Week 20
Dandelion clocks and birthday candles
Hello! What a chilly time. The temperature has dropped and I am looking at my pelargoniums in trepidation. Neatly though…this ties in with a lovely bit of weather lore regarding saints’ feast days. The ‘Ice Saints’ are St Mamurtus, whose day falls on the 11th May, St Pancras on the 12th, St Servatius on the 13th, St Boniface on the 14th and sometimes St Sophia or ‘Cold Sophia’ on the 15th. They are said in many European traditions to bring the final blast of winter before summer really begins, and sure enough it does look like it will warm up a little bit after today. Hold on.
This is our weekly community post in which we chart the seasons through their minutiae, asking: what has happened this week that could only have happened this week? We gather them up week by week and then I make them into a big poem of the month, like April’s here.
I tell you mine first, and then you tell me yours in the comments. Here’s mine:
Dandelion clocks
I love the dandelions in their first big flush but that is past and this is definitely the week for the first big flush of dandelion clocks, where I live. They are so pretty too in such a different way.
Birthday dips and candles
It was my birthday last Friday! And somehow warm enough way back then for a day that started to feel like summer. I had my traditional first dip of the season in the local swimming lake, and a picnic, and then…
…it was warm enough to sit out in the evening with my friends and lots of flickering candles. Having a birthday the day after the local elections also meant that I entirely missed all of that NEWS, which was an extra blessing…
Now we have some business to attend to: the winners of the book bundles! The winner of the Twilight Garden book is Cathryn Thompson and the winner of the ‘A Year of…’ bundle is Wendy Turner. I have contacted you privately for your addresses so check your messages!
Sorry if you didn’t win and you can find all books via my linktree, below.
That’s all from me, now over to you: what have you spotted/eaten/smelt/bought etc…that feels tied to this particular moment in the year?
First meeting of our small town’s Nature Watch group. The aim is to record the plant and animal species of the town. I learned a lot and I’ll be off on my morning walk with added purpose and enthusiasm and to listen out for the firecrest and spotted flycatcher that are apparently in a small patch of woodland nearby.
Dark stormy skies, suny blue skies, a vivid rainbow bridging between them