The Vernal/Spring Equinox was yesterday, according to my diary, the moment with equal hours of daylight and darkness so whether you think Spring starts on the 1st of March or at the Equinox, either way..............it's definitely here.
This is the segment from the wheel of the year for Spring from my book 'Ceremonies of the Seasons'.
The day was once known as Ostara, The Pagan festival celebrating Eostre, Saxon or Germanic Goddess of Spring. There is a story that Eostre found a wounded bird and to save it's life she turned it into a hare, but even though the bird looked like a hare it was still able to lay eggs.As a thank you to the goddess the hare decorated the eggs and gave them to her as gifts. Eostre was often depicted as having a hare's head on a human body.
In folklore there are so many stories of hares being magical creatures
The dry sunny weather expected here for this week bodes well...................
A peck of dust in March is worth a kings ransom
A dry March is said to be especially good for clay soils and would mean good crops and once it was said that dusty roads in March benefited the country..........that was before tarmac of course although I followed a crop sprayer along the main road on Saturday and there was plenty of dust coming off his huge wheels!
Check this lady out, she is the most talented artist and wilflife is her speciality. I chat to her on Facebook (she has horses too) and LOVE her work: https://samcannonart.co.uk/?fbclid=IwAR23njIocu3ntX1MHxeMGDvm07C8v9dCjbNG6fxvNWh1DcVJQurD4zzMaPQ
ReplyDeleteI see why you like her art. Love her bird paintings and she certainly has lots of hares!
DeleteIt's world Downs Syndrome awareness day today as well, the month of march we celebrate our children with the extra chromanone.
ReplyDeleteLove your post with George marching along!
DeleteLove hares...love Spring...want to turn our clocks forward an hour right now, and not wait another week! x
ReplyDeleteI agree, can't wait for the clocks to go forward and lighter evenings - my only problem is that it makes getting up early for car boot sales a problem!
DeleteI love that segment - I love all of them, in fact.
ReplyDeleteI tend to go with the Equinox but the weather does what it wills, regardless of dates, so I am happy to say with you that Spring has definitely sprung!
xx
Soaking up the sunshine again today - it's beautiful. Frost this morning soon went
DeleteDefinitely Spring-like now, thank goodness. I wish the clocks didn't have to go forward though, do we really have to lose another hour's sleep? Do the farmers still benefit from this mucking about with time?
ReplyDeleteI love the clocks going forward and would like them left like that all year.
DeleteThe sun is glorious again today
There are so many versions of 'Spring is sprung, the grass is riz ...' but Spike Milligan always said it best.
ReplyDeleteIt's lovely to have a few days of sunshine at last isn't it.
I'm loving the sun - greenhouse is nice and warm for a while in the afternoons - warmer than the house.
DeleteI've not seen any hares yet but the Spring Peepers (frogs) are chirping and they also mark the beginning of Spring. The sunshine is brilliant today and the snow is gone entirely. The last trace of Winter are large icebergs floating in the center of the pond behind my house.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely no icebergs in Suffolk this week, although there have been frosty nights.
DeleteOh and the daffodils are everywhere in our village...so glorious and golden...
ReplyDeleteDaffodils are a post for later this week!
DeleteI completely forgot the first day of spring - thanks for the reminder.
ReplyDeleteThe sun is shining but there's a frost at night so mustn't get too complacent
DeleteIt's definitely spring. I love the story about Eostre. There are so many wonderful fables and tales around, they make life so much richer. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteIt's fun to discover things I knew nothing about
ReplyDeleteI hope you're enjoying some sunny Spring weather in your part of the country too! Arilx
ReplyDeleteLots of sun but often a frost first thing and a cold wind too so not as warm as some parts of the country
DeleteGreat post!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful day here in Michigan today, but rain is on the way and maybe - yikes - some snow later in the week! I am beginning to see the signs of spring - the returning birds, the longer days, the beginnings of early buds on trees. I can't wait until the grass starts to grow again and everything turns green instead of brown.
Oh no - not more snow for you. I think the grass here has hardly stopped growing all winter!
DeleteGreat article..I am looking so forward to your blogcomment and
ReplyDeleteI love your page on your post.. That is so pretty
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