Sea Women, Witchy Books and Elderflowers
Things You'll Love (v.33)
Hi, I’m Monica. Things You’ll Love is where I share what I’m collecting: books, music, recipes, slow rituals, and minor wonders. Think of it as my kitchen table. You’re always welcome here.
Hey everyone!
Happy Friday, folks! Here’s the latest collection of curiosities and wonders.
What are you seeing or finding out in the world that’s delighting you?
Something cool to see
I don’t remember how this article caught my attention, but women who are practicing their cultural craft while fighting for the environment as well?
Sounds pretty cool to me.
The documentary “The Last of the Sea Women,” out Friday on Apple TV+, explores the lives of a group of these “real-life mermaids,” as the haenyeo are known, as they strive to protect their livelihood and ancestral craft from a range of external forces.
The divers harvest abalone, sea urchins and more by venturing into dark waters without the aid of oxygen tanks or professional diving equipment, instead using instruments like nets and hoes.
In the 1960s, the haenyeo numbered in the 30,000s.
Despite being included in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list, today they hover around 3,200 today.
Something witchy to read
Sometimes Instagram serves up things that take me down the best of rabbit holes, and this is one of them!
As someone who publishes witch notebooks, when my friend Katherine shared this on IG, I had to see if I could find it for y’all (and for myself!).
The reel, as do many things social media, makes it seem pretty easy to track down, but that wasn’t actually the case. It took a bit of searching, but I finally found it here.
There are nearly 200 items in the collection; each one is named and photographed, and in each record you can also find a link to the digitized version of the full text, if it is currently available.
Here are some samples of what you might find:
Something to make
If you have elderberry bushes in your neck of the woods, I highly recommend that you try making elderflower cordial (or its elderberry sibling when the season is right!)
It’s a lot of work. You start with removing the flowers from the stems.
And then you end up with something like this sorted bowl full of tiny magical flowers.
Which you leave in a simple syrup for several days
and then strain out the flowers:
and you’re left with this:
The other option is to just pop the flowers into a jar and then add your favorite alcohol - vodka, grain alcohol, gin. This will allow you to make a tincture that you can use in 6-8 weeks, or a couple months, as you prefer!
Something to listen to
When I was growing up, my dad loved to listen to classical music, and as a flutist, I played a lot of classical music.
So, when this came across my Instagram feed, I knew I had to share it here. I took a deep dive into their IG and grabbed two of my favorites (the first is what brought me to their page!)
Alanna calls the music “modern classical music” and I like that name. It reminds me of some of the soundtrack composers like John Williams, Hans Zimmer, Bear McCreary, and Ramin Djawadi (realizing these were all men took me down a rabbit hole to find this list of 15 women composers).
A good friend who’s very knowledgeable about soundtrack composers said Hildur Guðnadóttir should definitely be on the list.
Wildcard — something that made me smile
It’s fitting to you that I’m writing this to you on my birthday (a week before it goes out, more or less), because this reel is ALL about birthdays, as you’ll see.
That’s it for me for this week! Also, apologies - we had to postpone last week’s live with Alexis due to my laptop dying, but we’ll reschedule it soon!
Which of today’s delights was your favorite? Tell me below!
~M
If this little collection of things brought you a moment of joy, consider subscribing — free or paid. Paid support helps me keep this table set and the pantry stocked. Either way, I’m glad you’re here.