Monday, February 1, 2010

Candle in the branches

It was a good day to prune the old apple tree. The first of February is Imbolc, the day when we see the first signs of spring and celebrate the returning daylight with a fire festival.

It felt very cold today and spring is obviously some way off but to honour the day, and the goddess, if that's your way, I hung a candle lantern in the branches after re-shaping the tree, and left it burning when I walked back home down the hill. I like to think of it flickering amongst the branches as night drew in.

Having also cut down my autumn fruiting raspberries to ground level and done a bit of digging, not to mention painting a bedroom ceiling and doing an hour and a half's yoga class, I am now completely exhausted and fit for nothing more physical than sitting on a sofa with a laptop on my knees. Oh, and I may just possibly be able to lift a glass of red wine to my lips! 

Happy gardening (it's all worth it - honest)


3 comments:

John said...

Hello again Nicky. You do have a lovely site but I'm not sure about that red on black. I wonder why you did that?

Nicky said...

Yes, sorry about that - horrible, isn't it? It wasn't deliberate!

Shaheen said...

I love that warm feeling, strengthened by the candle in the branches. Such a lovely sentiment. Thank you for sharing.