Greetings everyone,

The clouds have finally cleared here in Applecross, in the North west of Scotland and the sun has even come out today! I have glorious views over the snow capped mountains on Skye and to Raasay, where esteemed Gaelic poet Sorley Maclean lived. The temperature has also risen above 5 degrees which is nice! The fire has been a necessary companion this week.

Here is the link to this weeks video with the story of the Bird who Gifted Fire:

Video Link:

https://youtu.be/pTEpdwycHeg

And the weekly story activities are as follows:

Gifts and gifting

(Journalling)

-When have you brought a gift that wasn’t received at first, did you find a suitable recipient? Is there a gift that wasn't received in the past, that you are ready to revive and offer again?

-Make a list of your own gifts, see how many you can list.

-Recognise someone else’s gifts and let them know you see them.

Invite someone else to bring their gifts in a practical way.

Fire as Divine Gift

-Make a fire. stretch your fire making skills- use natural tinder, minimal matches, flint and steel, bow-drill etc. develop your relationship with fire.

-Research which natural fire lighters/tinder grows in your area and could be collected and used to kindle future fires.

-Spend time with the fire reflecting on a particular story or reflective question.

-Ask a question to the fire…reflect upon the images that are conjured by the flames and shadows. See what happens.

Receiving the gifts from the birds

-Notice a migrating bird that returns to your area in the coming weeks. Learn about that bird (or another).

-Learn to recognise the song of one bird that you can hear from your sit spot.

Ceilidh

Organise a ceilidh/gathering sometime soon. Invite people to gather and share something (a story, song, poem, trick, game, cake etc)

........

That's all for now. Wishing you all some precious fireside moments through the week.

All best

Dougie