The Idler

Midsummer Madness

Thank you to Matt Wingett for pointing out my error in assigning Midsummer Day to the 21st of June (see Country Diary 96, below). In fact, tradition places Midsummer Day on 24 June, while 21 June is the summer solstice. 24 June is also the principal feast day of St John the Baptist. John was imprisoned by Herod Antipas, who John had condemned for marrying his brother’s wife. Herod had John beheaded at the request of his step-daughter Salome: ‘she, being instructed of her mother, said, Give me here John Baptist’s head in a charger’ (Matthew 14.8). Anyway, this means that I still have time to organize a feast for Midsummer’s Eve. The problem is that no one will come, because it coincides with the blasted football. Football ruins everything, or follibus ludere omnia perdit, as Virgil might have put it. Maybe I will just read A Midsummer Night’s Dream instead. The good thing is that our first day at Glastonbury will be Midsummer Day, by custom the time when the good people of Albion would go completely mental. TH

Country Diary 96

TODAY IS Midsummer’s Day, the summer solstice. Really I should have held a Midsummer’s Eve party last night, and put on a Mummer’s Play. That was the pre-Reformation custom. We modern people still like to celebrate this time of year, but generally our revels are in the commodified and contained form known as music festivals. They’re a lot of better than nothing, though, and in fact I am off with the family to the Glastonbury Festival of the Performing Arts on Thursday.

Well, the glorious weather has been doing wonders in the vegetable patch which, though I say so myself, is the best it has ever been. I’d say it is positively Edenic. I have just been to visit it with my tape measure and proudly bring you the following progress report: (more…)

The Real Seed Catalogue

This is a big-up for the Real Seed Catalogue in Wales. I bought loads of vegetable seeds from them this year, and they have all done fantastically well. The Real Seed Catalogue people also encourage seed-saving, which has got to be a good idea, and point you to all sorts of valuable resources, whether it’s good books, good techniques or good tools. Here is their latest newsletter.

Latin Tea Towels

Following my article about Latin teaching which appeared in a recent issue of The Lady, I have received numerous requests about the Latin grammar tea towels which I mentioned in the piece. These fantastic items, which elegantly combine beauty and utility, are produced by Latin teacher Mrs Barbara MacSweeney, and are on sale for just £5. Go to the Idler home page here or the Idler Shop, here. TH