The first really cold January for several years has turned my mind to weather sayings:
“If Candlemas be fine and clear
We’ll have two winters in one year.”
“February brings the rain that,
Thaws the frozen lake again.” [Sara Coleridge]
“February fill-dyke” [everyone in Lincolnshire, where I grew up, knew this one]
Or, more cheerfully, Miss Read, advocating a walk on 1st February to see the first signs of spring – bulbs and buds in due season. Daffodils, like Easter Eggs, were in the shops almost before Christmas was over and they are, for me, the most spring-like of flowers and with Lent not starting till 25th February I can indulge my passion for them for weeks!
In the parish we are looking ahead this month to
Fairtrade fortnight – Fairtrade isn’t as straightforward as it seems and much has been written and said lately on both sides. Climate issues enter the debate but seem mostly to be on the side of the growers. Did you know, for instance, that the climate maybe suffers less from flowers imported by ship from Kenya than flown in from Holland? Or that eating Chilean apples [shipped again] when ours are out of season may do less damage than refrigerating English apples through the year. We’ll be celebrating Fairtrade fortnight – 23rd February to 8th March – with our stall on 1st March and more information further on in this issue may help you make difficult decisions about what you buy;
Lent – Ash Wednesday is 25th February and information about the ecumenical Lent groups and the material [written by Father Stephen] will be available soon. There’s a selection of Book Reviews for lenten reading further on in this issue – The Archbishop’s recommendation, C S Lewis films, debtbusting and pilgrimage, something uppermost in parish minds this year as Mother Sarah has noted in her letter on page 1, all feature;
The Spring Fair – those of us old enough to remember when we always had the fair in the Spring [though May, not quite as early as April] are excited that the proposed refurbishment of the Crypt has enabled us to choose this earlier date – 25th April. Read all about it on page 16;
Money raised at the Spring Fair goes entirely to charity so when we plan the Refurbishing of the Crypt we have to think about how to raise the moeny for that separately. In this issue Peter Ginnings’ writes about the plans and Maggie Willmer about our Voluntary Rate fund-raising day on 28th February when you are all invited to help – money raised by the Voluntary Rate goes to the care of the building;
The Year At-A-Glance – a guide to significant events for 2009 – all of which will be explained as their time comes. For the moment, though, get your diaries out and write them in. [page 15]
On 21st February we celebrate the lives of Martindale and Barbara Sidwell with a concert given by Paul Robinson, a regular member of our choir and Julian Perkins, harpsichord player. The programme and ticket details can be found on pages 13 and 14.
And finally, another reminder about the Spring Fair : a request for..
Jam jars
Inigo Woolf would be delighted to receive jam jars at the vestry as he is busy making marmalade for the Spring Fair.
February
Judy East