to bring out  a handful of sand which is said to hold healing power.  People from afar flock to this place, who believe in its healing powers. The photos show below the warden of the cemetery (lovely man)as he demonstrates ,followed soon after by Enya Skye who unsure at first, gained confidence and tried it.

Below photos of the The pre Christian well, said , if mixed with dirt from hole at St Aiden’s grave it will have healing powers.

Below-Yip you pay to pray!  😉  Below-The girls scoff lunch in my car

Built into the walls of St Aiden’s in a stone with pre Christian pagan drawings on it

Many Blessings! Moonie!!!

Videos of us local amusements

Close to where we live is the local seaside amusements. I used to love a visit here as a child, and when we were up staying here at the family caravan Scott & I would rhyme and beg to get to ‘Barry’s Amusements’. A lot of the rides have of course been updated but a lot of the old ones remain, like the hobby horses and Dodgems.It is kind of a legend in Northern Ireland, with most of us having childhood memories attached to the place.

Today I decided to take the girl’s to Barry’s … Mark has been doing the light and sound for The Fuel festival all week and they are missing him so I wanted to treat them. Of course being the small seaside town it wasn’t long until we spotted friends LOL we ran first into Kieran, then an hour later Rob & his boys who we spotted queuing , below, for the rollercoaster that we were on so we shouted down to him.

Here we are on the kids rollercoaster, then spotting Rob & the boys below!

Here is the Ghost train, first you see robs exit from it with his youngest , followed soon after by Enya & Evan who were so scared they were on the floor of the ghost train car when it came out the exit door….look..you can see the two of them appearing from their cowering position and us laughing at them..was so funny LOL

The girls on train  ride

Video/ photos for Fundraiser for CRY

Hi folks hope you are all well 🙂

I have to say a tribute to my dog Storm who I had for 13 years, who died last Friday very suddenly 😦 I have lost a dear and loyal friend It has been one of the saddest weeks I have ever had. I am amazed at the gap his passing has left…I am still opening the door for him, or filling his bowl with food….huge habit to break after 13 years…but due to the incredible love and support from all my human friends 🙂 I have have been able to smile again 🙂

Leap on the beach in peace Storm!!!

Lots of fun last Sunday for CRY! Madness at fundraiser with Marks work! Was great day sun shone and lots of money was made for CRY. WE all got involved. Team effort. Mark & Darren set it up and ran it, Alan did DJ and I was photographer for local papers and kick ass sumo player LOL…well ok I was awful at Sumo I kept getting floored and stuck on my back as suit was so heavy LOL! Kids had a great time!

 

GER OFF me Rob!!!!                Mark & Darren

Mark and Darren                                    Mark & Alan

Mark & Alan                                           Darren & Mark

Alan falls off LOL                                    Mark hangs on

Alan, Darren & Mark                   ..and again…

Enya gets painted                                  All done

Abi’s turn                                              ROARRRR!!!!

Abi & her cousins                                  Enya and Abi

3 men to fill 1 generator                       Mark sets up speakers

Rob & kieran gave us their support 🙂   Enya leaps

Abi flies!                                                Darren & Mark

Rob & Mark i think..                              Exhausted Abi Spirit LOL

My photos in the local papers.

Love Moonie xxxx

 

revisiting child hood memories..

Here is the link to Google maps of location this blog is about 🙂 here

 

This isn’t going to end well..                    off they go………….

CRASH LOL!!!! 

 

 

I took the girls, as I frequently do, and their wee friend Holly to the park in one of the local caravan sites close to our home.. ‘Juniper Hill’’..A very special place for me..in fact probably the most special childhood place’ of mine. Mum and dad used to have a caravan here.. and to Scott & I , well..it was magical..the caravan site is right on the Atlantic Ocean. I spent every summer, Easter and weekend up here..and when i was 19 decided to buy a house up here beside it 🙂 

Here are the girls at mum & Dads ‘old’ caravan which they have now sold since I live up here and they can stay with me. I used to sit here and look out at the sea, dreaming of caves and pirates and Scott & I used to play ball here and run about on the grass….wonderful memories…

The juniper trees in photo that the park is named after and I have a ‘slip’ of growing in my garden 🙂

Abi is crawling as she is playing the ‘shark’.

A lovely day in the sun 🙂

 

Love and blessings all 🙂

A day at the beach!

ON Sunday it was my friend & business partner Elaine’s birthday so a pile of us headed to the beach beside our home. We needed photos for posters and adverts for our Kids Yoga classes so we decided to bring down the yoga mats and just see what I managed to capture from our wonderful kids! From your left as you view it is Evan Marks nephew, Enya Skye & Abi Spirit our daughters, Joanne & Emma Elaine’s daughters 🙂

 

The weather has been amazing! We spent hours in the sea and then became land lovers when the tummies started to rumble! Elaine & I were chuffed to bits that not one child got any sunburn or even the hint of a tan! It was truly a fab day made just that bit more special by the glorious weather we have been having! Summer has started(even if good weather fecks off again LOL..in my kids memories of this year summer will have started in May as we have not been indoors!:)

Below Enya & Emma                   

 

Below Enya & Emma                                         Below Enya & Evan

Abigail Spirit-Oak                                   Enya gets buried

 

  

kids don’t feel the cold!                         LOL check out Evans facial expression!

sandy yoga mats & happy kids!              I wasn’t privvy to the joke LOL

Rob with his youngest son Jayden        Elaine, mark and Rob with back to camera 

I am still trying to find a cure for sand LOL. it gets everywhere! our house, front step, hallway, and bath seem to have a constant dredge of sand !The car is much the same!

Hope you are all enjoying the good weather 🙂

 

Love and Light, Moonie xxx

METALLICA May 11th Belfast BACKSTAGE

On Tuesday 11th Rob & I went to see Metallica,in Belfast. My 4th year in a row and robs second. Usually we have to go to Dublin to see them, but this time they came up north which was great! This time, thanks to my man marks work contacts, we got to sneak backstage. The usual drill, blend in, don’t act like a fan, no photos..I know the drill, I am used to marks work(he is a light and sound engineer for gigs). We didn’t have VIP passes, that entitle the holder to a meet and greet etc, we just hanging with the security.  LOL even though Rob & I ‘don’t do subtle’ we were on our best behaviour.

We had to be at the venue 2 hours before gig, so after much fuelling in the bar(that incidentally had turned into a rock bar with hundreds of Metallica fans hanging about), we were taken backstage by the security guys. I was so nervous, I felt 16 again LOL and was completely star struck! thinking ‘oh Hetfield has touched this’ etc. About 2 hours of Rob & I hanging about trying to blend in(LOL) Rob said to me ‘Wendy LOOK’..I turned to see James Hetfield walk into the hallway. Rob quick as lightening walked over and said something like ‘ can I shake your hand mate’..and called me over. James(SWOON) asked us were we staying for the concert(EH YEAHHH!!) .So I am standing there talking to the chap that I had on my bedroom walls since I was 13! Rob says he has never saw me so quiet or shy LOL!!! But what an experience! We regained our composure and went back to stand out of the way and the rest of the band were just in and out, and walking past us, nods were exchanged, thumbs up and so on for a good 30mins 🙂 🙂  We didn’t get one photograph of them as we had been asked not to act like fans, (but I did get given a T-shirt)but now I regret that as it really was a once in a lifetime opportunity. But their images are BURNED into my eyeballs for eternity!!! so Ill leave you with photos of us and videos from the night 🙂

 

 

 

 

troubled waters…

We found out this week that Marks mum has been receiving chemo for advanced liver & Bowel cancer…. As most of you know mark is pretty much‘estranged’ from his family..has been since he was pretty much 15 when he moved out …but he has taken this news hard. ..he has been researching her cancer, afraid to go and visit her-he takes hours to build up the nerve to ring her and days to build up going to see her. He is finding it hard to deal with his feelings for her, guilty that they still don’t get on…he finally went to see her last week and again yesterday.

Rob (Spellweaver) & I , share Bernie as our mother-in-law & our relationship with her has been equally difficult but this news has still came as a shock and we feel dreadful for her situation. It will affect Mark very deeply and our nephews, Rob’s boys Evan(7) and Jayden(3) as they are close to her ..(she doesn’t see our girls-most of you know the history) . So Rob & I are weathering for the storm..in our own unique ways. Out of the two of us I am definitely the over emotional worrier one who thinks out every possible scenario & is worried sick about mark & my nephews ..and Rob is the cooler one who keeps my head intact! I think I drove him mad a few nights ago with my anguish over how it will affect Mark and his boys. I know his ex wife Lisa will go to pieces as she is very close to her mum.. ..and inevitably & naturally due to this…as I told Rob ….the boys will suffer.

The odd thing is that for the past few months , without knowing the news of her illness, I have been asking Mark to invite her to see the girls even though as most of you know I swore id never allow this. …(and him) call it intuition. Bernie never showed me or the girls any kindness, but something in my unconscious shifted recently and I found myself worrying that Mark must make his peace. Now I know why. I even sent her a mothers-day-card ‘from mark’ without telling mark. Again now I know why. Rob & I saw her in Tesco’s a few days ago , before we ‘knew’ the news of her cancer, carrying lots of bags, looking pathetic, heading for the bus..and we both felt a stirring of pity…id hate my mum at her age to have to work fulltime and catch a bus home each night laden with bags….it would break my heart..but we have been trained over the past 2 years to leave her in peace as such an invite would mean a back turned.

Mark has had a bad few years with his family. They are a nightmare.The kind who grew up with disregard for real life..for feelings….people, like ‘objects’ are disposable..replaceable…they show little or no regard for anyone outside the blood tie. partners who marry into the family are treated with suspicion and disgust. Rob and I formed an instant alliance when I got together with Mark…he was married to Lisa, and he was the victim of the same treatment & had been for years…..Rob and I were the ‘out-laws’ LOL. Mark & for a time  took the heat off robs situation, we would joke about it…you know the jokes….suddenly global warming, world poverty etc were all my fault and not just Robs ..

Now the reality of the situation is she is dying ..and the dynamic ,when someone you have a strained relationship with, gets sick is a difficult one. Any attempts at helping them or making amends seems somehow done for the wrong reasons, yet it feels possible and natural..All my anger at Bernie faded about 2 years ago when I basically burned out..I took ill with the stress they all put me through…and I put my relationship with her-to rest, for my own & my kids emotional wellbeing..now I feel huge sympathy for her and hope & pray she is not having dark moments of fear and desperation.I am a mother & the thought of knowing I was going tom leave my kids would kill me..

I still wish for Mark to take the girls to see her..it feels the right thing to do…yet i fear that its cruel allowing them to form a bond now when we know she may well die..and soon..I have left it up to him..  he had Abi Spirit down yesterday to see her for the first time since she was born and he said it went well. Enya Skye refuses to go.

 

Love & peace all xoxoxoxox