It's nearly February...

It's that time of year again...when Old Man Winter throws his worst at us and tries to make us believe that Spring will never, ever come.
In true fashion the weather service is predicting that we will get at least 18 inches of snow, with wind at 35 mph. Say it with me boys and girls: BLIZZARD WATCH.

So tomorrow, I will trek to the grocers while the kids are in school & pick up extra foodstuffs and extra art supplies. If they call off school (unlikely) then I will have 2 extra sets of hands to help with holiday decorating. While the rest of the neighborhood is festooning their house with pink and red in anticipation of Valentine's Day, we will be decorating with chocolate browns, pale greens and yellows. We are preparing to celebrate Imbolc!

Imbolc is the half-way point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. We celebrate the lengthening days, the seeds beginning their slow unfolding, the return of the migratory birds. We celebrate the end of the long darkness of Winter, and welcome the slow return of Spring.

This holiday I like to share with the kids the secret of the earth under Winter's thick blanket of white--we eat foods with surprises inside: pigs in blankets, small fruit pies, crescents with chocolate inside. We look through seed catalogues and talk about how gorgeous the yard will be in Spring. We make birdseed treats for our feathered friends...and our squirrel family that resides in the maple tree out our front door.

Pictures to come....