New Book by Paul Broadhurst

For all those fans of Paul Broadhurst's books (Sun & the Serpent which he co-wrote with Hamish Miller, The Dance of the Dragon, and others), he has just published another book called The Green Man and the Dragon. Graham and Joyce from the museum were among those who proof read the book and they say it's fascinating. I'm yet to read my copy but I'm loving the cover. It was launched on St George's Day and can be found in most good book stores. I have seen it on Amazon as well but there does appear to be a bit of a wait with them for some reason. It can also be bought from Paul's store The Otherworld in Boscastle if anyone's visiting.

New Retail Items Proving Popular

There have been a few new additions to the retail cabinet since reopening and they are proving to be very popular. The standout items are the dowsing rods made by well know author & dowsing specialist Hamish Miller. Graham has placed a coin under the mat and has great fun getting customers to locate it with the rods. There are handmade leather Books of Shadows from Sue Bucklow and protection charms from Levannah Morgan. Steve Patterson has made some beautiful dark scrying mirrors. Two are carved as Green Men and the others are of a more simple design. The Occult Art Company is now offering framed Richel prints in the museum.

Nice Surprise

We had a rather pleasant surprise in the past few days. Regular readers may remember the statue of the obsidian owl that was stolen from the post outside the museum several months ago. Someone has placed a little black cat statue in the space now & it looks rather fetching. We have no idea who put it there but it's very attractive. So thanks very much to the phantom pussy placer.

As promised some more Morris pics

Here are a few more piccies of the Hunter's Moon side dancing outside the museum and around Boscastle.

Oh drat, the computer is not letting me upload any more pics at the moment. I'll try some more later.

This is Ray showing some festive Easter cheer with a few chicks in his beard. Chortle.

Happy Oestre with Morris

The sun came out as the Hunter's Moon Morris side started their dance outside the museum this morning. What a wonderful way of celebrating this ancient festival - music and dancing! This was their fourth year of dancing in Boscastle and this year they were raising money for the Boscastle Busker's charity "The Mount Edgecumbe Hospice". It is great to hear that three generations dance in the side, the tradition is living on. Graham celebrated with the side by downing a giant pint of beer followed by a tiny one. I'll add more pictures later. The web browser has just gone weird & won't upload more pics.

W!

For all you American readers, get a copy of the most recent W magazine as some of the artefacts from the museum are in it. There is also a shot of us in the dark of night. Haven't seen it myself yet but am eagerly awaiting a copy. Fashionable at last!

Stick it to me...

We've had some wonderful friends from Holland visiting us over the past week. Rosalie & Freya have been painstakingly going through all the four & a half thousand books in the library, checking their dewey numbers, shelf placement, and generally getting them in proper order. They had a break from indoor action on Wednesday when Graham got us all out harvesting sticks for the walkers who visit the museum. Here we are gathering the aforementioned sticks.

Surprise Visit

A bit of excitement in Boscastle today! Word had been going around that a senior government figure would be visiting the village to check on the rebuilding process and show support for the villagers and workmen. John Prescott arrived around 315 pm, stopped off in the Wellington Hotel for a bit, then strolled around the harbour meeting & greeting. He was very pleasant to everyone & agreed to a photo in front of the museum with Graham & I. Voila!

Fums Up

Graham has recently acquired this little Fums Up charm for the new "Charms and Talismans" display. They were given to soldiers in WWI as good luck charms. The arms are articulated & the head is made of wood so that one could "touch wood" for good luck. Cute, isn't he!

Mags Galore

We've had a mass of old magazines donated recently so the duplicate ones have been put up for sale in the museum. We originally just asked for a donation but yesterday Graham noticed someone taking about 20 mags & putting only 20 pence in the Friend's box so we are now charging 50 p each. I think they are worth more than 1 p each!! There are some interesting ones there: old Pagan Dawns; Man, Myth, & Magic; Quest; & the Australian Pagan Times. We have a great collection of most esoteric magazines in the library so it's great to be able to share some of the duplicates with people who may have their own collections. Here I am to the right with the box of mags.

DOORS OPEN FOR 2006

We start the season a little early this year due to the early commencement of school holidays. Last week was spent frantically cleaning & reorganising the museum ready for the big day.

Joyce (left) and Carole have been mainly helping Graham in the museum itself, and we have had our friends Rosalie & Henny working their way through the four and a half thousand books in the library.

Despite everyone's best efforts the books get mixed up on the shelves and need to be cross-referenced with our computer data base to ensure all information is correct. They are about half way through and probably going crosseyed.

Only half an hour till the doors open today. See you there!