Happy St Brigid's Day

Did you know today was an important day? It is St Brigid's day, also Candlemas (the feast of the presentation of the Lord), also Imbolc in the Celtic calendar. There are a number of traditions and superstitions about this day. For example if snakes or badgers come out of their dens on this day it is considered a sign that spring will come sooner rather than later (an older version of the American tradition of Groundhog Day). In parts of Ireland young girls make a Brideog, a corn dolly representing St Brigid (who is also the Celtic goddess Brigid, the personification of Spring) and make a special bed for her to lie in on St Brigid's Eve. On St Brigid's day they carry her from house to house where the married women give them gifts of food or money. It is also said to be the day the Cailleach, the hag personification of winter, collects her firewood. Legend says if she plans to make the winter last longer she will make the weather fine on this day so she can collect plenty of wood. If the weather is foul she is asleep because winter is almost over and she doesn't need any more firewood.

Why so much superstition about this one same day? Well it is a cross-quarter day. It is half way between the longest night (the winter solstice) and the spring equinox when day and night are equal. If you think of the solstice as mid-winter and the equinox as mid-spring then today must be the start of spring.

Well here in Cheshire it is very cold today. So cold that I drove Ed to work in the car because it is too icy for his motorbike. But I have seen the very first signs of spring beginning to show, such as shoots of daffodils and crocuses starting to push through the earth and some of the trees just beginning to bud. The days are getting perceptibly longer - the mornings are just that little bit lighter and the evening comes a smidgen later.

I have lit a fire and a candle to mark the day, and I plan to spend the day making crafts. I think I will incorporate imagery of St Brigid, the goddess Brigid, the Cailleach, light, fire and spring into my crafts. And maybe spring will come sooner rather than later and this cold, cold winter will be over.

Creative Day Out

It's been a crafty weekend. Yesterday my 8-year-old son, Sam, represented his cub pack at a crafting competition in Macclesfield and had a lovely time. And today I went to the Stitch and Creative Crafts show at the Greater Manchester Exhibition Centre with my sister Lindsey and her friend Caroline. Amongst other things I bought some books which have filled me with inspiration for crafty things to do.

January Moon

It's a full moon tonight. I saw it in an almost clear sky, with just a few fluffy clouds close to the moon. The moon illuminated their edges and they seemed to glow pale blue. I love it when it looks like that. It seems very magical. I remember a children's TV series when I was a child about a garden in which statues came to life at night, and the young hero befriended Greek nymphs and godesses and so on. The moon tonight reminded me of that for some reason.

Caught One!

I got one! Since enabling comment moderation I have allowed about five or six comments and blocked one spam comment. Zapping spam feels good!

Comment Moderation

I don't know about you but I am getting sick of Asian comment spam. So I have sadly enabled comment moderation. I'll check at least once a day and get your comments up as fast as possible. Sorry about this. :(

Redwing

A few years ago I decided I would like to be able to identify the common birds in my neighbourhood. With the help of my sister Stephanie and a couple of good bird books I gradually achieved my aim. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Quite quickly the mass of similar little brown birds separated themselves out into sparrows, chaffinches, blue tits, great tits and a wide variety of other species. I could even identify male from female in many cases, and juvenile from adult.

It was well worth the investment of time and effort. Whenever I catch a glimpse of a familiar species I smile to myself. And the "hang on, what was that?" moments are a thrill, followed by the hunt to see the same bird again, gather enough information to try to identify it, followed by frantic riffling through the bird books to confirm the id.

I have no wish to see every bird species in the world, or Europe or even Britain. I wouldn't go chasing off somewhere because some rare species had been spotted, or stay in a cold bird hide with a flask of tea and soggy sandwiches. That's part of the fun of birdwatching for some people, but my own goal is clearly defined - I just want to know the birds in my local patch.

So why do I bring this up today? I spotted a seasonal visitor today, the redwing. It's a species of thrush, like the blackbird and songthrush and mistlethrush that stay year-round. But the Redwing is more colourful than these dowdy birds, with its dandy eyestripe and vivid red patch under its wings. It's quite shy and although I am sure it comes to the area every year I don't always manage to spot it.

Cupcakes and Punk Rock

It is my daughter Eleanor's birthday party tonight. She was 10 on Friday. We spent the day making and decorating cupcakes, chopping fruit for the punchbowl, and planning the music.

I think the cupcakes are adorable. So cute and pretty. Whilst I was washing up I asked Eleanor to write out a playlist for the CDs she wanted during the party. Her list read:

• Siouxie and the Banshees
• Blondie
• Pink
• Kiss

She may still like baking with mummy but my daughter is growing up. I'm so proud of her.

Happy St Stephen's Day

Today is St Stephen's Day, the day Good King Wenceslas took his famous stroll. My dad assures me that in Ireland it is a bigger occasion than Christmas day. It is traditional for boys and men to try to catch and kill a wren on St Stephen's Day. Why, I cannot discover. But they then take it round all the houses and are given money.

The wren, the wren, the king of all birds,
St. Stephen's Day was caught in the furze,
Although he was little his honour was great,
Jump up me lads and give us a treat.