Book & Bramble - April & May 2024
A Letter from Caitlyn Paxson
Dear Reader,
In the blink of an eye, two months have passed. Here on the Island, we have gone from winter to (still rather chilly) summer, and the lilacs are just now beginning to bloom. In the time since I last wrote, I have worked and travelled and generally felt like catching up was something that might never happen. But now, looking out the window at my newly mulched garden beds, I’m finally beginning to believe that things are transpiring in exactly the time they ought.
Image Description: A view of Lake Michigan at sunset.
Have you heard of the term Hurkle Durkle? It’s an old Scottish phrase that means lingering in bed after you’re supposed to have gotten up. In this time of slightly manic activity, I am trying to embrace this concept whenever I can get away with it. I take inspiration from Bruce, his Grace, the Hurkliest Duke of Durkle:
Image Description: Bruce Hurkle-Durkling on a beautiful quilt made by my mother-in-law, Heather.
Interpreting:
Things are gearing up for a summer of museum programs and tours. I’ll be back at the Green Park Shipbuilding Museum for the ghost tour I created, The Haunting of Yeo House, and I’m also spending some time at Orwell Corner Historic Village helping with a garden project and running a new program that I’m very excited about (more on that anon). If you’re on the Island, I hope I’ll see you around!
Image Description: Chuck, my dinosaur co-worker at Orwell Corner.
Crafting:
Two months of newsletter means two crowns to share for Wreath of the Month! The first is April’s crown, from when I was visiting family in Michigan. It’s made of two very common garden plants that are invasive species in North America: English ivy and creeping myrtle. Their vine-like growing habits made them perfect for weaving directly into a crown with no wire needed, and I didn’t feel bad pulling them up, since they choke out native wildflowers.
Image Description: The Invader Queen.
Then in May, we joyfully begin the season where the garden’s bounty makes it easy to forage for materials right outside my door. This time I went with lilac, apple blossoms, elderberry flowers, and rhubarb flowers. I think you can tell from the photos how happy I was to have such an embarrassment of riches at my disposal for wreath-making!
Image Description: Queen
of the Hedgerows
Traveling:
As I mentioned, I traveled to Michigan to visit my family and to hold my Aunt Barbara’s memorial. It was a strange trip in many ways, full of grief and sorrow, but also joyful reconnecting with loved ones whom I see very seldom. There was also an element of feeling unmoored in time, as each place I journeyed to moved me further back into my own history.
Image Description: Greeting the ancestors.
This picture was taken by my cousin Maggie, who is an amazing writer and musician (this is her book, which examines the good that people can choose to do in bad times). We traveled to the cemetery where our grandparents are buried, and she took this picture of me there, which perfectly evokes the experience of the whole trip.
Musing:
In less than a week, I will have my birthday and turn 41. Last year’s birthday felt more momentous – that crossing over out of “youth” and into what comes next. This year, I feel very at peace with the passage of time. Maybe it’s because of my recent journey into the past, but I’m pretty certain it has more to do with an incredibly exciting professional milestone that I hope to be able to share with you very soon. In the meantime, please enjoy this horticultural milestone: our first asparagus harvest! It takes three years for asparagus plants to mature enough that you can harvest from them, and we’re finally there.
Image Description: Asparagus from the garden!
Until next time, wishing you the best books and the most berry-full brambles,
Caitlyn
(All opinions expressed in this newsletter are my own and do not represent my employer.)
I write this from the traditional unceded territory known as Mi’kma’ki. Two books by Indigenous authors that I really enjoyed recently are To Shape a Dragon’s Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose and Into the Bright Open by Cherie Dimaline.