Eliza Daley ~ Wordcraft & Musing on Home & Hope
for 5 December 2022 It is Krampusnacht. Tonight, the long-tongued goat-man goes running through the streets, sometimes tagging along with the kindly old St Nicholas, sometimes striking out on his own, always seeking the naughty kids. He carries iron chains, a birch bough and a sack. Sometimes a good lashing is all it takes to… Continue reading The Daily
for 4 December 2022 It is said that nature abhors a garden, among other vacuums. But I think nature really hates holiday decorations. Or maybe any outdoor frivolity. There was that time that I hung 30 feet of juniper and pine garland on the front of my house in New Mexico and woke the next… Continue reading The Daily
for 28 November 2022 Thanksgiving is over. In my world that means it's time to shift the mood in my house from early winter to midwinter. Wednesday is St Andrew's Day and the traditional start of the winter holidays. So it's now time to put away the rusty colors and start pulling out Yule reds,… Continue reading The Daily
for 23 November 2022 The Hunter's Moon is dark today. Tomorrow begins the Winter Sleep Moon. In this culture we don't do that... sleep more in winter, that is. This is one of the things my body has never made peace with. I am not on the work-day sleep schedule at the best of times.… Continue reading The Daily
for 21 November 2022 There is no deed in this life so impossible that you cannot do it. Your whole life should be lived as an heroic deed. — from Tolstoy's Calendar of Wisdom for 21 November I don't know about heroic, but I wanted to take a moment to say that doing this de-growth… Continue reading The Daily
19 November 2022 This weather is not doing things by half, I'll give it that. We went from the longest growing season on record — 181 days, theoretically long enough to grow even protracted growing season veg like okra — with the official first frost date ringing in at 28 October, to... well, there's a… Continue reading The Daily
15 November 2022 Here we are half-way through November. You what that means? (Apart from we're half-way through November!!!) It's time to plant those amaryllis bulbs if you want blooms for the holidays. Most will need about six weeks to flower. Place the bulbs in rich soil with only about one third of the bulb… Continue reading The Daily
14 November 2022 Hurricanes have all moved on to Greenland. Today is going to be cold here, with a high below freezing. So... winter. Tomorrow, the snow moves in. The forecast is now up to 4 inches falling over Tuesday and Wednesday. Mostly overnight on Tuesday. I don't know if this snow will stay for… Continue reading The Daily
Today is the last day that my part of the world will see more than nine hours of sunlight in a day. Nearly all plants need at least that much light to generate more energy than they use when active. Even in a greenhouse, growth will be negligible for the next few months, unless you… Continue reading Last Nine-hour Day
Today is All Hallows' Eve, Hallowe'en, the first night in the ancient new year's festival that Celtic language speaking people called Samhaine. We hardly remember that it was once a sacred festival, celebrating endings and beginnings, nor that it was "converted" by the Catholic Church into a day for honoring the dead. It's possible that… Continue reading Cookies for Hallowe’en
By My Solitary Hearth 