A 'day off'..sort of...

Well, I didn't get to prepping the garden bed yesterday, but got quite a few other things done. Finally got Anna's sewing room situated, made some candles (some for ritual use, some for just the pleasure of having a nicely scented candle lit), and decided I was tired of marking out a circle to hold a ritual in every single time...so I marked out and consecrated a permanent one in the yard.

As Anna and I make our trips out into the woods, we intend on picking up some stones here and there to mark the perimeter with. Right now it's merely some rope staked down, some bricks to set candles on in the quarters, and a chunk of stone in the middle. But, hey, it's a start.

Signs of life

Well, it's now time to get out and actually prep the garden bed, as we have our first shoots sprouting in the starter beds, sooner than expected of course. The canteloupe and the lavendar are the first to sprout, I'm sure the mint and parsley will not be far behind. They all seem eager to grow, I've seen it take several weeks before for canteloupe to sprout. Brid must've definitely been paying attention to our ritual! I intend to thank her later today when I'm out working the soil.

Out is In...(outside is indoors, that is)

We went and got a a couple of starter flats for some of our garden seeds today. With fun, love, and meticulous care, we've now got Italian Parsley, Sage, Spearmint, Lavendar, and Canteloupe (actually musk melon) seeds planted in the starters, watered, and a blessing said over them for bountiful growth. I've seen spearmint plants many times, but never knew their seeds were so fine! We probably sewed way too many in each starter! The herbs, once the weather turns and they're ready for transplant, are going to be placed in some hanging baskets on our porch. The Melons will join the string beans and corn in the rest of the garden plot.

Imbolc and a late winter's day

Friday;
Imbolc was quiet, just Anna and myself. We did a small ritual at our indoor altar, blessing some seeds that we're going to make a garden with when the weather is right. Had taken some corn husks prior and made a "corn doll" to symbolize the Cailleach that we're going to place in the garden patch, and constructed a Bridget's Cross to have on the altar as well. Left some of my usual homemade oat scones out at the "well" (actually just a small circle of bricks, but it serves the purpose).

Saturday;
(my only day off work)
We decided to take a drive out to the woods, both to refresh our own spirits and to let our Jack Russell get some outdoor time. (Jack Russell Terriers=caged lightning). It was wonderful to see how much snow the Rim Area had received during that last storm, at least a foot if not more (found out the hard way as I tried to walk across a spot and sunk rather deep). Quite typical for this time of year, it usually has 1 to 4 feet of snow (last time with 4 foot was about nine years ago, though). It'll really help the drought conditions and hopefully stay off the dryness until the spring rains roll in.

So beautiful, so peaceful. Sunlight from among the trees glinting off the snow, ice crystals sending out their radiance in little rainbow dots here and there. Most of the snow had neither man nor animal tracks, although we did see PLENTY of rabbit tracks (must be a heavy population year for them), some elk track, fox, and some REALLY BIG cat tracks. We hated to have to head home, but it was late in the day, the dog was cold, and I had snow in my shoes!