Spilled Notes

Birthday Flowers

Apologies for another unplanned absence, but exams are over now so perhaps I'll be able to get back to more regular blogging...

These photos were all taken at Killerton House, Devon (about this time last summer, I'm afraid!).  The gardens were beautiful, lots of gorgeous bright flowers out - a wonderful way to celebrate L's mum's birthday.

Ratatouille and Rain

The weather seems to have turned here today - grey, gloomy and damp - so no walk in the Meadows this evening.  This is the sky from Saturday night, though.  Beautiful.

Today, I made ratatouille for the first time.  It could have done with a bit longer in the oven, as it wasn't quite as meltingly, velvety soft as I think it probably should be, but I was too hungry and couldn't wait.  It was still pretty good though, a lovely bright and sunny dish for a rainy evening.

An Apple Within an Apple

Nature can be amazing sometimes.  Like when one apple clearly wasn't enough, so another one started to grow on the same stalk (but didn't get very far).  I'm surprised this was allowed into the supermarket as it's not completely perfect!

Pink Snow

Lots of blossom out in Edinburgh at the moment.  This is on the edge of The Meadows, near the university library.  I spent a couple of minutes in the sun (had to make the most of it - it might not be back for ages!) after picking up a pile of books on ritual theory for my next essay.  Last week there was white blossom in all the cracks in pavement just along the road - it looked just like snow as it first starts to settle.  Unfortunately that was the one day I didn't have my camera with me.

Passion

'Nothing great in the world has ever been accomplished without passion'

(Hegel)

 Passion, n.

I Senses related to physical suffering and pain.  Including: a narrative of Jesus' Passion; the sufferings of a martyr; a suffering or affliction of any kind.

II Senses relating to emotional or mental states.  Including: any strong, controlling or overpowering emotions; a fit of temper or rage; strong affection; sexual desire or impulses; the zealous pursuit of an aim.

Passion flower, n.

Any plant of the genus Passiflora.  Native to South America, the parts  of the flower were imagined by Europeans to correspond to the instruments and circumstances of Jesus' Passion - nails (stigmas), wounds (stamens), crown of thorns (corona) and apostles (perianth segments - although there are only ten, not twelve, so I'm not sure who got left out).

 Passion fruit, n.

The edible fruit of some species of passion flower.  An egg-shaped berry with purple, slightly wrinkled skin and sweet yellow pulp surrounding small black seeds.  Often used as a source of juice.

 

 (Definitions from OED online; passionflower photo courtesy of Livvey K over at The Dish Ran Away With The Spoon.)

Potato Planting

Ever since I can remember, I've always helped my Dad plant our potatoes on Good Friday.  I thought it was just a family tradition, so imagine my surprise when I found this in an article I was scanning through for a tutorial:

'Until quite recently Good Friday was the almost universal day for workmen in Somerset to plant potatoes.'  (Vivian and Mathews (1920), The Folk-Lore of Somerset, Folklore, 31, 3 (Sept.), p. 244.)

We're actually actively continuing a practice that was a tradition at least as far back as the early twentieth century, probably longer, using a tool that was bought by my grandad.  As an ethnologist, that's quite exciting!  Unfortunately this year most of the planting was delayed until yesterday due to rain, but we did manage to make a start on Friday.

Here is a record of our version of the tradition:

 

The seed potatoes chitting in the conservatory (this gives the shoots time to grow).

   

Our weapon of choice - the potato planter.

           

In action...

 

All ready to rake over the holes.  All that remains now is to wait...

Daffodil Meadows

Our room currently smells wonderful thanks to this beautiful bunch of daffodils L bought to cheer me up.  There's something so wonderfully happy about daffodils, and their trumpets seem to almost broadcast this happiness and brightness to every corner of the room.  I'd never really realised that daffodils smell so lovely before, despite the fact that we've always had lots in the garden at home.

 

The daffodil is also known as the 'yellow narcissus' (yes, it is a narcissus) or 'Lent lily' (no, it's not a lily).  The name 'daffodil' is thought to be derived from the Greek 'asphodel' - a flower which doesn't look anything like the daffodil.  Asphodels were associated with the dead, and were often planted around graves.  One section of the Greek afterworld was called Asphodel Meadows; this was essentially a plain of asphodels, and was where the souls of those people who were equally good and bad ended up - in between the Elysian Fields (similar to Heaven) and Tartarus (similar to Hell).  Asphodel Meadows was depicted as a land of neutrality, a less perfect version of life on earth, and a place that upon entry individuals lose their identities and become machine-like.

 

From this, you can tell that asphodels and daffodils don't look alike.  There's nothing neutral about even a single daffodil, let alone a field full of them.  No, for me a meadow full of daffodils would be a most welcome, happiness-inducing sight.

Starlings

Last month, this wonderful photo was taken in Taunton, near my home village in Somerset.  My dad was lucky enough to see this actually happening (although the photo isn't his, it comes from this report in the Somerset County Gazette).  I've never seen this amazing phenomenon, but I remember watching this sequence on a programme with Bill Oddie which just amazed me.  Apparently the name for a flock of starlings is a 'murmuration' - what a wonderful word.