6th April - Day 27 - 'Ne'er cast a heated sock until petunias are in a window box'

It was very frosty and cold when I got up this morning and so the heated socks needed to be found again before venturing out. So having got everything, lock, sock and saddle, I set off in the bright sunshine to begin a new week at the Centre (I don’t know about everyone else but Bank Holidays get me very confused as to what day it actually is).

I know you are probably waiting for me to talk about the origin of ‘casting a clout’ but I know this will probably start a Derbyshire v Yorkshire dispute about whether it refers to the plant (Hawthorn) or the month of May. Given I have to cross the border twice a day, live in one and was born in the other, such matters are best left alone.

What I hadn’t realised, however, were the past associations with Hawthorn (May). Apparently, the blossom was not brought into homes as it was believed that this would result in illness and death. It was also thought that hawthorn blossom smelled like the Great Plague. What I find fascinating is that there is often some scientific explanation behind many of these myths. Botanists learned that the chemical trimethylamine, found in hawthorn blossom, is also one of the first chemicals formed in decaying animal tissue, so it is not surprising that it is often associated with death.

Anyway not wanting to start the week on a depressing note, I spent most of the journey here thinking of a new saying about ‘casting a sock’, which of course had to include a plant and even more challenging, also had to end in a word that rhymed with ‘sock’. I know it’s not brilliant…. but hopefully I’ve not made myself a laughing sock.