Time to Slide Into Spring

Late tonight is the official slide into Spring - Ostara, otherwise known as the Spring Equinox. Then we're on the climb up to summer. That's a bit hard to believe, up here in the Frozen Northlands. We have a winter storm coming in by the end of the week that should dump 1-3 inches of snow on us. But, I really can't complain - we've had excellent weather for the past three weeks with nary a snowflake in sight. This one will be in and out quickly. 

Many people use the rabbit as a spirit guide during the
time of Ostara. I only wish our area actually had
green grasses and flowers at this time of the year.
Still, we're above freezing and most of the snow of
winter has melted. 

I'm finding it very hard to get into a home exercise regime, but I know I really need to do it - no if's, and's or but's. If I don't get a schedule settled and start working on the treadmill and floor exercises, I'll balloon, and that won't be pretty. I don't have a pool (I'm weeping here in the corner because I really miss my pool), but I have two legs, I have equipment (old but still quite functional), and I have the time. No excuses. I'll let myself wallow for a day or two more, then make a new schedule for a "new" life. 

The seeds planted in Spring will become the harvest of
Fall, at least that's the age-old promise. This Spring is
a bit more strained and desolate than previous ones. I
hope things will be resolved by Fall. 

My store is still open, and I'm really hoping it can continue operations for as long as possible. We're prepared to close indefinitely if the order comes down, but so far we're OK. The coffee shop next door isn't allowed to have seating for customers any more - it's operating on take-out/pick-up only, so our parking lot suddenly has a lot of open spaces. That's rather refreshing and enjoyable, so I'll take the good along with the bad. But I know the coffee shop owner, Kathy, is taking a financial bath from the new restrictions. 

I really like this image because it looks as though
she's sitting in the remnants of winter's snow. This
is more like my part of the world - a bit cold for new
growth and flowers. 

I was shopping at my local grocer yesterday, and they had some pretty decent produce, which was an excellent thing. But there wasn't a chicken breast to be found. The entire chicken section of the meats aisle was empty! Of course I have things in the freezer that we can eat, but I really missed my weekly chicken dinner last night. Oh well, maybe I just caught the store at a bad time. They'll get restocked at some point and the store is very close. 

I loved the colors of this depiction of Ostara. Honor Spring in
whatever way seems best to you, but know that we're on a
recovery mode now - Spring is finally here as of late tonight,
and I can't be distressed when I'll soon see flowers. 

So, as the financial markets continue their bath in the red, and people continue to pull up their drawbridges and isolate themselves from their neighbors, I'm thankful for the internet. We're isolated, but we're not. Because of the internet, we're all in contact with many people, and I stretch my hands out to all of you who read my blog and who are my cyber-friends. Be safe, be happy, and I'll be back tomorrow. 

The Wheel Has Turned Again

We had schnee, or snain, or sleet (which isn't nearly as fun a description) yesterday and I'm hoping the roads won't be an icy mess to drive on this morning. I know many of you on the East Coast got totally pounded with your latest Nor'easter yesterday, and I hope all of my friends out there are safe, warm and cozy. It's been a harsh winter, which is going to make spring so much nicer when she finally comes into her own. 

I think one of my favorite times of the year is that short time
while our various fruit trees are in flower. We still have a
month or so until that happens, but it always lifts my heart. 

We're actually through the worst of it now, although we still can get some cold and snow for another month. Usually snow at this time of the year is wet and heavy, but melts quickly. A freeze too late in the year can kill the fruit crop for the upcoming summer and fall, though, so we really don't want that. Our flowering trees are so stunning when they finally pop. It's like the explosion of a cracker around the dinner table, or opening one of those "snake in a can" things we had when we were kids. 

Do you remember snakes in a can? It's actually
still available. I was a bit surprised. Still, I
suppose gag gifts never actually go out of
style. 

I mentioned on Monday that our trees were fluffy. It's a joy to my heart when that happens. It means that even though there might be snow on the ground, the seasons continue to move toward spring and summer. 

Ostara - the middle of spring. The earth is awakening once
again and growth and new births are happening. By the time
of Beltane in early May, we'll be ready to welcome Summer. 

Yesterday was Ostara - the Spring Equinox. A lot of you were looking out from your front doors, shaking your heads and thinking the calendar was having a huge joke on you and your neighbors. What I always have to remind myself is that the Equinox isn't the beginning of Spring, it's the middle of it. Spring actually begins with Imbolc in early February, right around Groundhog Day. From yesterday's Ostara, we move toward Beltane in May which is the start of Summer. So breathe, everyone. Winter truly is waning and Spring is actually walking the earth, gathering her green raiment around her one leaf at a time. 

It was absolutely too cold to dance in a circle in lightweight
clothing, but I still enjoyed looking at this image. I thought I'd
at least share this Dance of the Wheel with all of you. 

Today is my "day off" and I'll be doing the usual - grocery shopping, house cleaning, lots of laundry, and some cooking. It's been a very busy week at work, so I'm hoping I can relax a bit today before jumping back into it again tomorrow. I hope each of you have a wonderful Wednesday and I'll be back tomorrow. 

Happy Ostara, Etc

Happy Vernal Equinox to all! We're in Spring at 12:30 am EDT on Sunday, the 20th. It's one of those times that actually means I'll be in Spring at 11:30 pm CDT on Saturday, the 19th. There's nothing like forcing me to wrap my head around time zones, but either way I look at it, we'll be in Spring on Sunday. Hurrah for little bunnies, budding flowers, singing birds, and green grass. Of course, that's still in my future. We were getting snow yesterday and the wind was blowing something fierce. I'll have to watch out for patches of ice as I drive to the gym this morning. Here are some Spring pictures for all of you to celebrate Ostara and the new season. Goddess Bless!

Happy Ostara to all! 

This lovely row of cast iron bunnies really caught
my attention. Fabulous! 

Many people will be celebrating Palm Sunday over the weekend.
I'm now one of them, but I wish all my Christian friends a
good start to Holy Week. 

Do you have your Easter baskets assembled yet? Chocolate
bunnies are a personal favorite, but I like chocolate eggs, too.
Oh heck - I admit it - I just love chocolate! 

So, as we enter Spring, the next week will be a week of celebration for many. Take this opportunity to take a deep breath, celebrate the change of the seasons, and gear up for another busy season. Happy Ostara to all!

Happy Ostara

Even though Spring doesn't truly arrive in my area until after 5:00 pm today, I think we've all had enough Winter. So I'm welcoming Spring to my horizon and looking at this as a chance to leave the depression of the winter behind and relish the return of color and warmth to my world.

Happy Ostara to my friends in the Northern Hemisphere, and
Blessed Mabon to my friends in the Southern Hemisphere. Let's all join in
celebrating the turning of the seasons once more. 

There are a few things in the air today that should be resolved by day's end. When that happens, I'll be able to relax a bit more and really enjoy the seasonal change just starting. Today's post is short and sweet, but heartfelt. Have a wonderful Friday and a fun weekend ahead of you.

Coming Up for Air

Wow - I completely immersed myself in my artwork and errands yesterday and didn't even have a chance to respond to comments on my blog. But I promise I'll respond today - promise! Yesterday was rather crazy from start to finish.

I wanted to pick up The Hobbit movie on DVD. Target, my local go-to source was advertising the Blu Ray/Standard DVD/Downstream version for $22.99, a price that I could live with, so I decided to go for it. After a totally FABULOUS breakfast (egg whites scrambled with a great veggie assortment and accompanied by a great variety of fresh fruit - Happy Me!) and equally FABULOUS coffee (coffee BOGO at my local coffee shop which led to a happy driver with two cups of espresso-boosted dark roast coffee sitting next to her) I entered Target's doors armed with four coupons to spend. Twenty minutes later I left with an iTunes gift card (15% off - SCORE!)  but NO DVD! They were completely sold out of all versions except the 3-D DVD version which I had no interest in. So...

$25 of iTunes for $21.25? SCORE!

Back into the car and north a few miles to the next Target store. This is the location where I usually shop, but it wasn't as convenient for me this time, but I had no choice - I wanted my copy of the movie. Here I got one of the LAST FOUR copies of The Hobbit that they had left of their shelves. Because they had the movie, they also got my standard business (after all, I still had coupons to use), so they got $60 of my business and I left happy with groceries, paper towels and my movie copy in the back of my car.

I like the David Tutera cardstock from JoAnne's
Crafts. He has lots of colors, etc, they are very
affordable, and I can take the blank cards
and make portable artwork for all of my friends.

One more stop - this time at my grocer for fresh produce and veggies and a quick lunch, a stop by the office supply store for printer ink and a quick drop-by Joanne's Crafts for holiday card supplies (40% off - SCORE again! and yes...I'm already thinking about my year-end Solstice cards) and I was ready to dive into work. I colored out the final inked piece for CB's Big Bang story. I'm really happy with it and I'll scan it today. That leaves me with a single small addition to an already completed piece and the finalization of my Erestor pic. I actually did get a good start on the pencil work, but at the end of the day, looking at what I had done, I decided to switch methods and put his pic into the same format as the other pics for the story. So I transferred what I wanted to draw onto a new sheet in my sketchbook before I put my toys away and I'll ink it today. That will leave me with the coloring portion, but that's the fun part - watching things come together is like magic. So I'll be working on that next week and have the final piece to her just under the deadline. Sorry for the delay...but it's been a lot of fun to play. Now to breathe again....

Ostara and Day's Planning

Good Ostara to all of my friends and readers. Those of you not familiar with the Celtic name - Happy Spring Equinox. Yes, Spring is finally here and when I look out of my window I see growing/budding plants, birds flying together in pairs, and I see bunnies hopping across my front lawn. NOT!!!!! No, I see snowpiles of more than four feet high, grey skies, and ice patches everywhere with a temperature that will be lucky to hit 20 F (-6.66 C) for a HIGH today. Ostara? Well, it's a nice astronomical mark but my personal Spring is still a month or two away.

Good Ostara to all of you.

Today, after coloring one last pic for CB's story, I'll begin the pencil and charcoal work on her final original piece. I'm really looking forward to playing with drawing again - it's been too long since I've set up my easel. I have a ton of errands to do all over town today also, and have to remember to drop by Target to pick up some essentials plus (after all, I'll already be there...) the video of The Hobbit. DH said we could go ahead and get this but no additional copies until the combined set of all three in Director's Cut become available. I can live with that and it's at a good price for the full combined version.

I use a portable tabletop easel similar to this (not quite
as nice, though) and it's wonderfully useful.

Next week will be the final episode of this season's Face Off and I like all three of the final contestants. I won't put spoilers here, but it will be a hard-fought finale and any of the three could end up winning it all. The designs that have been constructed through the season have been mind-blowing and some of the painting skills of these artists - I want to just learn airbrushing techniques from them. Truly amazing talent.

The Face Off logo splash-screen features the hostess being
transformed into an avian of some type. Beautiful coloring.

I'm continuing to focus on artwork because I haven't found any writing that has jogged me lately. Yes, B2ME is ongoing, but I am not enamored with the format that is being used this year. But on the original fiction front, I'm pretty happy. Dragonthology is doing well as an e-edition (available as a NookBook and e-pub on March 31st) but even more exciting, it has now been issued in print now and is available at major book retailers including Barnes & Noble and Amazon. I received my author's copy in the mail a few days ago and it's a lot of fun to see and flip through the pages. One baby step to a novel of my own. If you have a desire to do some original fiction, Untold Press is still accepting stories for consideration to be included in their next anthology - Happily Ever Afterlife. If you're interested in finding out more, click the link, write a story between 5000 and 10000 words and send it to them (formatted properly). Who knows? You may be the star of the next anthology.