Divine Quine

Yesterday, our beloved Spooky returned back to the spirit realm

21/22 years of loving Spooky, from my childhood. What a bloody good life he lived

He started to fade through the night, and I believe waited for us to be with him. He took his final breaths on my lap as he drifted off into his eternal sleep

Nae prolonged suffering or misery.. a quick and sudden departure. Up until the night before he passed he was still very much his auld boy Spooky self

He fully embodied his name.. Spookin' aboot and somehow managing to pass through doors that were 100% closed. Watching him space out, I'd see his gaze and body follow things I couldnae see

He was the king o' cuddles and often stopped us in oor tracks, demanding oor presence. Sharing his healing purrs and love back

We would nickname him "Clooky" which I only discovered recently is a local word. If Spooky were to "clook" me he would be digging his claws into me/scratching me 😬 he loved us affectionately and aggressively at the same time 😅

My heart is as broken as it is grateful.

I ken he's still Spookin' aboot noo, and has become a spirit guardian.

My love for this boy canna be measured, he's been with me maist o' my life. I'm so grateful he chose us and decided to stay for so many years.

He's returned to the earth, buried close to his brother, Tiger.

🐈‍⬛️💜🙏💜🐈‍⬛️

9 years ago today.. I fu**ed up 🙈

I had a few weeks left of farm work till I had completed 3 months of rural work in Australia, which would grant me a second year visa

I found work in a Cotton Gin and helped bag cotton bales on a conveyer belt. We'd also take samples from each bale, tag bags, stack bags, work a computer system and clean

The cotton season had basically ended, but I still needed a few more weeks work. So the company I worked for got me tractor driving

Before I stepped foot in the Cotton Gin I was breathalysed, drug tested, had to complete a physical fitness test, watch a safety presentation and sign forms. For tractor driving I got a 20 minute lesson and was left to it

I barely had to do anything cause the tractor was so new and swanky. It drove along a row on its own, I literally only had to turn it

Day 1 of tractor driving.. it's getting close to the end of the day and I'm distracted by scrolling through my travel photos on my phone

Then...Boom. I crash. I wack my shin. I p*e my pants. The tractors smoking, so I grab a radio and yell "someone come and help me" and hop oot. I step back, looking at the tractor which continues to smoke, and make the decision to run back in to remove the keys

I'd gone into a panic attack which gives me lobster claw hands, so as I tried to clamber back up, I fumbled a bit from lack of grip but got there in the end. A farmer appears, I gave him the biggest hug ever. I cried and had straight vodka that night

My shin still gets troubled from time to time. The company never fired me 🙈 and I managed to complete my 3 months of farm work.. only now for it not to be necessary 🙃

Please learn this lesson through me and nae the hard way. Being distracted on your phone just isnae worth it. In any other circumstance I’d never use my phone while driving but I’d heard of farmers watching Netflix or even falling asleep for each row and setting an alarm. I was going slow and fu**ed up bad. I only had myself, and this expensive machinery, at risk

Was a tough time this farm work. Now its nae even needed for a second year visa but the works been done.. All these years later, my second year visa has just been granted 🚜

In June I got involved with some Peat cutting up at Acheilidh Heritage Croft . People o' Scotland as far back as the Picts have been using peat. My great grandad fae Caithness would cut and proudly stack peat, and I'm sure mony mair fowk in ma bloodline did too

It seems to be pretty controversial these days, to cut and burn peat, and I recognise there are bigger scale companies who are cutting and selling peat at an unsustainable rate. However, in this case, the ratio of peat bog to the amount that was being harvested with gratitude was very much in alignment with the auld ways

In just 1mm of peat there is one years worth of organic breakdown. Shrubs, trees, plants and bones all condensed doon into the peat

Traditionally used for heating and cooking as well as being recognised as haeing healing properties for the skin. I noo love tae mak peat insence for saining (cleansing) and enjoy peaty baths (even better wi' some Scottish oats tae)

I just did aboot 4 hours o' peat cutting.. and I was knackered aifter. It's only given me mair perspective and respect for all that oor ancestors did

🙏

Some wellbeing for both Children and Parents/Carers ♡

Mony thanks to Cluny School for inviting me along to share an ootdoor session with all the children!

We started off with a wee stretch and acknowledgement of the Earth and the Sun before we did a litter pick, paying our respects to the wonderful woodland and wildlife. We then had a wee sensory journey with the blindfolded game "Meet a Tree" followed by listening to the Heart Beat of a tree, through a stethescope. We ended the session with some quiet time and the soothing sounds of my chimes, with one final wee stretch of our bodies to close 🙏

It's always great coming alang to schools and even better when we get the opportunity to do sessions ootside 😊

Wellbeing event for Parents/Carers and Bairns now live 🙌 Send Wild Hus a message to reserve your space 💫

Fit a rare wikend A'v just hud, gaan back tae skweel fur just a wee fyle at ih Doric Beetcamp up in bonnie Portsoy

We hud an immersive time s**kkin' an learnin' ih Doric aa wikend and hud guests come in tae share mony different sessions. Fae singin' tae story tellin' tae scrievin' werkshoppies and ithir lessons wi' grammer n' games. We even hud a Kirk service in Doric and held oor ain wee Ceilidh. A'm grateful tae hiv bin a wee part o' it by sharin' some Wyda / Doric Druid Yoga wi' ih group ootdoors 🙏

There's somethin' at happens deep wi'in mah fan I can openly s**k and express in Doric - wi'oot fowk lauchin' or tellin' mah tae jist "s**k English".. weel, A'm nae English. And Doric is a lot mair fun ti s**k onywye. It's sae important at we keep oor local languages alive n weel

Muckle thanks tae the organisers Andreas - fa's fae Germany! Wid ye believe it taaks an ootlander to gaither ih Doric s**kkers? And Jamie - fae Perth. Mair local iss time though nae originally fae ih land o' the Doric, but a keen Scot tae keep ih language he's noo learned alive. Fit rare mannies they are 🙌 aabdy at came alang wis affa fine, it wis a couthie wikkend.

We gaithered in such a braw place at ih Sail Loft wi' the ocean richt by us n' such a lovely wee toon. A'm arridy lookin' forrit tae neist year's gaitherin'.

Also there's proof in these photays that "jamp" is a word!! Buzzin' aboot at. Foo mony times hiv ye been telt at's nae a word?!

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿💜

New wellbeing event for both Parents/Carers and Bairns in the works 💫💜

Rhynie - said to be a Pictish/Gaelic word for "Royal" or "King". Here you'll find beloved Tap o' Noth, a hill that really stands oot in the shire, with an auld Pictish Hill Fort at the top. Home of the famous Pictish stone with a carving of "The Rhynie Man" (possibly a Pictish King?). And a lovely village with a wee primary school that invited me along recently for a morning of Yoga 🧘‍♀️

I had the joy of leading 4 classes of children through some mindful movement and breathwork. We stretched and strengthened our bodies, used some encouraging affirmations, and let ourselves rest with some relaxing chimes at the end 🎶

The children were engaged, friendly and welcoming. We had some good chats at the end of each session 😊

It's so great bringing in these mindful exercises to schools for children. Breathing and moving is free and can be used and accessed at any time necessary 🙌

If your child's class or club could benefit from some mindfulness.. please feel free to get in touch 😊🙏💜

𝘊𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘢𝘱 𝘰' 𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘰𝘴! 🥰

Have you heard of, or seen, big black cats roaming aroon Scotland? Also known as the Beast of Badenoch 🐈‍⬛️ (Much bigger than my Spooky but since I dinna have a photo of the big black cat I saw, he'll have to do)

When I was younger, there was talk aboot "the black cat" o' the village. Local stories circulated that people had witnessed a big black cat, described similar to a panther, roaming aboot

When I was around 12/13 is my guess, I was in the back o' my families car, driving back to oor hame village. As we came roon' a bend in the road, I looked doon and over to a field.. where I saw an unfamiliar big black creature.

Confused.. I told my parents I had just seen an animal that was black and "bigger than a dog but smaller than a bear", and my mum casually responsed with "oh yeah, that's the black cat". She went on to say her friend had seen it before, in her garden.

What I saw definitely could've been a panther from it's shape, size and the way it moved. There's nae doobt aboot it.

Over the years I've collected more and more stories of people having sightings o' big black cats aroon Scotland.

I was told that people used to keep exotic cats as pets but it became illegal in the 1970's so people just released them into the wild. I also learned not long ago that pumas were apparently released into the wild in the 1990's for deer control. I'm open to hearing any other theories or explanations people have though

Only very recently did I document my sighting. If you have a sighting you also want to document search for the "Big Cat Sightings Scotland" page. And please also do share your story here, I'd love to hear aboot your sighting 🐈‍⬛️

(The second image here is a map I got from that page, with pins dropped at sighting locations. The different colours correspond with different descriptions of big cats that have been spotted 👁)