Hello March - Spring is within touching distance 💐🌷🌸
Making a few gentle plans.
The beautiful spring came, and when nature resumes her loveliness, the human soul is apt to revive also - Harriet Ann Jacobs
Dear friend.
A very warm welcome to my little corner of Substack today. It’s a glorious morning, shall we enjoy our cuppa outside in the sun whilst listening to the early morning birdsong?
It’s March and Spring is almost here. It’s been a wonderful Winter, perhaps my favourite, but I’m longing for warmer longer days now. Nature is waking up and so too are we.
For some Spring begins on March 1st, but the astronomical calendar says the beginning of Spring is March 20th, the Spring Equinox, where the sun moves across the celestial equator and day and night are equal in length.
Did you know that the original New Year was March?
The early Roman calendar had just ten months, beginning on March 1st. January didn’t exist as a month until around 700b.c. when the second King of Rome, Numa Pontilius added the months of January and February and the new year was moved to January.
Have you ever wondered why your New Year resolutions were broken so soon after they were made? It’s because we were still deep in Winter, a time of deep rest and hibernation for us, in line with nature’s rhythm. It was not the right time for setting goals and taking action. Spring is that time and that time is just around the corner.
As much as I loved Winter, I am happy to wave goodbye and welcome Spring with open arms. I am a Spring baby, born just after the Spring Equinox, so that’s perhaps why I love Spring so much. With nature stirring and new life emerging there is renewed energy. One can feel the air changing, and dare I say it, the air feels slightly warmer. We’ve had some frosty mornings this week but the days have definitely been warmer. Yesterday I believe we hit the dizzy heights of 15 degrees C.
Snowdrops and crocus bulbs emerged just a few weeks ago, and now the daffodils are showing their beautiful happy yellow selves. I love daffodils, do you?
Daffodil facts
Daffodils are the national flower of Wales and are traditionally worn on St. David’s Day, celebrated on March 1st. In France, daffodils symbolise hope, and in Japan, daffodils stand for joy. Daffodils are also the birth flower for March.
Daffodils go by a few other names, including jonquils or narcissus. The name daffodil was taken from an Old English word, ‘affodyle,’ which means ‘narcissus’. It was used as the genus name for the more than 50 species of daffodils.
When cut, daffodil stems release a sap that is poisonous to other plants. It will cause the other cut flowers in the vase to droop, wilt, and fade much faster than they should. Top tip: Put the daffodil stems in a separate vase for a couple of days to let the sap leech out then transfer them to different vase with clean water when you can then mix with other cut stems. However I prefer to leave them in situ, in the ground to be enjoyed in their natural habitat.
Looking round my own haven I can see new buds appearing on the rose bush, clematis and the blueberry bushes. The lawn got its first cut last weekend as it had grown quite a lot in these last few weeks. The frogs are back in our pond too.
March welcomes the last Full moon before the Spring Equinox. The Full moon on 14th March is called the Plough Moon. It is said to be one of the best times to see a cluster of stars called the Plough, also known as the Big Dipper. In Spring the Plough is high in the sky but it falls lower in the sky closer to the horizon in Autumn and Winter.
Now that we are within touching distance of Spring, what plans are you making, and what action will you be taking in the coming weeks? Meet me in the comments section!
I have a few things on my list for Spring. I’m going gently this year in line with my year of Wellbeing, so these are in no particular order.
Remodelling my home office.
Planning what to grow in my garden this year. Since we gave up our allotment last September we decided to utilise our garden more for our home grown veggies. I’m looking forward to visiting our local garden centre very soon.
A deeper dive into decluttering.
Continue my reading habits with a focus on seasonal tones.
Spending more time outdoors.
Planning and booking our campervan trips for the year.
I have restarted Morning Pages as part of Julia Cameron’s The Artist Way course.
I am starting a new free series here on Substack about decluttering and minimalism. You can read my own story here in which I share my experiences so far.
I will be posting once a month as part of my normal weekly newsletters, until the end of the year, maybe beyond. It will be starting in just a few weeks. Make sure you are subscribed so that you don’t miss it. In the first post we will be discussing our why’s and our goals, plus defining our spaces. I do hope you will join me.
If you enjoy reading A Simple Living Journal, I would be honoured if you would consider recommending this publication to your readers. Go to your Dashboard - Recommendations - Manage - Add recommendation - A Simple Living Journal. Or you can click on the link below if you are on your desktop.
Until next time.
Have a wonderful week.
Debbie xx
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Hi Debbie, I loved reading this and learning about daffodils and the early Roman calendar 👍🥰 No wonder I feel like I'm only just waking up from "hibernation" around now 🐻😆
So ready for spring, and the last week or so has been beautiful 😍🌼