I’ve been quiet for a long time, off air and our of contact!
Life has been hectic for the past few months as Mrs Dookes and I have been in the process of moving home.

In the usual Dookes way this hasn’t been a minor undertaking. In our world it always seems that if something is going to happen it’s going to be pretty major and totally worth doing! This also hasn’t been a simple matter of popping just a few miles down the road or into the next county; oh no, we have moved from one end of the United Kingdom to the other!

Previously we were in Cornwall, in the far South West. Now we are in Caithness, thats about as far to the North East as we can go without dropping into the sea! Not only have we travelled 750 miles North, we have also changed countries and are now in Scotland.

Additionally, we are very, very, happy with our decision!

It is beautiful here , the people are great and I am looking forward to blogging furiously about the place once I get out and explore more on two wheels, but for now I give you a couple of taster pictures

Thursday is the Winter Solstice and I’m very happy in a Druid-like way. I said before, it’s probably my favourite day of the year.

In our Northern Hemisphere it is the shortest day, when the Sun barely shows itself above the horizon and then for the briefest possible time! Here in Caithness the daylight hours are particularly short. Sunrise on the Solstice will be at 09:02 and Sunset is at 15:20.

I have said previously how the relevance of this turning point has become stronger for me as I have grown older; I understand the ancient people who venerated the turning seasons and the Celestial Calendar, I celebrate their wisdom and align myself to their beliefs.

It appears that since the dawn of time our forbears have found reason to celebrate a festival of light in the depths of the darkest day of the year. So why not have a party to celebrate the ending of one celestial year and the beginning of a new one?

Sounds good to me, but then I am a Welsh Wizard/Dewin Cymreig!

Have a great Solstice everyone.
Catch you soon,
Dookes

“Now is the Solstice of the year.
Winter is the glad song that you hear.”