Treasures from Slovakia

A letter for you

Dear Friends

I haven’t written in a month! This sunday it is Mabon, the apple harvest festival, in the wheel of the year. We have two apple trees in our allotment and we have an abundance of apples. On 29th September I will be hosting another women’s retreat to mark this turning of the wheel.

We are enjoying the last of the warm and long days.
Below is a little letter with updates and pictures for you…

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As I walk through my village I notice the Lime tree and the Oak tree speckled with shades of yellow. I spot so many tall nettle plants. I map them in my mind to come back later to continue my cordage project. The hawthorn berries hang on the bushes like Christmas baubles. Last year I collected bundles of them and hung them to dry. I added the dried berries to my herbal tea, to strengthen my immunity. I will do the same this year.

I hear the buzzards high pitched call. They swoop overhead and disappear into the distance where they draw a spiral in the sky.

I have just returned from a long weekend in Slovakia, where the landscape was very different. My visual palette has been cleansed and I’m able to see my village anew.

We spent five days in a small village, close to the Tatra mountains. The trip was very special to me. Firstly because it was the first time me and my son met our extended Slovak family. My husband left Slovakia as a young man, and all his family remain there. I was charmed by his family home. Rob’s father, Jozef, is a Bonsai master, and his garden hosts a beautiful exhibition of Bonsai trees. Jozef is also a master carpenter and as well as building his own house, has built a beautiful cabin in the garden, complete with a wood burning cooker. We spent most of our time in this cabin ; cooking and eating traditional food, and socialising with family. My son helped build the fire one morning and was delighted by the experience.

Bonsai trees and fire making

The traditional food is very rich and hearty. Meat, potatoes, cheese, fresh vegetables from the garden and preserves. Rob’s mothers basement is crammed with jars with difference colours of pickled vegetables. My favourite dish was Bryndzové Halušky, potato dumplings with sheep cheese.

Schnitzel, Chicken Soup, Bryndzové Halušky and vegetavles from the garden

My second favourite part of the trip was getting to see the folk art and costume. We visited Orava art gallery and se saw beautiful wood carvings by Štefan Siváň.

A few of my favourite pieces in the Štefan Siváň exhibition

On the sunday we trekked up a big hill to Orava castle where there was a whole room devoted to folk costume. I was absolutely buzzing to see these beautiful hand made pieces in real life. My husband knew how important this room was to me, so he watched our wild three year old son, whilst I documented with my camera, and mentally mapped the garments.

I was so inspired by all the folk imagery I had to get my pens and drawing pencils out…

Study of work from O Zakliatej Žabe

Study of Orava Castle Imagery

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Whilst I was away I received news that my recent Basket Weaving Class on Skillshare was awarded a $400 prize! Out of 197 classes published in the Summer challenge, 10 of them won a prize for going “above and beyond”, as voted by the curation team at Skillshare, and one of them was little old ME :-) It has motivated me to continue work on creating new classes. Is there something particular you’d like to learn from me? Type in the comments or hit reply.

I have spent the past three years slowly and diligently growing my class library on Skillshare. It meant a lot for me for my hard work to be noticed and rewarded. I am a team of one and I plan, write, film and edit all my classes.

I’ve got plans for new classes, and as we wind down into autumn lots of garments I want to make.

That’s all for now
LOVE ALWAYS WINS
XOXOXOX