Discovering portals

Little things that can change your life

Sunlit green portal on the Tip Path

Dear reader, my friend, how are you? Me? I’m late again. You may not know this about me but I have come to realise this about myself: I suffer from time blindness. Actually, that is inaccurate. I don’t suffer, those around me suffer. No, that’s not strictly true either, I do suffer. I panic and constantly reprimand myself, and yet appear incapable of learning and changing. I glance at a clock and check the time, and in that moment, registering the time, my mind is fixed, there is no sense of time passing until, suddenly, an hour has disappeared, and once again, I am late. So here I am, late, writing to you the night before, after a week of disruption. A week of cramming all the many things I want to achieve into the small pockets of time in between parenting (which is of course the most important job, so I’m not complaining). Several classes teaching spring flowers, a visit to The Atkinson in Southport demonstrating my craft for visitors to the exhibition (thank you for doing, it was so lovely to meet you!) - and all the things between: dyeing paper, creating content, thinking, dreaming, planning…

This week, a confession. About nine months ago, I gave up caffeine. No coffee, no tea, no chocolate - it was hard - but I did it for health reasons. Now, I loved coffee, I defined myself by my coffee intake, I did not understand “decaffeinated”, I mean, why? What is the point? For years my day started with a coffee ritual, that first cup of coffee early in the morning, waiting for the sound of the steam surging upwards in the stovetop pot. I love coffee! But I couldn’t drink it anymore, so I endured a couple of painful weeks of withdrawal (and it was painful), and then - well, nothing. I was ok. I tried building new rituals, and eventually came round to the idea of decaffeinated coffee (well, just barely, but I missed my moka pot, and even though the caffeine free version does nothing for me, the further away from actually having caffeine I got, the more sense it makes. I guess). But also, I found my relationship with time becoming even harder to handle. I spent a lot of time wondering what I should be doing, and not getting very much done.

So where am I going with this? This week I have been revisiting “This is Your Mind on Plants” by Michael Pollan, in which he writes thoughtful, informative and entertaining chapters on opium, mescaline - and caffeine. Tea and coffee arrived in Europe at roughly the same time in the 1650s and the difference these hot drinks made is - literally - mind blowing. Before even considering the caffeine content, the exotic new practice of drinking a hot drink, of boiling water to brew the grounds and leaves, meant these drinks were a safer, cleaner drink than the regular alcohol or water, and the tannins in both tea and coffee have valuable antimicrobial properties. And then the caffeine, oh, the caffeine:

It is hardly an exaggeration to say that the arrival of caffeine in Europe changed…everything. (…) like the caffeine molecule itself, which rapidly reaches virtually every cell of the body that ingests it, the changes wrought by coffee and tea occurred at a more fundamental level - at the level of the human mind. Coffee and tea ushered in a shift in the mental weather, sharpening minds that had been fogged by alcohol, freeing people from the natural rhythms of the the body and the sun, thus making possible whole new kinds of work and, arguably, new kinds of thought, too.¹

Ah, coffee, tea, chocolate, all these marvellous gifts plants have given us. In revisiting, I was fascinated to reread how Pollan felt when he too gave up coffee (in his case, for research). I won’t spoil it, read it yourself, but it chimed with my experience. No coffee. It’s hard for a while, and then - nothing. You forget. Last Monday, after a bad nights sleep, without very much thought at all I decided to add a spoonful of the hard stuff to my morning pot. I wasn’t really thinking, but oh my word, what a difference it made. Coffee is quite obviously my portal to productivity. How it sharpened my mind! So… I’ve been spiking my coffee all week, and I’m still considering my next move.

I discovered other portals this week. Firstly, the wonderful green portal in the image above, a window formed by tangles of ivy in the lower branches of a tree by the pond, perfectly framing the green carpet stretching out behind it. And this:

My very first diary, the first writing I ever did, when I was just ten years old. I remember my mum taking me through the woods, pointing out anemones, bluebells, orchids, and the enchantment, the interest. She suggested I kept my own Country Diary and the book starts with a familiar list:

Sunday 11th April 1982 “we went through the woods and I saw eight different flowers. Wood sorrel, celandine, anemome, dandelion, primrose (two different varieties) strawberry flower, a flower I don’t know the name of (a green flower with yellow stamens, a golden saxifrage). I also took nine buds home with me, saw deer tracks and Thomas (brother) found some liverwort”

At ten years old I knew exactly what I should be doing, and that was doing precisely what I do now: walking the woods, looking at flowers, making notes, and on getting home, looking up the ones I don’t recognise - with a little foraging thrown in for good measure! This weeks makes have mostly been crocus, so to find this little journal with an entry from 43 years ago which includes my childish illustration of the same flower feels like more than a coincidence. In a busy week of struggling to fit it all in, this has been a sign. Even when it feels hard to push onwards, I am on the right path, and I must keep talking about the plants and flowers.

Paper crocus, designed and made by me, Ling Warlow

Reader, I will leave you with my paper crocus. Thanks for getting to the end, and next week, I will plan my time better. Or will I? It remains to be seen!

Until then, with love as always, Ling

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FROM THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF PAPER FLOWERS

COME AWAY WITH ME TO A FLOURISHING RETREAT: for anyone who wants to get away from it all and retreat into a peaceful, creative environment for a few days, I give you FLOURISHING, A PAPER FLOWER RETREAT. An exclusive luxury artistic retreat, from September 25th - 28th we’ll be welcoming you to the stunning Little Massingham Manor in Norfolk for an unforgettable 3 day, 3 night experience. Spaces are limited so register your interest today. Book now for Earlybird prices!

Are the real or made from paper? Image by Meg Lowder @floragami.paper flower

A FEW SPACES REMAINING English Garden Rose Friday 7th March I am hosting a one day class at my studio in Hoylake, 10 - 3, Just two spaces available. If you would like to join this friendly group this class is offered at just £40, please contact me at flowers@paperbydragonfly.com

BLOSSOM AND CREATE my Tuesday two hour paper flower classes, continue on 4th March with Blue Iris in the morning (11am- 1pm) and Open Rose in the evening (7pm -9pm). Classes run every Tuesday with the choice of a morning (11-1) or an evening (7-9) session. Come along and be part of my paper flower community! Continuing in March we will be making Wild Anemones, Daisies and Narcissus. Classes are £25 ( everything is included) and for every four you attend you get one free - bonus! BOOK HERE

FLORIBUNDA the exhibition is on now at The Atkinson Southport until 15th March.

SPRING IS IN THE AIR! Celebrate with Craftkits from THE PAPER WILDFLOWER. A lovely treat for yourself, a fabulous gift for the crafter in your life - or a day well spent having fun and making flowers: a quality time gift for Mothers Day 💚 Craftkits are £15 each or three for £40, always available online, and now available from The Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool and Lady Lever Gallery, Port Sunlight.

All images by Ling Warlow 2023-2025 unless otherwise stated.

1. Michael Pollan “This is Your Mind on Plants” p107