Spring has Arrived and My Little Spring Nature Bundle Ritual

 Happy Spring Equinox and a Blessed Ostara to All!

Spring arrived with cool dry air and lots of sunshine, after last weeks high 80's it was a pleasant 70 a real spring day here in north central Florida.

My plants are thriving and waiting for me to get them transplanted either into large pots or in the ground.

I'm still unsure but I have to make the decision soon.

The orange Hibiscus continues to bloom with a new flower or 2 daily and she is full of buds just waiting to open.

The little sunflowers, red ruffle azaleas, and milkweed are doing well and the Fuchsia colored azalea is a surprise because I thought it was either white or purple. The Marigolds are doing quite well.  I need to pick up a few bags of potting soil to get them planted in the container I have for them.

My update on the Spring goddess I have been doing in the slow stitch style has progressed to the point where I am either done or will add things as the creative moods moves me.

I enjoyed this process so much not only for the stitching time it gave me but the meditative calm it brought to me as the needle flowed in and out of the fabric.  The spirals were a challenge to stitch because the Cosmo floss I used kept tangling, a problem I have encountered before using that floss.

I stitched the little bird nest with the eggs and then added it to her head as a nod to spring. The dragonfly was cut from fabric and stitched on as were the butterflies.

The little rabbit at the bottom was a piece of floral fabric I just cut in the shape of a bunny and gave it a black French knot for the eye.  All in all I love the piece and will begin working on another this week.

For Week 12 of the K3n.clothtales SAL we are making Bundle Books, where we are wrapping bits of nature into the fabric and burying them in the ground or leaving them somewhere in nature for a few weeks, at the summer solstice we will reveal our work.  It is influenced by the popular quote from way back “If you love something set it free. If it comes back it’s yours. If not, it was never meant to be.”

It's possible that nature can swallow up the piece or that wildlife can carry it off.  I chose to use all natural materials so that if lost it will degrade back into the each as part of the compost.  Here is what I put in this bundle: a spent hibiscus petal and sunflower, a leaf, tiny wildflowers, a spring of Marjoram and bits of lichen.

  I wrapped the entire bundle around the lichen covered twig and buried it beneath the spent sunflower.

During my walking the wheel of the year observations this week I noticed some Lantana made an appearance where the Holly is regrowing when the tree service cut it down in error last year. 

I need to trim back the holly so it remains a shrub and doesn't become an overgrown tree once again.

I have a second bundle of nature bits that I made as part of my Wheel of the Year journey this year. So when the prompt came for week 12 I was over the moon to do another.

My Spring bundle includes a purple Mexican petunia, purple spiderwort and a purple wildflower the name eludes me at this time.  There is more hibiscus petals, a spent marigold, dandelion fluff, the whole puff came apart right as I placed it on the cloth. Some lichen and  Indian hawthorn white flowers and the orange colored leaf.

 All wrapped around a lichen covered twig and tied with strips of muslin fabric I was going to use a stone to pound the flowers onto the fabric but that will be a project for another time.

Then gently placed beneath the soil until the Spring Equinox in 2025. It is marked with a butterfly stake not shown in the photo.

At the Spring Equinox, we are in perfect balance between the light and dark. Everything is in harmony we witness new life return, trees bud, flowers poking up their heads, and new bird song as birds begin to return, you can really start to feel that parallel within yourself. As we see life emerge from the Earth, this energy awakens our own growth, fertility and creation. And so it is a powerful time to be thinking about what we want to create in our lives during this light half of the year where the Sun rules, and active, creation energy is in abundance!

When I buried my Spring bundle I spoke these words: May this bundle of plant life abundantly flourish the flow of blessing through my garden and my life. Continually reminding me to be good a steward of the land. And to keep creating with my hands both in and out of the garden.

Slow Stitching the Goddess

I began a new goddess piece last weekend using slow stitching, I used the green template for the 1st piece, it's a small goddess piece using bits of fabric in much the same way I made the heart in week 7 of the K3n.clothtales SAL.

After all the fabric scraps were stitched in place I turned the piece around so that I could stitch around the basic goddess shape before I cutting her out and adding her to a background fabric. I have more stitching and embellishments to do.

I added a few little bits to my goddess last night, searched through my floss so I can start adding some embroidery, checked through my beads and buttons etc. for a few embellishments.

She is a work in progress and my first venture into slow stitching something more than a few fabric swatches.

Leaping into March with a Spring Simmer Pot Ritual.

 The last day of February has arrived with signs of Spring popping up everywhere.  My garden has a few new plants to to perk things up and to get me into the garden this year. There is a  orange hibiscus with stunning flowers, night blooming Jasmine that just began to flower, milkweed for the butterflies and a red ruffle azalea, some lettuce, lemon grass, and marigolds and calendula to start off the season.

The sunflower that was bird sown is spent but there are several others beside the planter in bud.  Also walking in my yard I found a new yellow wildflower, perhaps bird sown as well.

I have let the weedy flowers take over part of the yard to host the early bees that have been buzzing around, along with some butterflies.  

Set Your Spring Intentions With A Simmer Pot Ritual

Step 1: Gather The Herbs And Bring To A Simmer

First select the herbs and aromatics you want to use. I try to select herbs that match the overall vibe of the intentions I’m setting for the season. I’ve listed the herbs I used for this simmer pot below but, really, anything goes here. 

Fill your simmer pot with water and add all the herbs and aromatics into the pot except for the bay leaves. Then I bring the water to a simmer over medium heat.

Step 2: Set Your Intentions

Once the water is simmering take each bay leaf and write your intentions on them. It could be the same intention written on several leaves or unique intentions written on each one. Take a few deep breaths to connect with it and really feel what the intention will be like when it manifests. Drop the bay leaf (s) in the simmer pot  stir the pot a few times clockwise visualizing the simmer pot dispersing the energy of the herbs throughout your home.

Step 3: Keep An Eye On It And Enjoy

That it! just let the simmer pot do its thing for the day, keeping an eye on it to make sure it doesn’t run out of water. At the end of the day you can dispose of the herbs used in rituals returning them to the earth either add to your compost or bury in your garden. But if that’s just not an option just thank the herbs and dispose of them in the garbage.

Spring Intentions Simmer Pot Ingredients

I wanted my Spring Simmer Pot to bring an uplifting, hopeful, positive energy to my intentions for the season. So these are the herbs and aromatics I chose. 

• Orange – Adds energy and passion to your creativity and is great for cleansing and purifying. 

• Rose – A powerfully protective plant that helps you open your eyes to the beauty of the world around you. 

• Pine – Brings abundance into your life and helps the seeds of your intentions to blossom. 

• Calendula – Brings positivity and light to all situations. 

• Lavender – A peaceful, protective herb that spreads uplifting energy, enhances self-love, and helps foster deeper intuition. 

• Mint – Helps you communicate with the divine and your higher self to help you find clarity and purpose. 

• Basil – Exudes a loving energy, invites abundance, clears negativity, and calms your spirit. 

• Bay leaves – Dispels negative energy and brings in success, creativity, focus, and inner wisdom. 

The First Week of February

 The first week of February brought some pleasant changes in the weather, just about every day began with sunshine. My walking the wheel of the year is much more pleasant when I can step out early and not have to plan a walk around the rain.

Imbolc came on a cool quiet morning bringing a surprise in my garden. Under the bird feeder there is an old planter where seeds from the birds drop. I first noticed a plant growing up in January, I imagine all the rain we had helped what I thought was a new weed until it had a large bud, I suspected a sunflower from a fallen sunflower seed.

Yesterday morning to my delight she opened and sure enough I have a beautiful sunflower growing in an old planter that actually serves to hold up the shepherds hook where the feeders are hanging.

This morning she was open full and greeting the sun, isn't she just beautiful?

I prepared an avocado pit for sprouting today, I had it soaking for 2 days in water, then peeled the outer skin from the pit, rolled it in paper towel and dampened the whole thing, slipped it into a zip close bag and now I wait for it to sprout. 

 Last year it took about 2 weeks to sprout and unfortunately the plant didn't survive too long after I planted it.  This year I am hoping for better results.  Time will tell.  I can feel Spring is in the air and with the passing of Imbolc we are nearer to Spring and I have the urge to get things planted.  I'm going to go slow this year to avoid any physical mishaps that will keep me from tending my plants,  I will most likely keep everything in containers until I feel more confident in my physical ability.  I don't want to injure myself and not be able to take care of my plants.  

Yesterday I had an ultra sound on my carotid arteries and Friday I have an echo cardiogram and the following Friday I see the doctor for my results.  I am hoping I won't need to have another stent put in the other carotid artery. 

I also have an eye exam coming up this month and surely I will need new eyeglasses cause right now I have trouble seeing with my current glasses. 

I am off for a walk later today after I go to the post office, I did the American Cancer Society walk for 31 miles in January which helped get me back into a daily walking routine, which was quite a challenge with all the rainy days we had last month.