Beating the February Flats & Curing Tulip Droop

A February round-up

Hi there Coddiwomplers!

And finally March is here! It’s such a delight to see the signs of spring poking through the cold earth and sprinkling our surroundings with colour after the long dreary days of February.

Am I the only one who finds February more difficult than January? This year the annual dose of what I call my “February Flats” has felt more intense and felt like they dragged on and on and on. Like most of us, I grew fed up with feeling lethargic and cold all the time.

However, there have been moments that have lifted my spirits and I’ve even discovered a cure for “Tulip Droop”; more on that later.

I felt so impatient for spring at the beginning of the month, there were tantalising green shoots in the ground, snowdrops were dancing in the hedgerows and the birds started to sing. But there was no sunshine! Even the festival of Imbolc, marking the mid-point between the winter solstic and the spring equinox didn’t quite filter through to uplift me this year.

One of my highlights was catching up with a relatively new friend to me who is a Bowen Therapist, a fellow artist, a fellow oneling and also enjoys nature and wildlife. We swapped wellbeing treatments (I gave her a Reiki treatment) and enjoyed a lovely chat. I can’t really explain what Bowen Therapy is, all I can tell you is that it’s very relaxing and works wonders with aches and pains. If you’re local to the Kent/East Sussex borders please do look up Lisa Kossuth, Bowen Therapy, Health & Wellbeing Coaching. You can also follow her arty exploits here on Instagram.

I also enrolled in a joyful online course with Beth Kempton to learn more about Substack, and I’m looking forward to seeing how this space develops over time. It’s already helping me to develop my writing skills as I’ve begun to interact more with other writers. It’s a very friendly space to be part of.

Following my sunshine includes my writing and my art, I create because I enjoy it and not for outside praise, however I was chuffed to bits when I received two pieces of feedback:

“I loved your last post, your writing is so calming and engaging.” (LL)

And

“I can always imagine where you are from your writing. It’s as though I’m there with you.” (JA)

I love that, that’s exactly what I’m striving to achieve! I started to wonder whether it’s my ego talking: wanting to be seen and heard. There’s probably an element of that, but for me it’s the feeling of community that’s important to me as it’s the connection and feeling less isolated, and if I can inspire someone else to follow their sunshine along the way, then that’s wonderful.

We managed to enjoy some days out and a few days away, which is always good for the soul and source for a giggle. I never realised it was possible to (almost) get thrown out of a National Trust property while spending time with three Septeganarians! I’m exaggerating slightly, but we were at some local gardens and spotted an open gate to wander through. A few minutes later a very nice gardener asked us if we were visitors. When we said “yes”, she very calmly and politely advised us that this particular part of the garden was private and we shouldn’t be there! We explained that the gate was open and we hadn’t seen any “PRIVATE” signs and made our way out, giggling away like naughty school kids.

Our three night trip to Devon was a perfect antidote to the February Flats, we enjoyed long walks and blue skies. I’ve written a blog recording our exploits, which I’ve linked here if you’d like to escape to Totnes, Teignmouth and Castle Drogo without having to leave your sofa. Just grab a cup of your favourite beverage and unwind.

Now then, about this remedy for “tulip droop”. We all do it don’t we, we purchase a colourful bunch of fresh tulips only to discover that they flop after a couple of days. Well, did you know that if you place a 2p piece in the bottom of the vase they won’t do it? It also works to revive a past-their-sellby-date bunch that’s already drooping when you buy them. I wish I could remember where I read it so that I could credit them, but I’m afraid I can’t!

Arty moments were a bit sporadic last month, however I enjoyed messing about with watercolour and black pen to create very quick, 20-30 second sketches of different birds. Some of them turned out looking rather satanic while others were more pleasing to the eye!

Well I think that’s about all from me this month. I’m looking forward to more sunny days ahead. If you’ve reached it to the end I’m so grateful, thank you! (please let me know by leaving the word “droop” in the Comments!) I love to hear from you and hear how you’re doing so please feel free to drop me a Comment below or a message.

In the meantime, keep following your sunshine and I look forward to connecting with you here again next month.

Wxx

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