A rose is a rose is wedded bliss...

Aaah, sigh, wedded bliss... Who'd have thought. Certainly not me. And there I thought it was really just going to be a bureaucratic formality - and in fact it was so much more. Sigh... Moon...

As a friend wrote to me in an email today: "You know, in many ways I believe that we receive gifts when we know how to appreciate them. Then we can nurture every special moment, work out the differences and walk a smooth and happy path with the one we love."

This is so true. Getting married the second time has been a richer, deeper and totally joyous experience. I'm happy being married - and I didn't believe I'd ever say that!

As another friend said, "I'm sure the "guides" are beaming from ear to ear, and saying things like "isn't it great when they do it the right way round like this? Work at their relationship first - get married as a result of that?!" and "it's beautiful when souls marry in reality, without the scales still on their eyes" - or something like that :-) "

The ceremony was short, simple and beautiful - with me in my little red dress.

First Patrick, our marriage officer and a really lovely man, read us a poem by Pablo Neruda...

I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz,
or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.
I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,
in secret, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that never blooms
but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;
thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,
risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.
I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;
so I love you because I know no other way

that this: where I does not exist, nor you,
so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,
so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.

Then he did a special cleansing and blessing ritual of the rings with water and fire. We said our vows, exchanged rings and he finished off with a Celtic blessing:

Deep peace of the running wave to you.
Deep peace of the flowing air to you.
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you.
Deep peace of the shining stars to you.
Deep peace of the infinite peace to you.

As we walked outside, moony and beaming, we noticed that the clouds that had filled the sky all day had rolled back to reveal the vast blue heaven while scattered diamonds glinted off the sea.

We arrived home to find a huge flock of guinea fowl in the driveway - not the usual mob - but a far bigger group with young ones and adolescents. We fed them and soon after the regulars arrived. The new flock flapped and fluttered up to the roof while the regulars filled the driveway and then they all sang - sweet syrupy notes filled with gentle twitterings - so very different from the usual raucous clucks and squawks. There is nothing quite like the sound of guinea fowl singing, it is sweetness itself. The guinea fowl, for those who don't know, brings the Goddess energy and the energy of protection. So as a final note to our marriage, we received a guinea fowl blessing. It doesn't get much better than that!

Dinner out was wonderful - the food a medley of flavours, woven together into a symphony of taste. And there were special touches too - flowers in our serviettes and a platter of sweetmeats at the end with the words "Congratulations on your Wedding Day" piped in chocolate on the plate with lots of little chocolatey hearts.

It was a good day and the best is still to come - the honeymoon...! On which note I will advise you that this blog is going into a short hiatus while I... well never you mind! :-)

Be good, take care of yourselves, be happy, be loving and loved, have fun and soar on the wings of grace and good humour.

With love and hugs to all of you.

See ya' soon...!