The Merry Month of December
It has been awhile since I last posted a blog, time came and went and although I shall not go into it all now, it has been several months of chaos, madness, a friend passed away, myself a broken rib where I got run over by a sheep and another of our beloved cats passed away as well and the feeling of wanting to run away and join the circus and then realising I was already there. I am sure many of you know the feeling. However we are now in December, and the month of the Summer Solstice for us here in the Southern hemisphere and I can feel it starting to stir and the Gods will soon be battling out their war cries as one inevitably overtakes the other in the continuous battle of the seasons and nature. The Summer Solstice also known as Litha is on the 21st this year and is the Sabbat that marks the longest and usually hottest day of the year, a solar festival honouring the zenith of the sun/Sun God as he reaches his peak and the dark half of the year will start until next Yule when the Sun God will be reborn. That will be June here in NZ. I look forward to feasting at both.
In the meantime we shall experience the seasonal changes around us. The garden flourishing and everything taking on a new look, mostly in shades of green, intertwining with each other and all trying to compete for space. I notice that the mint has jumped ship and has now taken off with the mugwort, another rebel in the garden, both refusing to be confined, I know the feeling!
The Black Bear Apothecary has been busy with herbal delights including the Hag dolls, love those, the bath teas and other goodies. We have many ideas on the go so keep checking to see what is new and some items are limited and only a few of each are made. Many thanks to Brynne who has been helping out.
The cats are enjoying rolling in the fresh mowed hay and have taken over the deck area preferring to come indoors once the sun has well gone to bed, even the birds are staying up later. As for myself, I find after a hard day’s work including farm and household chores, apothecary work, crafting and working at Wycksted and then grandkids on the weekends, I am very ready to fall into bed and sleep as soon as the sun hints a good night sound. However I must say, grandkids do keep you on the go and are a magick in themselves.
This month is when the sheep get shorn, they have already been dagged around their back ends which although they do not particularly like me handling those delicate areas, it is a must to help keep those areas clean and well away from pesky fly’s that can create the horrible flystrike sheep can get from the flies that lay their eggs in the sheep’s fleece in this hot and moist weather. The lambs born over September/October seem to be doing well although they will be in for a treat as they will soon become wethers. For those unsure as to what this means, it is a sheep that has been castrated so they cannot breed, too many rams (non-castrated sheep) in the flock can cause lots of problems and they can become very vicious with each other and cause damage especially during the mating seasons. We currently have two adult rams which seem to do the trick and keep all happy in their sheep world. So more jobs this December include the ponds which need a good clear-out as nature is trying to reclaim some of the less used ones, on the list of things to do and also plenty of water troughs and dishes are continually checked and filled to ensure livestock and other animals have plenty of water to drink. And I plan to paint the house which is in dire need of a clean and paint job, an old farmhouse with lots of recycled parts and pieces, an eclectic and original design we created I would say with a lot more renovations and jobs needed to be done although a little at a time for now. So there in lies some basics of this season, trivial knowledge should you ever want to know. Wycksted is not just an online business, it is a lifestyle, real life family, friends and animals, mishaps, upsets and all the good stuff too.