Emily teamed up with community gardener Lorraine to host another 5 sessions of Wintering Well in January and February, offering outdoor companionship and creativity at the Ross of Mull Community Garden.

This year we explored winter light in all its forms. Our first session took a fresh look at seasons, inspired by this book. We started noticing how nature is responding to incremental changes in light and temperature (studying this is known as phenology) and thought about phases of the moon. A chilly start with a cold north wind resulting in numb toes despite hot tea and wrapping up in lots of layers! Each week we were accompanied by an appropriate poem or reflection, and started by reading this one from Nick Welsh: https://iona.org.uk/darkness-and-light/

Week two was about candlelight, we thought about how making simple lamps from rushes dipped in oil would have been a constant household task around here in times past, and had a go ourselves. Later that day the nature club children also tried out beeswax candle dipping. This week we read Jan Sutch Pickard’s Candlemas poem, here’s an extract:

In the dark days

under rain-heavy clouds, 

among broken branches,

on sodden earth,

the snowdrops light their candles.


A flame that cannot be put out

by darkness or gales or doubt...

Firelight was the theme of our third session, and we focused on the simple joy of cooking snacks at the firepit – chocolate bread and popcorn! Rosemerry Trommer’s poem In the Bleak Midwinter spoke to us of belonging.

In week four we thought about starlight and made lanterns with holes punched to show glowing constellations, helping us to remember the patterns and look for them in the night sky.

For our final session we took the Ross of Mull Community Transport minibus to Tiroran Community Forest. It was great to hear laughter drifting through the trees as we thought about how low winter sunlight can pick out details otherwise un-noticed, then tried to find as many colours as we could and later created our own collage from old magazines, giving each colour a creative name!

Participants on the walk and enjoying a chat around the fire, John testing out the softness of the moss!

Mary Oliver’s poem ‘When I am among the trees’ also references light.

Thanks to everyone who joined us this year!

Photos by Emily Wilkins, Lorraine McCafferty, Brik Halcrow and Martin Claxton.