March 2024 - Update #4

 I've finished chapter 13, and most of chapter 14. Gwernin et al have reached Fráechán's ráth at the base of the Sliabh na Caillí. He wasn't there when they first arrived, but is now, and they will be lighting the Beltane fires tonight. I need to finish this chapter today or tomorrow, so I can work on some other things while I think about what comes next.

The weather here continues in its spring pattern - snow, milder weather that melts it, snow again, etc. The last dump over the weekend was only about 4 inches here, although other areas got more, but the ground is mostly warm enough that it doesn't last long on the walks or streets - what I call "self-shoveling snow". Not much luck with all the crocus bulbs I planted last fall - the squirrels got some of them, and the severely cold weather seems to have got most of the rest. I'll try again earlier next fall.

March 2024 - Update #3

I've almost finished chapter 13, bar a little tinkering. Last Saturday was a busy day for me, between running the Zoom sessions for our March Divination workshops and giving a presentation myself on the ogam. After that it took me a while to get going again. At least we've had no more snow.

Not having found Fráechán where they had hoped to find him, Gwernin et al spent a couple of days getting acquainted with some of the people and the location that I described in The King's Druid, and are getting ready to move on to Sliabh na Caillí, where they hope to meet him in time to celebrate Beltane. But in those uncertain times, not finding someone where you expect to find him can always be a cause for uneasiness.

The weather is inching into spring here, but no leaves on the trees yet. This is good, because last week's dreadful snow managed to break bare branches in the neighborhood, and I was glad to have power and internet for Saturday!

March 2024 - Update #2

The last week has been busy again, including preparations for tomorrow's divination workshops and a good bit of snow shoveling yesterday (we got about a foot of heavy wet snow). I'm half way through chapter 13, and Gwernin et al have arrived at Fráechán's rath, to find that he is not there.This is new territory for everyone in the group except Taliesin, who spent several years there long ago (as related in The King's Druid) studying with Fráechán and his teacher.

Presently I'll have to go out and shovel more of yesterday's snow, but at the moment things are warming up a bit and I'm waiting for more of it to fall off the trees. After tomorrow I should be able to get more writing done.

March 2024 - Update #1

A few conflicts in the last week again, but I finally finished chapter 12. Gwernin and company are in Ireland now, and Taliesin has procured pack ponies from King Díarmait. This was not hard, because in this period no one dared refuse any request from an Irish Master Poet--an Ollam Fili--for fear of their satire. The next chapter will take Gwernin to the ráth of Fráechán’s foster father, a place Gwernin has not been before. I spent some time earlier in the week thinking about what each of our party knows and where they have been in Ireland. Gwernin and Mael, for example, have seen most of the places we'll be going in this book, but not Fráechán’s two homes or "cairn T" on the Sliabh na Caillí; Neirin and Ianto have not been in Ireland before, so this is all new to them. Taliesin, on the other hand, spent seven years in Ireland after Arthur's death, part of that time studying or traveling with Fráechán. I'll be pulling descriptions of these new locations from The King's Druid--another case of needing things to match up. 

In other news, I've been spending time preparing for my presentation on ogam divination in Chokecherry Grove's March Divination Workshop. For more information on that, see this link.