February Commonplace Corner

Plus reflections on the month

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As we near the end of February, I thought I would share some personal reflections on the past month, as well as some quotes for the Seasons of Story monthly ‘Commonplace Corner’ feature (scroll down to bottom for quotes).

I announced my idea for the Commonplace Corner in January; you may read the post here if you missed it or need a refresh on this new monthly feature.

Reflections on February

February has been a chilly, rainy month in Yorkshire with very little sunshine, although the golden aconites gleaming amongst the snowdrops have offered some welcome sunny cheer. The snowdrops were out extremely early this year (I think we saw the first one on Christmas day!) and have bloomed in full force throughout February.

One of the biggest pleasures of this month has been going on walks through our local woodland to enjoy the blanket of snowdrops and aconites.

One of my favourite places to see snowdrops is Burton Agnes Hall, although it’s quite a long drive from us, so we haven’t been able to get to it this year. I’m sure we’ll return another year.

If snowdrops had all the limelight at the start of the month, the end of February is seeing the first budding daffodils appear, and the primroses are also starting to bloom. To our delight, two lambs appeared in the fields near us last week. I love hearing their bleating calls and seeing them frolic together. Spring is certainly on the way!

I’m finally able to wear fewer layers of woolies, and on sunny days it’s felt (almost) warm outside. The other evening, I suddenly realised it was 5:30pm and still quite light. What joy!

The days have followed steady rhythms of work and quiet evenings. Besides all my usual content related work, I’ve started my second book (which will publish in 2026), and I’m currently making my way through edits and tweaking layouts for my first book, publishing later this year.

When Mum and I have been able to relax in the evenings, we’ve thoroughly enjoyed watching the series Trying (available on Apple TV; it’s a British show so might also be on BritBox in the States? I’m not sure). Our lovely hairdresser, Julie, recommended it to us, and it’s hilarious as well as very sweet. I highly recommend it if you’re in the mood for something that isn’t gritty and dark.

Trying is about a London-based couple who decide to go through the adoption process, after failing to conceive. I wouldn’t usually be particularly interested in this topic, but the actors are so brilliant, and the show is so well written, that you get pulled in and come to really care about the whole cast of characters.

We’re rather late coming to it, as I think the show now has four seasons, so perhaps you already know about it, but if not, then it’s a good one to try (no pun intended!).

Otherwise, we also enjoyed Miss Austen (available on BBC iPlayer for those in the UK). Keeley Hawes is utterly fantastic in it!

Another highlight of the month was reading Hardy Women and interviewing Paula Byrne, which I’ll be sharing later this week. The Seasons of Story discussion of Under the Greenwood Tree was so much fun too (the replay will be shared this weekend for those who missed it).

Mum and I enjoyed some wonderful foodie highlights this month, including an incredible F&M hamper from a lovely friend (which Mum wrote about in this post), a Valentine dinner party we hosted for our neighbours and a batch of my best brownies ever whipped up one rainy weekend.

Finally, Seasons of Story turned 1 year old this month! Thank you so much for supporting my work. This time last year, I felt burned out, but launching Seasons of Story made all the difference to me, and it’s thanks to my paid subscribers that all my content will keep on coming. I’m loving writing more for you all too.

February Commonplace Corner

For our February Commonplace Corner, I’ve selected some quotes to share with you. These all caught my attention over the past few weeks, and I wrote them into my commonplace book.

I hope you enjoy my selection, and do please contribute a quote or some lines of poetry that you’ve loved this month in the comments. Let’s all inspire our commonplace books!

Genius is mainly an affair of energy. — Matthew Arnold

I have in my heart a vision of spring begun
In a sheltering wood, that feels the kiss of the sun...

— Robert Bridges

There were snowdrops, and the heart-shaped leaves of celandines, although none of the flowers yet, and pink small hyacinths and many-coloured St. Brigid anemones, for St Bride's Day, which we forget. All wet and fragrant, they were lovely beyond compare this dark cold morning.

— Alison Uttley

‘Tis my belief she’s a very good woman at bottom.’

‘She’s terrible deep then.’

— Thomas Hardy, from Under the Greenwood Tree

And now it’s over to you! Do you have a favourite quote from your reading this month to share in the comments below?

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