Imbolc, Another turn, Another change

So the wheel turns once again and we welcome in Imbolc, Spring. The change here is straight away noticeable. Yesterday it was cold and crisp, beautiful ice and frost covering every corner stretching the pretty patterns over all it could touch. Today the temperature is up and the rain is down! But that's what we want. Let nature appear. We went for a walk yesterday to see how many new flowers we could find and surprisingly it wasn't many. Normally at this time of year the snowdrops are starting to peak in the flowerbed under the window and the deep purple crocus' are raring to go from under our bay trees.

So what does this new time bring to us. Well in my case an extra effort in things. To be happier when something is irritating but beyond my ability to change it, to declutter as I put my items back into the front room, to increase my exercise to shift these pounds (have slackened with the diet) and the start of preparations for our veg and fruit growing.

Seeds are in for some crops, ground will be broken this weekend for the new life to take hold and the planner updated so I can make most use of the area. We planted some bulbs as part of our Imbolc ritual. Lovely indoor Iris' that Littleun could do. Hopefully they will grow but they will apparently take 14ish weeks in the dark to do so.

Our feast went well, though I've got a scorch mark from the crepe Suzette's (bit too much flambe) and the non alcoholic mead passed into deep red wine. Littleun is starting to recognise the reasons behind things and has added his own items to the celebrations.

The altar is a small affair in comparison to other times, partly because of our current space restrictions but also to allow it to grow. We didn't pick any flowers as I'm not keen on doing things like that, so we made our flowers to go on the crown instead.

Hope you all have had a good Imbolc.

Our Imbolc Fun days

I’ve had fun these last few days where I have been able to pay complete attention for once to Littleun. We’ve done so much. Gone to the park to feed the birds, turned out the squirrels were hungry too, made our Imbolc crown for Littleun to wear and the one for our altar, made Imbolc snowflake biscuits so we could test that they worked (my excuse anyhow) and Littleun came up with an idea that was all his own work. Whilst moving the biscuits I asked him why he was breaking them in half, his reply and I kid you not was “to let winter go mummy” the thought apparently was that if he broke the biscuits then winter would be free for spring to come. Think he might be taking in what I tell him more than I give him credit for! We’ve even got a little ahead of ourselves and made his Beltane mask, just couldn’t resist trying out the ideas on The Cauldrons site.

I’ve now started on preparing the food for our Imbolc feast. We are having simple but homely fare, Roast leg of Mutton with winter vegetables, Crepe suzette with homemade ice cream, cheese and Littleuns biscuits for later plus non-alcoholic mead.

Non-alcoholic Mead

4 cups spring water

1 cup honey
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 lemon, sliced
1 orange, sliced

Bring the water, honey, nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon to a boil in a non-metallic pan. Stir until honey is dissolved; heaviness should disappear from bottom of the pan. Use wooden spoon to skim off skin that forms at top of brew. Add lemon and orange slices, squeezing as they are placed in the pan. Cool completely; strain. Store in bottle in refrigerator.