I’ve loved the comfort and peace of winter darkness and the cosiness of being indoors when the weather is grim. Just as well, because there’s plenty of that still to come. But with February comes a strong craving for the light. And here it is, slowly perhaps, but noticeable every day. The way the sun catches the branches and the buds. It looks different now. The beginning of something. It makes me very happy.
We had two seasonal events this week. Our local orchard held its annual wassail which is always good fun (and so nice to drink hot apple juice in a field) and we had our traditional (to me and my immediate family) fondue to celebrate imbolc. Also! When I pick the kids up from after school club I am noticing that we are in the trail end of dusk now so the days are slowly but surely getting longer
Gosh I’m glad you said about it being a difficult week to notice seasonal things. I have really struggled this week and thought I might be the only one (I always find February the hardest). In my head it should be spring now, but of course winter has to last out it’s course. I still tried to notice things on my walks to and from places and this did yield some results, which I’m very glad of. So my first thing this week is pink and white Arrowwood flowering all over campus like blossom kisses on otherwise bare shrubbery. They have cheered me up on my walk to and from my lectures each day immensely. On Wednesday I woke up early early (5.30 am) with wry neck, which was generally horrible but the only nice thing to come out of it was getting to open my skylight and watch the dawn creep in with my mug of Earl Grey - watching a sky phase from the colour of ink to dusky blue, to streaked pink and white. On Thursday I took an Imbolc walk around a local stately house and gardens and saw lots of snowdrops which felt very right. But the highlight (and my seasonal moment) was actually the purple violas and irises growing in pots on the steps of the house. Demure and tiny, yet strong and vividly purple in all that grey, they were the surest sign of spring I have seen for a while. They left me in no doubt, I might feel like winter will never end but spring IS on its way.
I also discovered a new word - Galanthophiles! It refers to people who love and collect varieties of snowdrops. There are even Galanthophile groups that go on snowdrop viewing parties to notable snowdrop gardens.
Found a link to February and Tempest trip- I'm pretty sure February's full moon (this weekend) is sometimes called a storm moon 😆
This week my three things are merry dunnocks, bare bramble arches and the wonderful smell of someone's sweet box shrub spilling out over the wall onto the path I regularly walk.
I too have struggled this week but I do try to find a little spark of joy even on the hardest days. Things that lifted my melancholy mood were silvery buds against a fresh blue sky, the sap is rising. Leaning out of my loft widow to watch a suburban sunrise and listening out for our resident blackbird heralding spring. I’m not very good at art & craft but felt an urge to make a Brigid’s cross to hang in my willow tree along with a shawl (Brat Bhride) for Brigid to bless should she pass this way. Many folk seem a little low right now and I wish they could also find a little solace in nature. 💚
I've only just discovered your substack Lia and I'm loving the serentity of it. This post reminds me of a yoga retreat I did once and part of the day was a walking mediation- not saying anything but walking with a view to noticing. It all sounds very woo-woo but actually a wonderfully calming experience and a shock to realise how much you miss when you don't observe. Thanks for writing.
Thank you Sue! That’s really lovely of you to say. I’m very much enjoying your substack too. Yes I went on a retreat once and my main thought was ‘how can I take some of this home, and make my every day life a bit more retreat like?’ It isn’t AT ALL, but it’s something to aim for…
What an amazing trip you had this week. How special to see the Tempest in Stafford. Definitely on my wish list.
That video is too funny live the tossed away umbrella 😂
Highlight of my week was Going to the Chinese New Year parade in the 13e dazzling, dancing, dragons, a mesmerising drum beat, along with gorgeous costumes made it a brilliant moment of colour and joy in a very grey January. The metro broke down on the way home but, luckily, Paris is such a lovely city to walk in we made it an adventure. Enjoying strolling through the different neighbourhoods and stopping off for a fortifying chocolat chaud and pastry.
We had an amazing sunset on Wednesday the sun broke through a tiny gap in the clouds to light up the world, truly stunning.
I also saw a pollard tree and was thrilled I knew it had been pollarded (if that’s a word!) after your post last week - thanks Lia!
Ah yes Paris is *incredible* for pollarded trees, best anywhere perhaps, though I suspect you call them something else. Thank you again for our Parisian dispatch!
It rained all week and I couldn’t manage to take myself out for my daily walk, but on Wednesday we changed our routine a bit to join friends for their first house blessing (annual house blessings are a church tradition for us). I had to rush afterward to get my St Brigid cross made before the end of the day. The sun did manage to peek out before sunset Friday. New rain boots are in the mail so I won’t miss a week again.
A hazy gibbous moon setting as i walked to work at 5:30 in the morning; a garden full of birds - robins, blackbirds, jackdaws, sparrows, a few doves and pigeons - feasting on the food i put out; glorious sunshine tricking me into thinking it's warmer than it is! I have noticed the trees beginning to stir from their slumber, buds beginning to appear. Life is slowly returning.
This week I heard the song of a gold crest. We normally see one on our walk through the woods but this is the first time I have actually heard it sing. Magpies gathering birch twigs from my garden to build their nest which is in a tree on the edge of the playing fields that I can see from my kitchen window. Blue tits inspecting the nest box in the tree nearest the house, it has been used by blue tits for the last five or six years.
Today walking a friends dog for her I noticed yew pollen, birdsong and snowdrops. On a dreary grey Saturday human noise was quieted so I could hear nature stirring.
This week I noticed new morning birdsong, the squirrels getting into someone’s porch cushions to feather their beds, and the beautiful light of California, where I’m at a work conference.
Hi - a ceremonialist guides us through circling sunwise around a fire pit with percussive sounds to acknowledge Brigid who guides into the light with fire and a sense of the blessings from her spirit -the gathering sharing of a ritual for Spring takes many forms visiting sacred springs and fire ceremonies as her spirit is of the smithy and the sacred value of our Springs in Celtic Histories 🙏🔥🕊
Drinking cacao with others discovering the delight of rare bean to bar chocolate -known as ‘the heart opener ‘ preparing for an Imbolc Fire Ceremony to share in nature’s awakening under cold but bright skies -quietly being s Galanthophile as the shoots quicken in the banks and green spaces 🍃🕊🔥
Ha, yes! And I’m with you on the sleep…always seems to get worse near the full moon too… what’s a spring table runner? And any chance you’ll post a pic on our Sunday chat…?
delighted that the winter palette of green/brown/black has been enhanced not only by yellow aconites and white snowdrops but now we have purple - crocuses and rosemary flowering; waking up with sun coming through the curtains; the church clock starting chiming again - it was silent from Samhain to Imbolc.
I’ve loved the comfort and peace of winter darkness and the cosiness of being indoors when the weather is grim. Just as well, because there’s plenty of that still to come. But with February comes a strong craving for the light. And here it is, slowly perhaps, but noticeable every day. The way the sun catches the branches and the buds. It looks different now. The beginning of something. It makes me very happy.
That’s such a lovely positive thought Anne, thank you
We had two seasonal events this week. Our local orchard held its annual wassail which is always good fun (and so nice to drink hot apple juice in a field) and we had our traditional (to me and my immediate family) fondue to celebrate imbolc. Also! When I pick the kids up from after school club I am noticing that we are in the trail end of dusk now so the days are slowly but surely getting longer
Glorious. What a week!
Gosh I’m glad you said about it being a difficult week to notice seasonal things. I have really struggled this week and thought I might be the only one (I always find February the hardest). In my head it should be spring now, but of course winter has to last out it’s course. I still tried to notice things on my walks to and from places and this did yield some results, which I’m very glad of. So my first thing this week is pink and white Arrowwood flowering all over campus like blossom kisses on otherwise bare shrubbery. They have cheered me up on my walk to and from my lectures each day immensely. On Wednesday I woke up early early (5.30 am) with wry neck, which was generally horrible but the only nice thing to come out of it was getting to open my skylight and watch the dawn creep in with my mug of Earl Grey - watching a sky phase from the colour of ink to dusky blue, to streaked pink and white. On Thursday I took an Imbolc walk around a local stately house and gardens and saw lots of snowdrops which felt very right. But the highlight (and my seasonal moment) was actually the purple violas and irises growing in pots on the steps of the house. Demure and tiny, yet strong and vividly purple in all that grey, they were the surest sign of spring I have seen for a while. They left me in no doubt, I might feel like winter will never end but spring IS on its way.
I also discovered a new word - Galanthophiles! It refers to people who love and collect varieties of snowdrops. There are even Galanthophile groups that go on snowdrop viewing parties to notable snowdrop gardens.
There are!
Oh wonderful, I always intend to plant miniature irises exactly for this reason, they sound perfect. Sorry about your neck, hope it’s a bit better.
I love mini irises too ☺️☺️ and thank you it’s slowly on the mend
Found a link to February and Tempest trip- I'm pretty sure February's full moon (this weekend) is sometimes called a storm moon 😆
This week my three things are merry dunnocks, bare bramble arches and the wonderful smell of someone's sweet box shrub spilling out over the wall onto the path I regularly walk.
Ah you’re right! Wish I’d thought of that…
Love the idea of merry dunnocks!
I too have struggled this week but I do try to find a little spark of joy even on the hardest days. Things that lifted my melancholy mood were silvery buds against a fresh blue sky, the sap is rising. Leaning out of my loft widow to watch a suburban sunrise and listening out for our resident blackbird heralding spring. I’m not very good at art & craft but felt an urge to make a Brigid’s cross to hang in my willow tree along with a shawl (Brat Bhride) for Brigid to bless should she pass this way. Many folk seem a little low right now and I wish they could also find a little solace in nature. 💚
What gorgeous and creative things to do. Yes tough weeks all round here by the sound of it.
I've only just discovered your substack Lia and I'm loving the serentity of it. This post reminds me of a yoga retreat I did once and part of the day was a walking mediation- not saying anything but walking with a view to noticing. It all sounds very woo-woo but actually a wonderfully calming experience and a shock to realise how much you miss when you don't observe. Thanks for writing.
Thank you Sue! That’s really lovely of you to say. I’m very much enjoying your substack too. Yes I went on a retreat once and my main thought was ‘how can I take some of this home, and make my every day life a bit more retreat like?’ It isn’t AT ALL, but it’s something to aim for…
What an amazing trip you had this week. How special to see the Tempest in Stafford. Definitely on my wish list.
That video is too funny live the tossed away umbrella 😂
Highlight of my week was Going to the Chinese New Year parade in the 13e dazzling, dancing, dragons, a mesmerising drum beat, along with gorgeous costumes made it a brilliant moment of colour and joy in a very grey January. The metro broke down on the way home but, luckily, Paris is such a lovely city to walk in we made it an adventure. Enjoying strolling through the different neighbourhoods and stopping off for a fortifying chocolat chaud and pastry.
We had an amazing sunset on Wednesday the sun broke through a tiny gap in the clouds to light up the world, truly stunning.
I also saw a pollard tree and was thrilled I knew it had been pollarded (if that’s a word!) after your post last week - thanks Lia!
Ah yes Paris is *incredible* for pollarded trees, best anywhere perhaps, though I suspect you call them something else. Thank you again for our Parisian dispatch!
It rained all week and I couldn’t manage to take myself out for my daily walk, but on Wednesday we changed our routine a bit to join friends for their first house blessing (annual house blessings are a church tradition for us). I had to rush afterward to get my St Brigid cross made before the end of the day. The sun did manage to peek out before sunset Friday. New rain boots are in the mail so I won’t miss a week again.
Annual house blessings, how gorgeous. And yes hooray for wellies. I wear mine all year round…
A hazy gibbous moon setting as i walked to work at 5:30 in the morning; a garden full of birds - robins, blackbirds, jackdaws, sparrows, a few doves and pigeons - feasting on the food i put out; glorious sunshine tricking me into thinking it's warmer than it is! I have noticed the trees beginning to stir from their slumber, buds beginning to appear. Life is slowly returning.
It’s slow, but it’s coming! Thank you.
This week I heard the song of a gold crest. We normally see one on our walk through the woods but this is the first time I have actually heard it sing. Magpies gathering birch twigs from my garden to build their nest which is in a tree on the edge of the playing fields that I can see from my kitchen window. Blue tits inspecting the nest box in the tree nearest the house, it has been used by blue tits for the last five or six years.
Gorgeous
Today walking a friends dog for her I noticed yew pollen, birdsong and snowdrops. On a dreary grey Saturday human noise was quieted so I could hear nature stirring.
Glad you’re finding little bits of magic even though it’s so dreary
This week I noticed new morning birdsong, the squirrels getting into someone’s porch cushions to feather their beds, and the beautiful light of California, where I’m at a work conference.
Oh wonderful, hope it’s not all work and you get to enjoy it
Hi - a ceremonialist guides us through circling sunwise around a fire pit with percussive sounds to acknowledge Brigid who guides into the light with fire and a sense of the blessings from her spirit -the gathering sharing of a ritual for Spring takes many forms visiting sacred springs and fire ceremonies as her spirit is of the smithy and the sacred value of our Springs in Celtic Histories 🙏🔥🕊
Thank you, that sounds very special.
Glorious
Drinking cacao with others discovering the delight of rare bean to bar chocolate -known as ‘the heart opener ‘ preparing for an Imbolc Fire Ceremony to share in nature’s awakening under cold but bright skies -quietly being s Galanthophile as the shoots quicken in the banks and green spaces 🍃🕊🔥
What does the fire ceremony involve?
Beautiful
‘We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep’
My life is mostly made up of 2 sleeps at the moment with a watchful break, perhaps February will bring solid sleep!
Seeing Snowdrops, a muddy Canalside walk and a finished Spring table runner are my highlights of this week.
Ha, yes! And I’m with you on the sleep…always seems to get worse near the full moon too… what’s a spring table runner? And any chance you’ll post a pic on our Sunday chat…?
delighted that the winter palette of green/brown/black has been enhanced not only by yellow aconites and white snowdrops but now we have purple - crocuses and rosemary flowering; waking up with sun coming through the curtains; the church clock starting chiming again - it was silent from Samhain to Imbolc.
Oh is it actually stopped deliberately during that time? First mention of crocuses on this blog! I think you win a prize…
Crocus prize gratefully received, thank you!
The clock just broke down but it was very interesting the timing.. like it needed to rest just like the rest of us!
Ha how lovely
The clock really does mark a shift in the year.