Lynne Allbutt

Gardening Angel talks to Angel Lady

Sunday Times Best Selling author, Jacky Newcomb describes herself as a Paranormal Experience Expert.    She confesses cheerfully, “when I started my first book, over 10 years ago, I still wasn’t absolutely sure about the paranormal phenomena but I have absolutely no doubt now.  It’s not something that I could have ever imagined myself doing but I have just been drawn to it.  I started off by being curious and doing lots of research.  I gathered real people’s experience of the paranormal, from encounters with Angels to out of body and after life experiences.   Traumas and depression in my own life also brought awareness and gave me the experience I needed to be able to help people overcome their own grief and fears.” 
The Paranormal Agony Aunt continues, “I work from my conservatory at home as it overlooks my garden and I feel connected with nature.  I have a little waterfall feature inside and another out in the garden, both surrounded by crystals and rocks.   Many people experience their first Angel encounters near water, even if it’s in the shower,”  she smiles, “they seem to like water.”
“I also have lots of Angel statues and fairy lights in the garden as well as lots of scented plants.  I think it all helps to create a lovely meditative space and keep a good connection with the Angels.  I’ve got lots of the old fashioned David Austin roses and I love gathering them by the armful and arranging them in those big old fashioned jugs indoors.”
With a background in PR and marketing, Jacky also admits to being a perfectionist, “I like the colours in the garden to blend; I’ve got soft pinks, purples, pale blues and whites and they are all peaceful and relaxing together.  But every spring right at the bottom of the garden I have a big, bright yellow bunch of daffodils that just appear.  They look so out of place and I refer to them as a ‘cosmic joke’.” She laughs, “It reminds me that although we think we are in control of everything, we are not.  There are still things out there we don’t completely understand.” 
The bubbly Angel Lady concludes, “There is still a fear of the unknown although I do have more and more healthcare workers consulting me about aspects of paranormal phenomena to help people deal with grief and related questions.  It’s something you come to when you are spiritually ready,”  she shares softly, “until then I think even if you find it hard to accept, it helps to just acknowledge it all.”   
Find out more about Jacky, her fabulous books, CDs and her real-life stories at www.angellady.co.uk

Taken from Lynne Allbutt's column Green Scene for the Western Mail (Media Wales) 31.10.09

Barking at Angels

Uncontrollable tears have been falling with the autumn leaves this week. Tippy my four legged companion and confidant of 13 years passed away.  She had been diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis in the summer;  small but swift adaptations were made as part of a concerted effort to continue enjoying our outdoor life together.  A hacksaw, a carpet needle and some twine was instrumental in altering a child carrying rucksack so I could carry her to the top of our favourite mountains and even the wheelbarrow became a Tippy Taxi so she could maintain her ‘foreman duties’ in work and continue to take the rubbish to the end of the lane with me.  A little Canine Aerosol Chamber was bought from the States so she could benefit from a steroid inhaler and many social and public commitments cancelled in favour of spending precious time together.  We became totally inseparable as we squeezed the most out of the last few weeks together; I don’t know who became more dependent on who.
And finally, despite trying to make her comfortable by cwtching her up on the sofa, she made a typically independent effort to go out into the garden where she died in my arms in her favourite flowerbed.  Determined, in charge and with me to the very end, the void she has left is unbearable.  I miss her so very, very much.
The pain is so loud and the house so quiet;  the fingers of grief grip tightly and without regard as the enormity of never seeing her again slowly sinks in.
The tears and leaves continue to fall and as I look to the sky with heartfelt gratitude for my most wonderful, cherished and spirited companion, I‘m sure I can hear her barking at Angels.

Taken from Lynne Allbutt's column Green Scene for the Western Mail (Media Wales) 31.10.09