Pine Marten Post #11
Hello lovely person!
May marvels for you include; sunny salad, spellbinding scents, fragrant foliage, cappuccino chocolate, and naked dancing by firelight
Gardening tips for May
I know I’ve mentioned sowing nasturtium seeds before, but I’m not apologising for that. They are, quite simply, the easiest seeds to grow. And will happily flower on a sunny windowsill——no garden required.
You’ve still got plenty of time to grow wee plants from seed in May, no problem.
I buy mine from Chiltern’s Seeds, and the nasturtium variety I’m growing this year is Alaska.
Ooooh——we could do a plantalong! Let me know if you fancy it. All you’ll need is a pot with drainage holes, a few handfuls of compost and some seeds.
Would you like to have a go?
Fragrant musings from the library of scent: Tolu by Ormonde Jayne
Imagine…
You’re a high priestess, blissfully living in an enchanted cave, deep in a forgotten forest, far away from the mundanity of the rest of the world.
Swooping arms of inky pine hide the entrance to your sanctuary, holding you and your companions safely within.
Reclining on softly rustling bronze bracken, your fingertips softly caress the rich amber of your supple velvet cloak, wrapped snugly around your proud figure.
Delicate threads of the deepest green silk trace intricate patterns on the sleeves, glinting and glimmering in the flickering flames of an abundant wood fire, as you gesture politely to a nearby wood sprite.
They eagerly hand you a glittering glass of buttered rum, ladled from a copper cauldron suspended over the glowing flames. You breathe the heady aroma, generous with warm clove and nutmeg.
Topaz light scatters across the low roof of the ancient cave as you tilt the fragrant liquid gently in your glass, toasting your coven.
The golden liquid glimmers.
You take a slow sip.
And savour.
Nature notes for May
Twining and winding, supple honeysuckle starts to
scramble through unfurling beech leaves, glinting and shimmering in the soft evening light.
Fresh, sappy green scents rise from warm leaves——fairy cup bluebells dangle and sway in the breeze, while a song thrush
bellows its song into the woods.
Creamily soft, like curds in a dairy, hawthorn blossom blankets the hedges as cow parsley gaily foams in the verges.
Bright light scattering.
Dazzling.
Down at the beach, children chatter and splash. Released from hot, sweaty uniform, they shriek with delight at the icy splashing waves.
The ice-cream seller sighs with relief at the patiently snaking queue to their van. Yes, they saw that TikTok and
wondered.
High above, in the eye-achingly bright cornflower sky, a
gannet ignores us, as well they might, skims the puckering sea, soars high up, fold its wings and
drops like an icicle plummeting at the
end of winter.
Blissful bean-to-bar chocolate: Simon Coll 60% cacao cappuccino milk chocolate
⭐ Silky smooth to the touch—very glossy too
⭐ Richly creamy coffee smell, very appealing and enticing
⭐ Full-bodied coffee blasts through the deeply flavoured high cocoa milk chocolate. You can feel the slightly grainy texture of the ground coffee as the chocolate melts over your tongue.
An excellent afternoon pick-me-up from this fabulous chocolatier; making outstanding chocolate for over 180 years in Barcelona. Yet another reason to visit that magnificent city. Have you been?
Random Scottish fact: Beltane Fire Festival, Edinburgh
Beltane - roughly translated as ‘bright fire’ - is an ancient Celtic festival that celebrates the return of summer. Back in the day, villagers would light fires outside on the last day of April, then spend the night dancing around and leaping across them, banishing the darkness and welcoming the longer, warmer days of summer.
The fire festival in Edinburgh has been going since 1988 and is an incredibly powerful experience. As the light fades from the sky, the centuries seem to peel back and it feels as if you could well be witnessing something that has - in spirit at least - stayed much the same for generations. Flames flicker, sweaty painted bodies writhe, drums beat rhythmically—intoxicating.
Here’s a wee video.
On the blog and LinkedIn:
🧻 What do you do with your loo roll inners?
💰Gardening on a budget? Me too. Here are some ideas to make your money go further.
🌷 Magnificent compost heap tulip
Exciting new indie perfume house launch: Mythologia
As you know, I play around with perfumes, writing wee narratives that come to me as I’m smelling them.
But there’s simply no point doing that with Cat’s incredible creations.
Her perfumes unfold moment by moment as you read her scent stories and smell them opening up on your skin.
I’ve never experienced fragrances that match so exactly the perfumer’s description.
Both perfumes are, quite literally, transporting.
Thanks for being here——I love writing this newsletter for you!
I'd love to hear about what sensory experiences bring you joy.
Feel free to reply to this email, or you can message me on Instagram or LinkedIn.