Week 7
Snowdrops, fennel tea...and Aisle Watch
Hello!
I hope you have had a good week. Do the days lengthen? Is anyone feeling it? I have to admit that I am not, but I hope some of you are catching some spring like feelings. A smidge of sunshine might do it, eh?
This is our weekly community post in which we chart the seasons week by week, in their minutiae and their tiny details, asking the question: what happened this week that could only have happened in this week of the year? What did I eat/smell/spot that means ‘right now’?
I tell you mine and then you tell me yours, in the comments.
Here’s mine:
Snowdrops and fennel tea
If you are a reader of my almanacs you will know that for the past couple of years they have been graced by words from Louise Press, who I have sometimes referred to as the almanac’s wise woman. She writes beautifully about the energies of the season, and brings an element of ritual and magic that I felt was missing before she came along. Well, once a month I am lucky enough to go to a women’s circle held in a yurt on Louise’s land, and this week included that day. I wont say very much about it, except that it is nurturing and full of connection and laughter and I love it and the women of my circle. I always particularly enjoy those held around Imbolc, as the yurt is surrounded by snowdrops, and Louise takes great care to set the scene and to talk us through this ‘quickening’ moment of the year and what it can mean for us. She always creates a special tea for each month too, and this month’s was heavy on fennel seed as a symbol of this moment of first seed sowing and the spark of the idea of spring. I can recommend it.
Seasonal Aisle Watch
Now that I’ve started this I can’t stop…split almost 50/50 eggs and hearts. But not for long… Presumably - unlike with Christmas - this is one that they don’t pull down until the very last second, allowing for all those wild-eyed late comers.
That’s it from me this week, now it’s over to you. What did you do/eat/spot this week that felt particular to this week of the year? Please leave your answers in the comments below.
It’s been quite grey up here in Lancashire. However, there is a corner in my kitchen that has a magic feel to it. Nine jars of homemade marmalade glowing like amber jewels. I had enough left to fill half a jar so rather than squirrel it away, we enjoyed it on hot buttered toast. We sat in the kitchen watching the birds feeding and two blue tits checking out the nest box. Spring is definitely in the air.
Last Saturday I spent the morning learning how to identify trees in winter at a wonderful course at Sheffield Botanical Gardens run by Guy Petherham. It was absolutely fascinating and has opened up a world I have never managed to access by books alone. I think I might get obsessed.