Hello from UK.

[Ayana Owl]

Hi All,

I followed a link from Kerr Cuhullain's Oestre Newsletter, and thought I would join you.

I'm a 62 year old widow from Hampshire, England, soon moving to the coast in West Sussex. At present I live 15 miles from Stonehenge.

I am a Gardnerian HPS and Druid, although Coven trained, I prefer to work as a solitary.

I am a former nurse, and no longer very robust, with a rheumatic condition currently in process of being diagnosed.

Cheers, Ayana

[FTP]

Welcome to the website Ayana,

I hope you find some interesting reading here about Canadian Wiccan culture. It's nice to have a visitor from the other side of the pond. Here in south-western Ontario we've had some recent warm weather that has melted most of the remaining snow. A few early flowers such as snow drops have been peeking up through the ground.

Blessings,
FTP

[Ayana Owl]

Thank you for your welcome. Here in Britain we've had an unusually severe winter, and signs of Spring which we would usually see around Imbolc are only just becoming visible.

As usual, when Britain gets snow, the infastructure falls to pieces! We aren't geared up for it at all is Southern Britain, although we are roughly on the same latitude as you, we benefit from the warming effects of the Gulf Stream, which gives us (usually) a mild climate.

I'm looking forward to chatting with Canadian Pagans and exploring our differences and similarities.

Cheers, Ayana

[FTP]

One of the unfortunate sides of the weather warming up so quickly is that the maple trees are not producing a lot of sap for maple syrup making. On a visit out to a local sugar bush last weekend, the staff there said they were down to about 25% of the usual volume. Is tree tapping and syrup making at all common in the UK?

[Ayana Owl]

Unfortunately, we don't have sugar maples in the UK. Some folk tap Birch trees, but you have to be careful as Birches can bleed to death if the hole isn't resealed effectively.

I love maple syrup!