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Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Ostara!

Happy Ostara everyone!  Today is the Spring equinox where day and night are of equal length and tomorrow the days will be longer than the nights.  It's also a time of fertility and growth - that can be spiritual and physical.

Here are my decorations:
 
I have an Easter tree on which I have hung little eggs and some Easter chicks.  I have sewn little flower buttons in spirals on 2 corners of the cloth.  I have put a ladybird at each corner as they are normally seen about now, although I've only seen one this year, and that was 2 weeks ago.  The daffodil and the hare are common sights at this time of year, and for me, really do mean Spring has arrived.

About 3 weeks ago a tree in next door's garden has been budding - I can see the yellow shoots now.  The trees at the back of our garden only started showing new growth on the weekend.  I was cycling along a section of the river yesterday, and usually by this time of year the grass is covered in a blanket of bright, blooming daffodils.  Yesterday, the green stalks and leaves were up, but only about 10 daffs were blooming. Further along the crocuses were still bright, as they have been since Imbolc, but this year they were nearly all white, not the usual purple.  With the  patch of snowdrops nearby it made it feel quite wintery.

Last week we had snow again, both here in Norwich and on the continent.  Today it is merely raining.  I dearly, dearly hope that the weather picks up soon.  My determination that Imbolc marks the start of Spring has again meant nothing!

Tonight I shall cook a pearl barley soup and make spinach and thyme pasties.  I shall have celebratory food on the weekend as we have friends visiting for lunch - I expect that will be quiche, salad, perhaps some roasted veg, cheese and biscuits.  I shall also bake a lemon and poppy seed cake and honey and ginger biscuits for their visit.  I shall permit myself one day off Lent for that Sunday.

I see that today is also the UN International Day of Happiness.  As my contribution to this, and in honour of the sun regaining strength, have a listen to The Sun Has Got His Hat On:

Have a great day everybody!

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