Eliza Daley ~ Wordcraft & Musing on Home & Hope
Central Vermont has been experiencing spring weather whiplash. This is what my garden looked like last Sunday (the 21st). We got over three-quarters of an inch of precipitation, nearly all snow, though it melted within the day. The Thursday before this Sunday snowstorm, it was 74°F and very humid. Thursday night into Friday morning, a… Continue reading The Daily: 27 April 2026
Floralia Cosiddetta Flora from the Villa di Arianna in Stabiae near Pompeii, 1st century Roman fresco The festival of Floralia is a very old holiday. It honors Flora, the Roman idea of fertility that is embodied in spring flowers. Flora is one of the oldest deities in the Roman pantheon. She is older than Rome,… Continue reading The Daily: 26 April 2026
The Sap Moon went dark yesterday at 7:52am. Today begins the Greening Moon. I have not written much about this lunation. Usually I am very busy in April because of Poetry Month with its various poetry readings and, to a lesser extent, because the garden is becoming demanding during this moon of leafing out. I'm… Continue reading The Daily: 18 April 2026
Today is National Dandelion Day. It's also Easter. I don't celebrate Easter in the Christian sense. I think there is quite enough suffering in the world without invoking the sacrifice of grain gods into the beginning of spring. However, I am starting to think that the secular holiday, the bits with rabbits and eggs and… Continue reading The Daily: 5 April 2026
The Daily for 29 March 2024: Hot cross buns!
Saturday was such a buoyant day with the No Kings rallies exploding beyond all our wildest expectations that I was still floating on Palm Sunday. And then the sun came out! So I decided to welcome in Spring. The house is clean. There are rabbits and colorful eggs here and there. And a small vase… Continue reading The Daily: 30 March 2026
There has still been no planting of peas. It was too cold and windy on St Patrick's Day. The beds were still rock, and I had enough on my plate trying to keep the porch furniture from blowing around as the wind kept shifting and blowing over 30mph. I was not going to plant in… Continue reading The Daily: 23 March 2026
The Season of Renewal This year, the Vernal Equinox happens on March 20th at 10:46am. This is, I think, the most nebulous of the solar festivals. Yes, it does mark an actual solar event, but it’s not the one we typically hear about. It’s not much of an event at all. This festival is less… Continue reading The Daily: 20 March 2026
Central Vermont has entered the light half of the year. Yesterday was the true equinox in my part of the world. That is, it was the first day of more than twelve hours of daylight. Friday brings the vernal equinox, the Opening season, at 10:46am. The Hunger Moon goes dark today at 9:23pm, meaning tomorrow… Continue reading The Daily: 18 March 2026
Today is... the equinox? Vernal Equinox Quiz True or False: The vernal equinox is when spring begins. Not exactly. The beginning of spring depends on where you live, and it is more a cultural phenomenon than a meteorological one. Tradition in Ireland has spring beginning with St Brigid’s Day on 1 February. Spring weather may… Continue reading The Daily: 17 March 2026
By My Solitary Hearth 