I went out today to collect materials for paintings – wood dust from the willow tree and soil from the valley, goose feathers, soil and leaves. The alder leaves are beginning to fall and so are the white poplar but they are not ready yet – perhaps in late September or October they will have dried enough to add to a painting, as a foundation or detail. I could hear woodpeckers all around me today, and see one or two through the trees. Then I went down through the scrub and hawthorn into the valley, and paused for a while in the stream at the bottom – looking for potsherd. For me, these are little treasures and messages that reflect the journey of the soul.  Where was it then, in that moment, whilst looking by chance through the clay and water?  The answer today seemed to be in the image of the yellow bird that drinks from the flower of truth.