Sunday, March 20, 2011

Ostara 2011

Ostara is the ancient pagan festival of Spring Equinox. As we are trying to tune in a little more with the natural world around us I have started marking the equinox's with the kids.
So, our day has been full of spring celebrations. There was a very long spring parade all across the kitchen floor.

We made wish eggs this morning. I posted a semi tutorial for them here last year.
We wrote out our wishes for the year,this year they have included 'a good harvest', 'a robin hatching' and 'teeth'...
I'll let you guess whose wish this is!


We had lots of fun together decorating them.


They look lovely hanging from our spring branches.

Here's hoping they come true. At Easter we will take them and hide them in the woods for the fairies to come and collect...and hopefully do something about :-)

We had 5 eggs so a spot of baking was called for...
We made a nest cake, a chocolate sponge decorated with chocolate crispies. We left a 'nest' space for the middle and displayed some brightly decorated egg cakes.

We had so much cake-age the kids took some eggs and chicks to our neighbours to share.

Being beach dwellers (or near enough as the beach is a stones throw from the house) the equinox is not just the awakening of the plants and animals around us, it also means the spring tide..the biggest of the year.

After lunch we pulled on our wellies and headed for the beach.


We found so much normally hidden by the water. Mussels clinging to rocks, Rebe filled her pockets with enormous ones intending to cook them.


A whole plate of treasures, including the plate :-)

And gradually they shed their clothes...
..until they were down to jackets and knickers. They ran wildly through the puddles being warmed by the spring sunshine.

They shrieked with excitement, shouting gleefully at the top of their voices 'Welcome back spring!'

There couldn't have been a better way to welcome spring back to Cork than the wild, excited cries of children feeling the sea on their legs and the sand between their toes for the first time in months.
Of course, it wasn't that warm and we had to dash for home....



...and leap into a hot bath with a warming cup of tea!


After all that excitement we had a calm afternoon of den building in the garden then some serious duplo-ing, giving me a chance to get on with my knitting.
How do you celebrate the return of spring?

4 comments:

  1. What a wonderful way to welcome the Spring, I love the running and splashing across the beach photos!

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  2. We headed down to the beach too at an ultra low tide, (totally didn't twig that it was spring tides- dur!) and drew another labyrinth and Timmy ran it about 5 times. And we ate lots of cakes from the school bake sale. Love your egg idea, we might do that tomorrow as Timmy is home from school, awaiting spots!

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  3. It looks so lovely :-) We (Sweden) still have snow almost everywhere, the most walked and driven roads and paths are bare, but I haven't seen other flowers but willowkittens :-) They say cranes and swans have arrived to Sweden already. Haven't seen any yet. But it is Spring, definately :-D The air smells Spring and winter birds have started singing their odes to love, life and promises of a new summer...

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  4. Hi Ketutar, nice to 'meet you'. I have to say I'm glad we are truly into spring now and don't have the snow like you. I'll send you some warm Irish air :-)
    Lucy, hope you are all pox free, looking forward to an easter catch up x
    Gina, it was a truly exciting and wonderful feeling to be back 'out there' again x

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