First day of Summer, April 14th.

 

First day of Summer.
April 14th is the first mark on the summer side of Primstaven.

Catholic:
Tiburtius and Valerianus day.
T & V were, according to legend, brothers that martyred in Rome in year 230.

Old tradition :
This was the day for servants/workers to leave the household.
From now on it was a good time to sow. ( depending on the location, of course)
Those who had livestock should not eat anything containing meat this day, nor should those who would be hearding the animals during summer. If they did, Bears and Wolves would get control over the animals during the season. Now it was time to tie bells onto the Cattles too, to prepare them to stay outdoors. One should also make cheese and butter to secure an early spring.
If it was snowing or a mix of rain and snow this day, it would still come snow nine times before spring. If the weather was good this day, it promised good for the Summer.

Engraved sign in Primstaven :
A tree or a bush, to symbolize the summertime.

This is the sign engraved in my stick. You should know that the signs can be different, depending on who made it and their location in our country.

My stick is a true copy of an old one. The original one is dated 1707, and is now part of the Norwegian Folk Museum's collections. I don't know who made my stick or when it was made. I guess it's 50/60 years old. Handyman bought it for me as a gift for my birthday.

Above is my interpretation of the mark. I was so pleased on how it turned out until it dawned on me it looks more like the burning bush described in the bible. I tried to give it a modern expression. I love how the inside of the branches and the leaves are spring green. Shows that something is happening even if it doesn't show much in nature yet. This was my first stamp in use. I'm so pleased to be able to combine stampmaking and the work with primstaven, but not sure I will make a stamps for each mark though.
Below is the one which will be more correct according to the time of year. It even looks like a couple of birds are sitting in the treetop.

I hope you've enjoyed reading, because there's alot more to come. Primstaven covers a whole year, you know.