Tickling My Fancy

I've been running amok in the spring weather that we have been gifted here in the west. I've spent the last few weeks planting cold-hardy veggies and watching the perennials wake from their winter sleep.  There is a good lot of magic happening in the gardens right now and I can barely stand to be inside.  There is still office work, and there has been much spring cleaning, but I get outside as often as I can to breathe in the scent of the earth stirring.

There are many tales to be told of spring and new life, but for now I'm just leaving a few notes on some things that are tickling my fancy this week.

~ We are on the verge of a full moon and a lunar eclipse.  Tomorrow night and early into Tuesday morning, I'll be out watching the moon turn red.  For those of you in the west running on Pacific time with me, that means we'll see the partial eclipse by about 11pm, the full eclipse around midnight on Monday, and the maximum eclipse hitting about 12:45am on Tuesday.  Adjust for your time zone, and happy eclipse viewing (if you decide to stay up to see it!)

~ As the sister of a cellar master at a local vineyard, I'm always intrigued by a well-run winery. The April issue of Chatelaine magazine mentioned Southbrook Vineyards in Ontario, which is not only organic, but employs biodynamics on their land.

...Bill is also fond of tea.  He even puts it on his vines in lieu of pesticide. "It sounds weird, but it works," he says. "And it's so safe that you can wear a bathing suit while spraying it."  Southbrook was the first organic, biodynamic winery in Canada; sheep graze in the vineyard to fertilize the vines, and the phases of the moon determine when it's time to plant and harvest.  (Chatelaine, April 2014 pg. 174)

~ Today I drove by a Sikh temple and noticed that they were having their celebration of Vaisakhi.  They replace the saffron-coloured fabric of the flagpole that holds their holy flag, the Nishan Sahib.  It's a gloriously happy and colourful celebration, and although there is obviously no connection between the two observations, it always reminds me that May Day is just around the corner.    

*cough*  Very large pole.  *cough*

~ The Easter candy has been out on the store shelves since February 15th and I've been avoiding it valiantly - until today, when I found "bunny money."  Think Hanukkah coins, but in pastel colors, with rabbits and carrots embossed on them.  I'm not sure how they taste, but I'm devising a few different ways to use them in prosperity work.  Coins...mulitplying bunnies...carrots (carats?)  At the very least, I'll get chocolate out of the deal.

~  I'm reading "Blackberry Cove Herbal - Traditional Appalachian Herbalism" by Linda Ours Rago, which I ordered after hearing the recording of the Appalachian Folk Traditions panel from the Sacred Space conference.  It's a beautiful book to hold and to read, and I'm savouring it like a letter from an old friend.

"Also regarding the foxglove plant (digitalis) - bury a foxglove flower in Moon-light, and the foxes will give you 'the second sight'. Bury one at noon, and they will send you gold."


See you under the moon!