The November Book of Days

The BrocanteHome Book of Days is a perpetual calendar for those of us who believe ordinary life deserves better ceremonies.

November begins with The November Threshold and ends with the Closing of the November House. Between them, we’ll take the First Fog Walk, write a letter in brown ink, polish the brass, conduct a trial of the household umbrellas, borrow a poem, go deliberately to bed early and listen to one aria in the dark.

There will be treacle. There will be matches. There may be one good glove whose companion has gone to live a mysterious life elsewhere.

It’s whimsical, occasionally ridiculous and more serious than it first appears.

Ritual gives shape to time. A tiny ceremony interrupts the administrative blur and reminds us that we were here for our own lives. The Book of Days offers one small observance for every day of the month, with seasonal noticing, domestic folklore, commonplace prompts, private pleasures and permission to celebrate things the official calendar has carelessly overlooked.

Some traditions take five minutes. Others might occupy a long, lamplit afternoon. None require achievement, obedience or the pretence that November is secretly July.

Inside the November edition

• Thirty original BrocanteHome traditions, one for every day
• Seasonal rituals, household ceremonies and gloriously unnecessary feast days
• Commonplace-book prompts and playful domestic decrees
• Also Observed in November, a curious calendar of genuine holidays, commemorations and cultural observances
• A November Household Record for your own notes and memories
• A perpetual month-at-a-glance index
• Cut-out pocket charms, labels and seasonal ephemera
• Twenty-five beautifully illustrated A4 pages

How to use it

Print the whole book or choose only the pages you fancy. Keep it beside your calendar, copy the traditions into your diary or record what happens in your commonplace book.

You can observe every day, choose one tradition each week or merely enjoy reading about a parallel November in which houses possess compasses, umbrellas must answer for their crimes and an early night constitutes a small domestic rebellion.

Move the dates. Alter the rituals. Ignore anything that doesn’t suit you.

This is a printable digital edition supplied as a 25-page A4 PDF. No physical product will be posted.

Introductory price: $5.00

Download it, print it and allow November to become a little quieter, stranger and more ceremonious.