Eliza Daley ~ Wordcraft & Musing on Home & Hope
Things to look forward to... a new word Most of my poetry flows from discovering some new word. Today it was etiolated. I was looking for a synonym of pale and found this gem. It is almost onomatopoeic. You can feel its meaning on your tongue. Drawn and wan and stretched thin from lack of… Continue reading The Daily: 13 March 2024
Things to look forward to... evening tea I look forward to my evening tea every day. I have a small cabinet of dried herbs put by to please my every whim. Usually I pull out the chamomile and lavender. I like the flavor and the smell, and these herbs also both help moderate digestion. But… Continue reading The Daily: 6 March 2024
Things to look forward to... drawing on eggs Sophie Blackall has very interesting hobbies... This isn't anything so banal as dyeing eggs in spring pastels. Nor is it as extravagant as a Faberge confection. Nope, Sophie literally draws on eggs. Faces. Animals. Flowers. Abstract patterns. Mostly in monochrome charcoal or soy ink. The effect is… Continue reading The Daily: 28 February 2024
If Matthew finds ice, he breaks it. When the cat lies in sunshine in February If he doesn’t break it, he makes it all the harder. she'll creep behind the stove in March. St Matthias with his ice breaker... If there is sharp frost on Matthew’s Day, it will last till March. The fox is… Continue reading The Daily: 24 February 24
Things to look forward to... applause Once upon a time, I got up on the stage and played piano for people. I did not stand on a stage willingly. I am not a performer. I still don't like bearing the full attention of people, even after years of teaching science and speaking on books. To… Continue reading The Daily: 21 February 2024
A Benediction for Lupercalia Today is Lupercalia. This is one of the oldest festivals in EuroWestern culture and, in fact, likely predates the Euro-bits. As with most ancient things, this holy time is a dense web of themes that don’t all mesh together well, but somehow make a lovely tapestry when viewed from a certain… Continue reading The Daily: 15 February 2024
Mardi Gras Means Pancakes... Ok, not really... Mardi Gras actually means Fat Tuesday, or more precisely, Fat Mars-day. The Romans dedicated the second day of the week to the planet named for their war god, Mars. The closest Norse equivalent to Mars was Tyr, or Tiw. Hence it became Tuesday in English and Mardi Gras… Continue reading The Daily: 13 February 2024
Today is St Brigid's Eve. In traditional cultures, this is when most of the ritual for Imbolg takes place. St Brigid is welcomed into the home with rush crosses and formal family ceremony and doors thrown wide. A bed is prepared by the hearth, and oats and cream are left on the doorstep. The fires… Continue reading The Daily: 31 January 2024
Things to look forward to... hugs I made it another year in this body. Those years are running by increasingly fast these days — though a day can last forever. But each anniversary of my nativity feels like a triumph of sorts. I am still alive. I am still cognizant and in mostly functional health.… Continue reading The Daily: 30 January 2024
In one of the more curious instances of holidays reclaimed from obscurity, Wales has resurrected St Dwynwen's Day on January 25th. St Dwynwen was a fifth century princess, the loveliest of King Brychan Brycheiniog’s twenty-four daughters, and the Welsh patron saint of lovers. Her day in the Welsh calendar has steadily grown in popularity since… Continue reading The Daily: 25 January 2024
By My Solitary Hearth 