When life gives you oranges…

It’s been a while. I’ve been a busy witch.

I’ve got a few things I want to share with you, and this is the first one.

When life gives you oranges…

A couple of weeks ago, I went on my first-ever overnight retreat. I had no idea what to expect. It was my birthday treat to myself. My lovely friend Linda was going and invited me along, and I thought… heck, why not?

It was an evening event, so we headed up to the Northeast with a mix of excitement and trepidation. Somewhere on the journey, I announced that I had a strong feeling the weekend would be orange. I don’t often get colour that clearly, but this felt unmistakable, like the whole thing would be steeped in it.

And my goodness, was it!

The venue looked like Teletubbyland. An outdoor pursuits centre with grass on the roof and soft, curvy lines everywhere. Inside, there were bright walls, some of them orange, big shared tables, and a general “this is not what I was expecting” feeling. The sleeping arrangements were… interesting. I was imagining a shared dorm, not bunk beds for eight complete strangers. We made our beds, I claimed the bottom bunk immediately (no way this clumsy witch was risking a top one), and watched people arrive, all slightly wide-eyed and a tad bemused.

The evening opened with an emotional sharing circle, followed by a beautiful sound and gong bath. Then out to the fire pit. In January! There was a fireside massage, homemade pizza, and a lesson learned that you do, in fact, have to turn a pizza in the oven if you want a crisp base. Edible enough, though (after a spell in the microwave). Slightly sooty. Still counts.

And this is where the magic really kicked in.

In the dark, I could hear a magpie calling. Not exactly known for late-night appearances, which caught my attention straight away. Especially as the Magpie is my Orange Mystical Companion. He stayed with us all evening, flitting from tree to tree around the fire as we talked. After a while, we headed to bed and, surprisingly, slept really well.

The next morning we had breakfast, then did what we do best. We got creative. We joined new friends Laura and Millie with paints and canvases, chatting as we painted. Laura was wearing a bright orange hat and scarf. Linda painted an orange phoenix. Next to us was an orange camping chair that didn’t seem to belong to anyone. Another member of the group asked about my books, then pulled on an orange mac as we went for a walk around the grounds.

At this point, I was more than a little bemused.

We’d had a great time. Met lovely people. Properly relaxed. But the Orange really wasn’t done yet.

On the way home, we stopped for lunch. Passed a couple of decent-looking places, then ended up at a farm shop. When we ordered our food, we were told we’d be eating in… The Orangery. Honestly.

Behind me sat a man in a bright orange coat. Many of the chairs were orange. On the way back from the loo, in the next room, was a massive - I mean, floor-to-ceiling - mural of an orange. Then, as if that wasn’t enough, we wandered around the shop and found an abundance of orange-themed goodies, including a bottle of orange wine with the label - When Life Gives You Oranges. Unbelievable!

What stayed with me wasn’t just the comedy of it all, but the feeling underneath.

Orange isn’t about grand revelations. It’s about courage, creativity, playfulness, and saying yes before you’ve worked it all out. It’s about stepping into something new, slightly uncomfortable, a bit unfamiliar, and letting yourself enjoy it anyway.

That weekend wasn’t about healing something or fixing anything. It was about taking action, being brave and curious. Remembering that I don’t have to know exactly what’s coming to take the next step.

I’ve since realised that the weekend away wasn’t just about restoring my energies either. It was about gathering information. Understanding what works, what doesn’t, and what feels right in my body. Watching how people settle, how space matters, how shared meals, fire, creativity and quiet moments all work together to settle the nervous system.

And somewhere between the magpie in the dark, the paints on the table, and eating lunch in an actual Orangery, something clicked.

Not “I want to run retreats just like this,” but “I can see how this could work in my own Colour Witch way.”

Brave. Creative. Held. Here, in Yorkshire. With colour, fire, art, laughter, good food, and space to breathe. Nothing fancy. Just real people gathering to slow down and make something, together.

So this one’s going in the mental notebook. Filed under courage, curiosity, and future seeds.

When life gives you oranges, you don’t always have to make orange juice.

Sometimes you just have to pay attention.