Lady Day

Happy New Year! At least, it would have been New Year's until 1752. Today is Lady Day, one of the four traditional quarter days in Britain (the other three are Midsummer Day, Michaelmas, and Christmas), when rents and rates were due. On the Christian calendar, it's officially the Feast of the Annunciation, nine months before Christmas.

I kind of like the idea of starting the year when spring rolls around, instead of right before the dead of winter.