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e often overcast so that daylight feels to be at a very low wattage. This is not a country for people who are prone to SAD (Seasonal Affected Disorder). If the Irish are reputed to be a melancholy race then it is all down to longitude and latitude.
It's particularly important to haul yourself out to walk on dry days and soak up what rays we get. It is during these walks close to the High Days that I begin to assemble nature's greenings for wreaths.
Most people use wire coat hangers to make a frame for the wreath. I have the option of going outdoors and cutting an appropriate length of willow, or sally as it's called in Ireland. Given our boggy land willow is rampant; it also is nature's way of draining soggy land. The incredibly flexible sally can be bent into shape and secured with a bit of raffia.
This is spruce plantation country so evergreen is plentiful. So is holly and ivy. I prefer to leave the holly berries for the birds. A painted hazel nut makes a handy stand-in. The absolutely Irish flourish to any holiday wreath, however, is gorse.
Gorse, or furze, sometimes blooms as early as December although some years we may not see it until after the holiday is over. Its flower is an absolutely brilliant gold colour. Out on storm riven moorland the winter gorse is like a beacon telling us that spring is coming soon.
It's a shout of joy, nature's reminder of Light in the world.
Last year my neighbour and I got together to make our Yule wreaths.
She had hay from her own field to make the shapes. I had the willow for the frame. We both had a collection evergreens collected from our own townlands, the Irish name for our country localities flung outside the boundaries of village or town.
The gorse flower, carefully pruned to avoid the needle sharp stickles, filled the shed with its characteristic scent that is a blend of vanilla and coconut. We added the spruce and holly and ivy. But the gorse flowers were the showstoppers. Their golden flowers, not traditional for wreaths, made a real splash of light during the overcast mid-winter days.
Along with the candles lit in our windows on Christmas Eve, the gorse on the door wreath sent out the message, “The Light has returned!"
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