Salon No. 1: The Kettle Is On

Dear friend,

Welcome to the very first letter from the Salon. If you are reading this, you have pulled up a chair, and I am so glad you have.

I want to begin by telling you what this is, and what it is not. The Salon is where I gather the women who would like Haus Hexe to arrive in their inbox now and then. Thoughts, essays, seasonal observations, and news of new things taking shape here. It is free. It is deliberately not a sales funnel disguised as friendship. When I have something to offer you, I will tell you plainly, and you can ignore it just as plainly.

Mostly, though, it is a letter. The kind I would write to a friend if I had more time and better handwriting.

From the kitchen table

It is the middle of June as I write this. The kitchen door is propped open with a flat iron that has been doing this job for longer than I have lived here. The elder in the lane is just coming into flower, and the whole house smells faintly of it in the evenings. Lenisa has discovered that the stone floor by the back door stays cool all afternoon and has taken up residence there with the air of a duchess on a chaise longue.

I have been thinking a great deal about beginnings. Starting something like Haus Hexe is a little like moving into a new house. You carry in the boxes. You do not know yet which room will become your favourite. You stand in the doorway, a bit overwhelmed, and wonder where to put the kettle.

So I have started with the kettle. It is on. The rest will unpack itself in time.

What I have been reading and noticing

• I have written about the threshold, and the way our front doors tell the truth long before we step inside. Several of you have written to tell me you went outside and looked at your doorstep with fresh eyes. One of you has painted her door. I am very proud.
• The solstice is on its way. I will be writing about the house at full light, and why midsummer is not always the joyful season we are told it should be.
• I have been rereading an old book of European household folk customs, and I am full of half-forgotten rituals for thresholds, hearths and the turning year. More on those soon.

A small question for you

Which room in your house do you love most, and why? Not the one that looks best. The one where you feel most yourself. Reply if you like. I read every letter, even if it takes me a while to answer.

Until next time, look after yourself, and look after your warm spots.

With love from the kitchen,
Ramona