Easter/Ostara/Spring Equinox

I didn't mange to get a post up for Ostara in March, chiefly because life got really hectic, then I was away for 2 weeks, and am only just now getting time to breathe.

So Happy Ostara and Happy Easter everybody!  In the UK we have a long bank holiday weekend - 4 days off! - and I am spending it seeing friends, catching up chores and hopefully cooking some good meals.  I would normally make it a point to eat eggs at this time of year, but as I'm only allowed well done eggs - basically hard boiled - I am losing my enthusiasm for them.  On the other hand, since the boyfriend described me as being all boobs and belly last week, I am feeling particularly fecund!

I hope everyone has a great weekend. Here is a picture of this year's Easter Tree:

We will eat the chocolate bunnies on Sunday.  I feel like there's a lot I haven't done with respect to celebrating the festivals over the last year.  This makes me sad, as I think it's important to take time out to consider and ruminate on spiritual stuff.  I must rectify this.

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!

Ostara!

Today is Ostara - the Spring equinox.  Usually on these days I write a little blurb about the festival and how I feel about it.  I remember last year I felt kind of odd around this time, and I wasn't entirely happy with my decorations.  They didn't feel right.  I wonder if it was because during my reading around the day nothing really jumped out at me.  Maybe it is because over the Spring/Summer months it seems like the festivals seem to come really thick and fast - Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Lithia and Lughnasa all seem to occur within a few weeks of each other.

Ostara is a Spring festival, by this point we are in full Spring mode.  But for me, Spring starts at Imbolc, and that makes me far far happier because I really dislike the cold winter months.  Having said that, it is now much lighter in the evenings and I get to walk home along the river and admire all the lovely daffodils.  That makes me smile.  I know that March is the time of the hare (native to the British isles, unlike the rabbit), but I so rarely get out into the countryside proper I haven't seen one in years.  This makes me sad.

Ostara is supposedly a day of balance - when the night and day are usually, but not always, of equal lengths, but I don't feel balanced, not like I do at the Autumn equinox.

Something about Ostara just doesn't agree with me, and I haven't worked out what it is.  Nonetheless, I am still celebrating, because everyone likes a celebration (I have another reason as well, but we'll get to that later!)  As I write this during Monday day I am planning what we are going to eat tonight.  On Sunday night I made rhubarb crumble so that will be pudding.  For mains I shall make pea and lemon risotto, braised leeks for the boyfriend, possibly quiche or possibly just hardboiled eggs (although some chickens lay in winter, most give up during the dark months and start laying eggs again around this time, eggs are also a traditional symbol of life and rebirth), beetroot dipped in salt, purple sprouting broccoli, grated carrot, fennel and green leaf salad.  Perhaps with a balsamic vinegar and olive oil dressing.  Possibly we'll start with cheese on biscuits.  We are going out tomorrow night, hence the celebratory dinner tonight.



As for other reasons to celebrate, one of my friends got married on Saturday and put on a fabulous day.  That is reason enough, but then on Sunday my sister gave birth to her first child!  It's a girl child, she's 2 weeks early but all are well.  I haven't seen her yet and won't do until Easter. L  I have seen photos and she looks tiny!  5lb 13oz - I think that's reasonable for a fresh child, especially considering my sister is tiny.  But the important thing is my sister and the kid are healthy and all went well.

Now that's a good reason to celebrate :D

Ostara

Today is Ostara - the Spring equinox.  The day and the night are of equal length and as of tomorrow the days are longer than the nights.  Normally, I would everyone a happy Ostara, but it seems a little crass to do so now, given what's happening in Japan.  Ostara is a celebration of spring and life and breeding and the true end of Winter.  I have difficulty celebrating this in public when thousands have just died.

Yes yes, I know in theory that death isn't the end and it's all a great wheel of life blah blah blah, but I somehow think that's scant comfort when whole communities have been wiped out and those that did survive have lost everything.

So instead, I shall point you towards this blog post titled Some Perspective On The Japan Earthquake where the write rpoint sout that it coudl have been a lot worse, and by and large, the safety processes and protocols put in place to deal with this sort of thing worked well and as planned.  For that we can be thankful.  I also recommend the BBC news website for reasoned, clear and responsible reporting on the nuclear plant.

In British news, it's anti street harassment day today.  There's a post about it on the F Word here.