Sunday 2nd February

Hello friends and happy Imbolc.

Yesterday marked the midway point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox, which means we really are out of the darkness of winter and the light is returning.

We have had storm after storm here and the land is absolutely saturated, with pools of water everywhere. The natterjack toads are extremely happy about this and their rasping call is the current background track as I write these Sundaze pages, along with the hooting owl that lives in the forest behind us.

I am finding a lot of solace in nature at the moment, either bringing it inside with bulbs and houseplants, or paying a lot of attention to the wildlife. I was finally able to get into my garden after all the rain and rescued some broad bean flowers that had snapped. I think broad beans are so underrated. They’re beautiful, smell incredible, and are so tasty (I love to double peel them and use their beautiful little green pods in my instant noodles, delicious!).

This week has felt like a long one, with a lot of feeling stuck and hitting brick walls with all my plans. I think the universe is constantly reminding me to slow the heck down. So today I took myself off to sit under the big old cork oak and draw some lines in my sketchbook. Of course, Joǎo came to keep me company. He loves it under the cork oak and constantly boops my hand whenever I go and sit there (not super helpful when I’m trying to draw but super cute).

It reminded me that drawing isn’t always about producing an end result, but is a practice to turn to when I need grounding and to get away from scrolling my phone. One of my favourite things to do is draw a big swirl on the page and then fill it with patterns. This is one of the prompts in my little digital booklet Ways to be Calm, which is available in the shop, and has four simple drawing prompts if you’re seeking some calm too. Don’t worry, you don’t need to be good at drawing to enjoy it :)

Wishing you many moments of calm as we roll into February. Hang in there, spring is coming.

So much Love,

Carissa

xx