Hibernaculum

 

A few days ago my "suggested reading" from Amazon included included "A Winter Dictionary" by Paul Anthony Jones.  I had a quick look and was hooked!  It's full of obscure words often with their origins in English Dialect, and all so descriptive.  (I found "Daft Days", which I wrote about here, in this book.)

I want a "hibernaculum"!  It's somewhere to retreat to during the long winter months.  It was used to describe soldiers' winter quarters, or a place for over-wintering plants, or the lair of a wintering animal.

In it I can "hiemate", which is a less sleepy activity than hibernation.  My home is "howffy": in other words it is cosy and comfortable and snug and I can "moble" or dress in multiple layers of clothing.

Anyone care to join me?

Happy New Year!

The one job I always make sure I have done when I go to bed on New Year's Eve is empty the bins.  

For me it's about drawing a line under the sad or regretful bits of the old year.  This year may or may not be better but I am (mentally) starting with a clean slate.  Tennyson, the great poet from my county, wrote, "Hope Smiles from the threshold of the year to come, whispering ‘It will be happier;’"  I've been pretty happy in 2024.  I hope 2025 will be even happier and I hope it's pretty good for you, too.