Eliza Daley ~ Wordcraft & Musing on Home & Hope
Nature, having stridently and unambiguously declared Her many objections to the hatred and corruption on flagrant display in my country's center this week, decided to release us from the hellscape weather Her fury has inflicted upon us of late, instead gifting central Vermont with an absolutely divine day. No smoke. No crushing heat and humidity.… Continue reading The Daily: 6 July 2026
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 again. More than 130 active blazes are darkening the skies and sending smoke trailing southeast (so... here...), with the vast majority of the fires listed as "out… Continue reading The Daily: 3 July 2026
June 9th, was the Roman feast of Vesta. This festival fell within the state holiday of Vestalia, and it did have state rituals assigned to it. But mostly it was a festival of the plebs, and particularly of the army of bakers that kept the Romans fed. So this is a grain harvest festival tied… Continue reading The Daily: 9 June 2026
As you might have noticed, I have not had time to do anything but work and then garden. The weather finally warmed enough to get the planting done... So... I moved all the indoor plants outside. The weeds are pulled and the grass is reined in. Tomatoes and chiles are outside, still in their flats,… Continue reading The Daily: 8 June 2026
The heat promised for last week failed to materialize. It never got much above 60°F, and it was rainy and windy most every day. I still have tomatoes in the guest bedroom, chiles in the dubious bathtub, and lots of tender herbs and flowers in the basement under grow lights. I have not planted the… Continue reading The Daily: 31 May 2026
The Flower Moon is full at 4:45am tomorrow morning, so tonight is the closest moonrise to full. I suspect in lunisolar calendars like that of the Irish and Cymri, this full moon after the hawthorn bloomed would have marked Beltaine. Or perhaps Beltaine, the beginning of summer, was set to the seventh full moon after… Continue reading The Daily: 30 May 2026
There are still tomatoes in the guest bedroom... We had a frost Friday morning, coincidentally the first 15-hour day of the growing season. Friday's high temperature was 45°F, which is technically warm enough for the nightshades, but they get cranky. Official wisdom says that "irreversible" damage can happen at temperatures below 50° and frost will… Continue reading The Daily: 26 May 26
What a difference a day makes. I wrote Sunday's post mostly on Friday evening, in the middle of the long, cold rain. At that point, few of my jungle trees had mature leaves. On Saturday, the clouds cleared off for most of the day and the temperature warmed to about 70°F. Then on Sunday, it… Continue reading The Daily: 18 May 2026
The Greening Moon went dark yesterday afternoon, but the trees have not quite embraced the green growing season. Many shrubs are leafed out and the grass is putting on inches every day, but most of the trees are only just hinting at leafy shade to come. The maples are still blooming, dropping their buds everywhere.… Continue reading The Daily: 17 May 2026
May the 4th be with you! Hawthorn Day May 4th is Hawthorn Day. This is the traditional day to tie clooties on hawthorn boughs over magical springs. It's one of the days when villages compete to make the most astonishingly elaborate display of greenery and white flowers. It's the Feast of Bona Dea when we… Continue reading The Daily: 4 May 2026
By My Solitary Hearth 