Happy Easter

Dear Friends,

I wish you peace, blessings and a Happy Easter time.

Here's a funny little video about painted Easter eggs to put a smile on your face.

Enjoy your weekend,

♥ Ashlyn

Tintagel’s Royal Palace from the Dark Ages

Hello Friends,

This week I’m continuing the theme of Britain’s mythical King Arthur. Tintagel is a historic site which is located on a rocky peninsular on the Cornish coast in England. The place has long been associated with the legend of King Arthur.  

At the site, Archaeologists have previously uncovered pieces of pottery and glass dated from the 5^th to 7^th Century. Some of the artefacts were imports to England and believed to have come via old trade routes from Mediterranean areas. Wines from Turkey. Olive oil from Greece and Northern Africa. French glass cups.

What archaeologists found in 2016 was different to the shards that were legacies of the Roman occupation of the country. Some enthusiasts call the new finds spectacular. Trenches that were dug revealed thick stone walls, steps and flagstone floors which could be indicative of high-status buildings – potentially a royal palace complex. More digs sites are planned.

Around 600-700 A.D. the castle site was abandoned as the bubonic plague swept through the country. It was during the 12^th Century that Tintagel gained its reputation as the birthplace of King Arthur. It is still not known if Arthur was a real King, a historical figure, a literary creation or not British at all. Tintagel is where history meets legend.

The video, “We Love Tintagel” from Cornish Cottages has a good aerial view of the rocky island of Tintagel. It looks like a good place to visit with mysteries and legends. You can get outdoors on walking tracks and visit medieval places, shops and artisans. They make traditional Cornish pasties. Do they have turnip in them? (not my favorite veg).

You can read more about the archaeological digs below.

Luxury at Tintagel in the Early Medieval Period: This summer archaeologists have been excavating in Cornwall at Tintagel, the famous site for Arthurian Legend. The results are exhilarating.

Enjoy your weekend,

♥ Ashlyn

Sword In the Lake

Hello Friends,

What if you found an old sword in a lake where the legendary Excalibur was said to have been thrown?

What would you think?

A happy coincidence. A magical moment.

In September 2017, it was reported that seven year old schoolgirl, Matilda Jones was swimming at the Dozmary Pool in Cornwall when she saw shining metal laying on the bottom of the pool. She told her Dad it was a sword. He didn’t believe her.

Earlier in the day, Mr Jones had told his daughter about the legend of the sword at the Cornish lake. He thought she was being silly saying she’d found a sword. Then they recovered the four-foot sword from the lake. 

Matilda Jones and the sword she found.
source: Huffingtonpost

The sword is almost the same height as Matilda. Her Dad’s thinks the sword is about 20-30 years old, and could be an old film prop.

You can read more about Matilda’s sword discovery here 

The Myths of King Arthur

One of the legends of King Arthur tells of the Excalibur sword being given to him by the ‘Lady of the Lake’. Excalibur was to be held by the true king or queen of Britain. It was also a magical gift of good fortune and mighty fighting skills.

In the myths, King Arthur lost the sword in the Battle of Camlann. He was fatally wounded. He ordered Excalibur to be returned to its owner. Upon his death, one of his knights hurled it into the Cornish lake.

It was said that before the sword touched the water, a woman’s hand reached out of the water to catch it. Excalibur is being held by the ‘Lady of the Lake’ beneath the Dozmary Pool, as she waits for the next person worthy of ruling Britain to come to her. 

Was King Arthur a Celtic Superhero?

Read about it here 

Have a happy weekend,

♥ Ashlyn

Book – “A Viking Ghost for Valentine’s Day” by Jo-Ann Carson

Hello Friends,

After writing about the true story of Amanda Teague marrying a pirate ghost last week, I went in search of romance stories featuring ghosts.

I read a 2007 Harlequin Blaze novel, “Kiss and Dwell” by Kelley St. John. The heroine is a spiritual medium and her mission is to help a handsome deceased man pass over into the light. He doesn’t want to go. He’s existing in a middle zone of the afterworld, a half-way place. Helping women with their sexual fantasies, dreams and orgasms. He’s eager to help the heroine too, if she’ll let him, and if they don’t break the rules.

When the sexy man was alive, he’d never found love with a woman. But the stakes are high in the afterlife, between heaven and earth.

“A Viking Ghost for Valentine’s Day” by Jo-Ann Carson is a novella-sized story. A widowed mother of three is desperate to earn money to feed her children. She takes a job as a cleaner in a haunted house. She works during the evening. The worst time! The ghosts have their own nightly routines. Socializing, gambling, screams, and gunshots. I was dying to know what the ghosts were doing behind door number three, the room she was forbidden to enter.

The hero is a large Viking man. Yum! He didn’t make it to Valhalla. It was wonderful how he came to protect her and her children. He also helped food come her way for the kids, and made her cups of tea. 

There’s a sinister paranormal force in the story that gave me the chills.

Overall, the book was an enjoyable, short read.

Here’s The Blurb

To feed her three children, Widow Abigail Jenkins takes the only job available in Sunset Cove: night cleaner in the notorious, haunted tea-house. She figures the wild, supernatural rumors about the place are pure fiction. After all, ghosts don’t exist.

Eric Eklund a sexy spirit from Sweden is over a thousand years old. Having missed his chance at Valhalla, the Viking spends his time roaming the world and gambling. That is until he sees Abby whose feisty earthly-spirit turns his ghostly world upside down.

When the two meet sparks fly, but their romance is interrupted by a poltergeist hunting children.

What happens when you mix a naughty, Viking ghost built like a Norse god, a strong woman who suffers no fools and a nasty poltergeist? Answer: another fun, Gambling Ghost story.

A Viking Ghost for Valentine’s is a lighthearted novella filled with love, laughter and just enough ghouliness to thrill and chill you to the bone.

Amazon link, Viking Ghost

Enjoy your weekend,

♥ Ashlyn

Would You Marry a Pirate Ghost?

Hello Friends,

Would you marry a pirate ghost?

For real?

This is a true life story of one woman’s romantic relationship with her soulmate, which led to marriage on the high seas. Well, more exactly, a wedding ceremony held in international waters off the coast of Ireland, so the marriage would be considered legal.

Amanda Teague is a Captain Jack Sparrow impersonator, and she believes her work brought her in contact with her soulmate who is deceased, and is a ghost. In 2014, she met a Haitian pirate called Jack. He was caught and executed for his pirating in the 1700's.

She was able to speak to ghost Jack, go on dates, watch TV with him, have company on car trips and argue. She was able to feel his presence in bed with her, etc. She decided to pursue a relationship with him. Love grew and she recently married him on a boat in international waters. A spiritual medium was used to communicate Jack’s ‘I do’.

Amanda would like people to know that spiritual relationships are possible, and they could be right for others, and many people are involved in such relationships.

To read more about Amanda unusual relationship and see her wedding photos go here  

Watch a short video about a British woman, Amethyst Realm, who says she has sex with ghosts.

The Pirate Ghost story makes me wonder about the ghostly presence that lingers around the front door of my house. So far, I have been tapped on the middle of my shoulder by an unseen presence at least two times that I can remember. One night, when I walked through the door, I felt the sensation of a hand brushing over my hip. I haven’t seen the ghost in anyway, just felt it’s touch.

I have sensed the spirit wants to get my attention for some reason, but is somehow barred from following me inside my house. A neighbor who also has ghosts on their property, once told me that our houses are located on an invisible pathway that leads to a place of water. 

The Australian continent has Aboriginal song-lines, and my house is situated on a water-line (for want of a better description). Spirits existing in a different dimension continue to follow a route to a now built over, drinking water hole in the ground. Before 1900, there were a number of pioneers in the district who died of thirst and diseases.

The ghost haunting my front door certainly gives me a fright whenever it touches me, which is especially at night time. After reading about Amanda Teague’s experience, I don’t know what to do about my veranda ghost…

Shiver me timbers,

have a lovely weekend,

♥ Ashlyn