Eliza Daley ~ Wordcraft & Musing on Home & Hope
Crom Dubh Sunday In many northern communities, July is a hungry month. The spring flush of greens and quick-growing roots like radishes and beets may still be trickling out of the garden, but most have bolted and run to seed. However, those that remain are long on fiber and short on calories, and little of… Continue reading The Daily: 27 July 2025
The Romans had concerns about drought at this time of year. Three very old festivals were grouped together at the end of July to honor deities who presided over watery things. The first was the Lucaria, the clearing of the groves. This was an ancient observance even in Varro's time (116-27 BCE), and little is… Continue reading The Daily: 25 July 25
Neptunalia Today (or tomorrow, or both) is the ancient Roman (or Phoenician) holiday of Neptunalia, one of three obscure Roman festivals that honored watery deities in the last days of July. Neptune was the Roman god of both freshwater and the seas, but this festival, which shares many similarities with the Jewish Sukkot, is focused… Continue reading The Daily: 23 July 2025
The Old Farmer's Almanac says that it's time to start paying attention to the potatoes. In my garden you can hardly not pay attention to them. The potatoes are reaching out and grabbing attention. Passers-by are rubber-necking the veg. The potatoes are so prolific, I'm afraid there might be accidents. It's starting to feel like… Continue reading The Daily: 22 July 2025
My potatoes decided to flower... but they are nowhere near digging time! In my calendar, the season of Lughnasadh begins today. This is my favorite time of year. Fairs and food and the soon-to-be dwindling of summer heat — and dwindling of summer activity. (Hopefully, dwindling of summer bugs!!!) This season is marked by the… Continue reading The Daily: 21 July 2025
Herself is somewhat recovering from bug-derived chaos in the central nervous system... might even get dressed today. At least stop listening to Nils Frahm's Empty on repeat... Came a little too close to The End there, but we are now backing away slowly, hands up in surrender, no sudden movements... Late Modernity sucks... Here's an… Continue reading The Daily: 18 July 2025
The Dog Days begin today. This is when Sol and Sirius shine together all day long, creating blast-furnace heat. Or maybe that's just carbon... Canada is on fire. Europe is boiling. The Mediterranean is as warm as spit. The Pacific Ocean might be ENSO-neutral; but June 2025 was as hot as in any El Niño… Continue reading The Daily: 3 July 2025
Today is St John's Day and Midsummer's Day. Last night, the faeries ran amok. Today is the last day with over 15 1/2 hours of sunlight. Tomorrow, the Strawberry Moon goes dark at 6:31am, ushering in the Hay Moon. It may seem like summer has hardly begun, but we are halfway through the growing season… Continue reading The Daily: 24 June 2025
Tonight is the night that Shakespeare had faeries running amok in the woods around Athens. This is Midsummer's Night, tomorrow being Midsummer's Day. Folklore has it that this is the best time to go find the Good Folk, though lore also makes it pretty clear that you may be in for trouble if you do.… Continue reading The Daily: 23 June 2025
June 22nd is the feast day of St Alban, one of the first British martyrs to the Christian faith, a sort of protomartyr, in fact. It is said that Alban was beheaded by Roman authorities on this date, though the year this happened may be any time between 209 and 304. Stained-glass portrait of St… Continue reading The Daily: 22 June 2025
By My Solitary Hearth 