A fairy tree

Bright, breezy and cold but the catkins are out and dusting everything with pollen. This is a red hazel, reddish catkins and reddish leaves later. So far we've had five nuts from it. Hazels are full of magic - a fairy tree, a tree of wisdom and poetic inspiration, Did you know:

* hazel nuts powdered into incense are useful when making a love charm

* Nuts, twigs or bark can be used in an incense to sharpen mental powers

* twigs of hazel wood will protect a house from fire and lightning

* a hazelnut carried in its shell will ward off aches and pains caused by damp, cold weather.

A hectic but enjoyable day culminating in a high powered business meeting woth TJ - the spring order of cards is underway - a mixture of old favourites and new ones, and trying work out what would be popular but also adding a few quirky images as well. And then the maths!! Talk about trying to make resources stretch as far as possible! Still, I think we've achieved.