Candlemas - what did we do?

Snowdrops in the garden

Candlemas ended up meaning more to me than I expected. There are lots of ideas ticking over in my head and, more importantly, planning to make them happen. I used it as a kick off point for decluttering the house. The big push is over but there is still more to do so I'm making the effort to clear at least 10 items a day. It has also prompted me to think about my veg patch and to sift through all of my old seeds ready for the new season.

For the family, my boys didn't get it but that's okay, they're happy to celebrate if there is cake involved :-) We had a lovely roast meal with a fancy table followed by coffee and walnut cake. I did want to get a more 'seedy' pudding but ended up putting that back on the shelf when I took into consideration whether my lads would enjoy it.

Coming up is both Shrove Tuesday and Valentines. I foresee Shrove Tuesday as the usual informal yumminess though I do need to chat with my boys about what they would like to give up or learn throughout Lent. Valentines... we will see. I suspect there will be some heart shaped nonsense on the table.

Long term goals

Since investigating Candlemas the idea of well planned goals has been ticking over in my mind. All those new years resolutions that I've made over the years really haven't helped me towards my goals. Because resolutions, without the work, don't add up to much. I've dreamed of being able to do many things over the years, even worked towards some for a while, but overall I've made very little progress.

I wish that I could:

Play the piano - I'm not worried about being an expert but I do enjoy piano music and would love to shift my skill level on from Grade 1.
Play the guitar - I'm actually wondering if this is a dream I should let go of. I can play chords, I was even pretty good at arpeggio for a while but am now sorely out of practice. I really don't know if I'm interested in doing all the practice needed to recover where I was let alone get any better!

Speak a foreign language - I've dipped into both French and Spanish in the past, I did German at school but have never revisited that particular language so far. I am currently interested in Welsh but in order to pursue this I need to set up a base where I can settle for a few minutes each day, I genuinely feel that I don't have the space for this at the moment.

Be slim - It's been many years since I've worn a size 12, I want to rediscover how good this feels.
Run a marathon - I would like to achieve this just once. I don't want to become a regular long distance runner as I'm not convinced that putting that much stress on your body on a regular basis is a good idea but I would like to complete just one marathon.
Touch my toes - I'm not even going to admit how long it's been since I could touch my toes with straight legs. I've never been very flexible, even as a child when I did gymnastics, but the older I get the more important I realise flexibility is.

Having written this list I'm slightly surprised at how short it is. There are other skills I've wanted over the years but they are generally related to fitness one way or the other. It is really uplifting reading through this, it is all very achievable. Not over night though!

Candlemas

I want to be more seasonal and part of this is to introduce more festivals into our family life. Candlemas is on the horizon so I thought to take a look at this celebration.

Candlemas is on the 2nd of February, there is also Imbolc with which it collides/derives from depending on your point of view; and not to forget St Brigid's day on the 1st Feb. There are many on-line references but this one particularly resonated with me from 'School of the Seasons'. For a festival to be worthwhile it has to be about something that everyone of us in the family can relate to, I don't think that the Christian custom of blessing candles will do. To me the themes of purification and planning ring out.

What could work for us?

Purification: spring cleaning. It's not yet spring but the longer hours of daylight means that I'm yearning to get outdoors but the weather is still pretty bad. This is the perfect opportunity to deep clean the house ready for spring. Certainly I am feeling the need for this at the moment probably due to a combination of both cabin fever and wanting to simplify things after the overabundance of Christmas.

Planning/pledges: What a minefield this could be! The web page mentioned above suggests sitting around a fire discussing hopes for the year and turning these into concrete plans, perhaps noting them in a journal. I like this approach, removed from the overly optimistic New Years resolutions into a more down to earth achievable goal format. From a practical point of view this is a great time for planning the garden, especially the vegetable patch. Seeds make a great symbol for this festival.

The actual celebration: I don't know. Probably just a nice meal with candles and lots of seed based goodies. We will see.