The Green Green Grass of Home
Hello Lovely Readers
Today is a Global 10 Day
The Music of Late Summer 2023
Spring Rain on the King`s Reign
Winter Nips at My Nose – December 2022
Fish & Chips – Getting to Grips
Vive la Difference
It has been a while since I sent out a newsletter. No excuses…(I have many) but here it is.
As I peer from my writing cabin window in beautiful Dorset, the garden is receiving a well-earned soaking. Not I must add, from well needed rain, but from a pre-hosepipe ban sprinkler.
The foliage is weaving and swaying in the breeze, and it struck me that I had never before noticed how many shades of green exist in nature. It set me off drifting into trying to name the ones I could see. I soon realised it is harder than you think to come up with a satisfying description without resorting to pale green, mid green, dark green. My eye caught sight of a Tupperware container at my painting desk, filled with art products. Tubes of crumpled, hastily squeezed paints of Phthalo green, Forest Green, Sap Green, Hooker’s Green, Cadmium Green Hue…yes, much more satisfying.
A Fresh Palette
I have recently been stretching my creative muscles in pursuit of acrylic and watercolour painting. I joined an art class, and I am loving it. My well of writing inspiration having only temporarily (I hope) dried and cracked like a midsummer lawn, I needed something to get the juices flowing again. So, painting became an outlet. Little did I know, that apart from this being a pleasant meditation, the colours I use would also become the catalyst for reigniting my writing works, right here on this page.
Beyond my window, the leaves of varying shades of malachite, apple and lime green nod their approval just as the sun has burst through, and dapples of light blink and shimmer altering those hues once again.
Time Out
Having just returned from a trip to Northumberland for a family wedding, it is time for reflection. It was such a pleasure to travel and stay with two of our greatest friends and create an extended holiday with an extra week in the Peak District to add to the joy. We indulged in long fresh walks, site seeing, eating far too much, and some leisurely metal detecting on the beaches.
What a feast for the senses it was. I started viewing my surroundings in a slightly different way. I began to notice the correlation and symbolism of the seemingly unrelated visions around me.
The contrast of the blustery wide-open sands of the Northumberland coastline peppered with ancient castles, versus the loud and vibrant resident peacocks at our holiday cottage, and the undulating hills of Derbyshire and Staffordshire gave a fresh perspective on my own home environment. It made me feel refreshed and blessed, but also ready to appreciate the familiarity of my own surroundings when I returned home. Life is good!
It was a dog-friendly trip, and our labrador Ellie came along for the journey. Her best friend and mentor, Coco the collie cross, took the opportunity to school Ellie in all the things that seem to have frightened her since day one. Ellie will turn eight this year, so her education has been a long time coming. She has always been unable to tackle steps or stairs. Her co-ordination was lacking, she was fearful of changing floor surfaces, needed reassurance when going through doorways…the list went on.
By the end of the two weeks, we were all astounded to see that Ellie was the first to try to venture into every shop, pub, café and doorway she came across. On a visit to Bamburgh Castle, she was up and down flights of steps, tail wagging with pride. And the piece de resistance, was the famous Stepping Stones in Derbyshire. Ellie bounded from stone to stone making her way across the river with such glee that we wondered if someone had switched our dog with a superhero. Thank you, Coco, for your wonderful mentoring. Ellie is now the brave girl that, we are sure she has been longing to be.
For those of you who know Ellie, from pre-holiday, you are going to be super impressed. She has come of age. And it made me feel quite humbled to realise, what huge barriers she had pushed through. Ellie, you are an inspiration, I think you and Coco’s bedtime reading must have been, ‘Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway’ by Susan Jeffers, a book that will go down in history as a life-changing self-help book for so many of us.
Derbyshire – Dressing of the Wells
Whilst away we stumbled across the dressing of the wells event in the village of Tissington. The entire village had come together and designed clay backdrops to be decorated with flowers. It is believed that well dressing may have begun as a pagan custom of offering thanks to gods for a reliable water supply, nowadays it is also celebrated by the church. Many of the well dressings had strong messages of hope and encouragement.
Face & Soul Reading
Earlier in the season, I was invited to give a presentation on Face & Soul Reading at the Burley, Kindred Spirits gathering. We had an amazing turn out and the group were extremely invested in the subject. I so enjoyed interacting with this lovely collection of spiritual people, headed up by my dear friend Marcos Castro Lastra. For anyone who has an interest in finding out more about what their face has to say about their personality traits and potential, maybe you would like to book a one to one zoom session with me. Your face is a living, breathing representation of what goes on within and what your life journey is about. As with palm reading, the contours, features and quirks and foibles of your face, shift and alter with your life experiences. Just for fun, follow the link to find out more.
https://sashiradley.com/product/face-soul-reading/
Writing Progress
Anyway, for those lovely, patient readers who have been gently prodding me for some time, I will be announcing its launch shortly.
Secret and Rebirth – Book Two in the Ancient Power Series is finished. Well, I say finished, it has been edited to within an inch of its life, but still I falter. Pushing the button and letting it go is a daunting thought. As most writers will tell you, there is always that fear of something overlooked, overcooked or simply knowing that once it is out there, it is out there! It feels like I imagine Lady Godiva would have felt, if she had realised once parading naked through the streets on horseback, that she had overlooked a massive boil on her bottom.
Here is the link to book one.
https://tinyurl.com/SecretandRitual
Soul Numerology and Destiny
Kindred Spirits Talk 8TH JULY 2025 at 7.00pm
On 8TH JULY 2025 from 7pm till 9pm I have been invited to give an evening talk on soul numerology at the monthly gathering of Kindred Spirits.
This will be held at Burley Parish Church, Church Lane, Burley, Ringwood BH24 4AP. Refreshments will be available with a £5 donation.
I am looking forward to sharing the knowledge I have gathered over the last 25 years about how our date of birth and full name reveals so much of our life blueprint.
Should anyone wish to come and join us for the evening, you will be most welcome. Marcos Lastra will be hosting, so it should be a fun, relaxing session with the kindest bunch of like-minded people. Please register your interest by contacting Marcos via his email: imarcos@mac.com.
So, with the news that this summer is about to reach heatwave proportions, I wish you all a happy, chilled out season. Stay safe, have a ‘news channel detox’ if you can, enjoy your families, embrace your friends. It is important to tell those you love, that you do, and as a wise woman once said to me, ‘when life feels overwhelming….go buy chocolate and eat till your tummy rebels’. That wise woman, I must add, wasn`t the local Slimming World rep, it was my own higher self!
On that note, I wish you a truly, happy summer filled with ice-cream days and sunshine haze.
With love and sparkly hugs
Sashi