With the 12th day upon us The ‘Old Twelvey’,.. It was time to fire up the Cargo bike and gently deliver the tree back to its rightful place at The Bothy!! Love this bike.. Rain Cover on, Tree fitted just fine.. a whole bikes worth of cardboard and several bags worth of Veg trimmings that will be make lovely compost... I peddled down.. It was a thoughtful ride... On arrival as walked over to my Compost bay I was greeted by this wonderful little chap.. he was singing away .. it was wonderful to see him again, A Chirpy little Robin.. I could feel Eden whispering to me..
The Garden beginning to stir.. by the time we emerge from this lockdown The Kitchen Garden will be active once again.. This is a time to be gentle with yourself accept everything about yourself, your current situation, and your life - without question, blame, or pushback. We're all truly doing the best we can in a very difficult situation. Could we use the time to learn a new skill or widen a existing one?.. Same with the Home-Schooling is not about perfection... A little Reading, Drawing, sharing some life skills.. Walks.. let life become the teacher.. and above all slow down, one day at a time.... be gentle, be kind to yourself..
So Today is known as ‘Old Twelvey’, a day for "Wassailing" The Wassailing celebrations generally take place on the Twelfth Night of Christmas, 5th January, The celebrations vary from region to region, but generally involve a wassail King and Queen leading the assembled group of revellers, comprising the farmers, farm workers and general villagers, in a noisy procession banging pots and pans, from one orchard to the next. In each orchard the wassailers would of gathered round the biggest and best tree, and as a gift to the tree spirits, the Queen places a piece of wassail soaked toast into its branches, accompanied by songs such as;
“Apple tree, apple tree we all come to wassail thee,
Bear this year and next year to bloom and blow,
Hat fulls, cap fulls, three cornered sacks fills…”
generally making as much noise as possible in order to both waken the sleeping tree spirits, and also to frighten off any bad that may be lurking in the branches. A time for Apple Tree for The Bothy this coming year!! look forward to a time when we can all gather in the Orchards once again..