"If Candlemas Day be fair & bright / Winter will have another fight / But if Candlemas Day be clouds & rain / Winter is gone & and will not come again" quotes Edith Holden an old English saying.
Well, well, well - these days we are almost drowning in rain! Yet I am not convinced that it was all we saw of winter, though I would be glad: the Schneekarte hangs on my peg (a card that shows which person has to do the snow shovelling - here in Bavaria we have no janitor, and I could not convince my flat neighbours to spend money on a person who will clear away the snow...)
On the table of my balcony you see dwarf iris (they smell so lovely), first snow drops, muscari "Blue Magic" (which my computer stubbornly tries to change into "Mascara").
In February we see that the days get longer and light comes back. The Celtic feast of Brigid celebrates the light - Brigid is the Goddess of Light, bright, radiant and sparkling.
In a book I found the proposal to contemplate a typical February question:
'What New wants to grow? What needs light, love and caring?' - good questions not only for the gardeners among us, I think.
Hi Britta - see you have the same book as me! Lovely writing and illustrations always - my favorite way to read of the old countryside, plants, and weather patterns, of England. Author/artist Edith Holden spent time in the area of Devon where I grew up!
ReplyDeleteHere's to spring - we will all welcome a new season of light and warmth.
Hugs - Mary x
Dear Mary, I think the books are the same: a facsimile of that ravishing book by Edith Holden. She was such a good observer of nature, and could draw so beautifully. We all notice with concern that many plants or birds we have know from our youth are gone now - though I am optimistic: mankind rethinks and thus it may be not too late.
DeleteCandlemas - also the last day to take down Christmas decorations, lest goblins plague your home!
ReplyDeleteDear Helen, I value all three qualities you list, but I wouldn't buy a sweat pea that does not smell, or a violet without scent. Nowadays cultivators try to make blossoms larger and brighter - and sacrifice the fragrance - a huge mistake in my eyes. Scent brings on memories...
ReplyDeleteDear Pip, I read with a hush of envy that you managed to keep your Christmas decorations very long. This year we sadly had to take the little tree out on 2nd January - because we left Berlin - and if we hadn't and I come back now in the middle of February, imagine who would have sniggered behind the Berlin doors, had blown dust everywhere and thought up a lot of mischief?
ReplyDelete