Thursday, January 1, 2009

Happy New Year and Blwyddyn Newydd Dda

This year I had very little planned for New Year's Day. It's mostly because I'm boring. As part of my goal to learn a bunch of Welsh this year, I thought I would partake in the old Welsh tradition of making a Calennig on New Years day.
Here's how you make it:
1. Get an apple and stick cloves on it in a decorative pattern of some sort.















2. Get 3 sticks (I use kabob sticks) and turn the apple into a tripod. Then cram a piece of shubbery into the top of the apple.




















3. Place on your window sill. The calennig will bring you good luck and you should keep on the window sill until you can't stand looking at how rotten it is. My guess is about six weeks, unless you're hard core then you should keep it until the 4th of July.

In Ye Olde Times you would make several calennigs in the morning and give them to visitors who have come to give you New Year's wishes. I'm too lazy for that so I just made one.