Preparations are underway at the Lair for a garden--a good and true garden chock-full of herbs and vegetables and goodness! The utterly intoxicating scent of "new" is in the air. The air itself is filled with the twittering of songbirds heralding the onset of Spring! Trees and shrubs are cloaking themselves in the softest of green veils or the coy pastels of blossoms.
This weekend, the tiller comes to work the small plot where the "Kitchen Garden" is being placed in a neglected - yet - sunny corner of the yard. I've been perusing seed catalogues and garden centers for "crop" ideas. The library at the Lair has been virtually attacked for information on herbs and medicinals. And, as delightful as this planning is, even more so is the noticeable return of the "sparklies"--the Lair's faeries. Hiding in hesitation at all the "new" with the move, they've returned both inside and out--I believe the darling things are helping me plan the next "installment" of the Lair's permanent home (the gardens).
So...in this period of the increasing energies of the waxing Moon, enjoy the planning for her jubilant return on the blossoms and petals and unfurling leaves of Spring!
In the comforting glow of the Moonlight...
09 March 2011
10 February 2011
The Arrival of the Heron
The Lair has been graced twice now with the visitation of a Great Blue Heron--seemingly an oddity in north Texas. We're not close to major water features (a couple of lakes and rivers, but nothing akin to this stunning bird's natural habitat). I've spied it twice by our Pond (the fish are frightened).
I feel extremely honored that this beautiful and regal creature has decided to continue visiting our yard.
In the softness of the Moonlight..
I feel extremely honored that this beautiful and regal creature has decided to continue visiting our yard.
In the softness of the Moonlight..
07 February 2011
Emerging into Imbolc
For the past week, the Lair has been iced and snowed in thanks to a rather freak Arctic "blast" of a storm. 1" of solid ice descended on us on Tuesday followed by 6" of snow on Friday...and temperatures never rose above 28 degrees 'til Saturday afternoon. The "first signs" of Spring--or at least the lessening of Winter's grip--promised in Imbolc never really seemed to appear to us here in the "frozen tundra" of north Texas.
At least, the non-appearance of Imbolc is what it seemed on the surface. Amid the snows and ice, I noted the return of the early Spring songbirds to the Lair's gardens. The gardens themselves are showing the faintest hints of buds at the ends of the branches of the pear and fig...of random sunny-yellow dandelions in the all-but-dead lawns...of tiny red leaves (new growth) on the numerous roses. Under the thick ice of the Pond, the fish have formed a "nest" of sorts.
The skies are no longer the icy blues of deep Winter; rather, the warming blue of the rising season has begun to colour the noon sky. Dawn in all her blushing girlhood arrives earlier each morning. The evening sky is just a wee bit more rosy-lilac at the gloaming. Spring is slow to arrive, but arrive She is. The Maiden is softly and hesitatingly returning.
So, as all of you wrap yourselves against the chill winds of Winter's final onslaught (as we at the Lair are doing) and grasp that warm and bracing cup of hot tea sweetened by the final oozings of the Summer bees' handiwork, embrace the knowledge that the sun WILL shine again, the lawns WILL green again, and She is watching patiently in preparation for her glorious entrance at Oestara.
In the Softness of the frosty Moonlight...
At least, the non-appearance of Imbolc is what it seemed on the surface. Amid the snows and ice, I noted the return of the early Spring songbirds to the Lair's gardens. The gardens themselves are showing the faintest hints of buds at the ends of the branches of the pear and fig...of random sunny-yellow dandelions in the all-but-dead lawns...of tiny red leaves (new growth) on the numerous roses. Under the thick ice of the Pond, the fish have formed a "nest" of sorts.
The skies are no longer the icy blues of deep Winter; rather, the warming blue of the rising season has begun to colour the noon sky. Dawn in all her blushing girlhood arrives earlier each morning. The evening sky is just a wee bit more rosy-lilac at the gloaming. Spring is slow to arrive, but arrive She is. The Maiden is softly and hesitatingly returning.
So, as all of you wrap yourselves against the chill winds of Winter's final onslaught (as we at the Lair are doing) and grasp that warm and bracing cup of hot tea sweetened by the final oozings of the Summer bees' handiwork, embrace the knowledge that the sun WILL shine again, the lawns WILL green again, and She is watching patiently in preparation for her glorious entrance at Oestara.
In the Softness of the frosty Moonlight...
10 January 2011
New Moon Snows
Our Lady gifted us with a lovely snowstorm yesterday in North Texas. Throughout the day, we enjoyed the teasing "tappitty-tap" of sleet and freezing rain which rapidly changed to the peaceful whisper of fluffy snowflakes quietly falling to frost trees and lawns. Our pond's valiant little fountain/filter kept working the entire time.
The songbirds bravely and hungrily faced the odd weather (snow is NOT common in North Texas it would seem)--enticed to the yard by overfull birdfeeders, suet stations, and seed scattered on our patio and walkways especially for them. Our friendly little squirrels were nowhere to be found--hunkered down warmly in their nests. The chirps and twitters broke the silence in a melodious riot of joy for the hospitality.
For those of you being visited by the snows today and for those of you curled around cups of tea and cocooned in blankets this morning--snowed in your homes--the Lair empathizes. Enjoy the beauty of the winter landscape, embrace the silence, and be safe.
In the frosty silence of the waxing Moon...
 |
| The Pond in our backyard at 9pm on 1/9/2011 |
The songbirds bravely and hungrily faced the odd weather (snow is NOT common in North Texas it would seem)--enticed to the yard by overfull birdfeeders, suet stations, and seed scattered on our patio and walkways especially for them. Our friendly little squirrels were nowhere to be found--hunkered down warmly in their nests. The chirps and twitters broke the silence in a melodious riot of joy for the hospitality.
For those of you being visited by the snows today and for those of you curled around cups of tea and cocooned in blankets this morning--snowed in your homes--the Lair empathizes. Enjoy the beauty of the winter landscape, embrace the silence, and be safe.
In the frosty silence of the waxing Moon...
03 January 2011
A Forthcoming New Moon
A new Moon means new beginnings and the commencement of another two week session of increase. So, this new Moon tomorrow echoes the mundane world's New Year. New beginnings, hopes for increase and improvement, and positive attitudes abound at present. We're three days into 2011 and the "world is our oyster" as it were.
Oysters only create their pearls, though, at the introduction of an irritant. The bivalve then encases the nasty bit in a smooth coating to keep the irritant away from its delicate flesh. Most people forget that little "gem" of a fact. This past year was filled (as many of us in the community as well as on Blogger will attest) with limitless "pearl fodder." Have we created pearls from them?
At the Lair, 2010 was full of unknowing...of changes...of anticipation and constant (seeming) deflation. 2011 enters with a new full-time job for the Lair's mistress's beloved. The old house is soon to depart to another set of loving hands. The Cottage is filling with more and more "inhabitants"--numerous songbirds have discovered the feeders, the squirrels have attained a shocking familiarity with the humans of the Cottage, the toads and fish of the Pond live in happy cohabitation. Our furry family inside are quite calm and happy finally...though our youngest cat--Athena--has passed from kidney disease and is now buried under the feeders by our Pond.
So, as the new Moon approaches and the new year unfolds, the inhabitants of the Lair bid you to recognize the pearls which surround you...the beauty amidst the irritations of our lives...and to embrace the promise and potential!
In the light of the Moon...
Oysters only create their pearls, though, at the introduction of an irritant. The bivalve then encases the nasty bit in a smooth coating to keep the irritant away from its delicate flesh. Most people forget that little "gem" of a fact. This past year was filled (as many of us in the community as well as on Blogger will attest) with limitless "pearl fodder." Have we created pearls from them?
At the Lair, 2010 was full of unknowing...of changes...of anticipation and constant (seeming) deflation. 2011 enters with a new full-time job for the Lair's mistress's beloved. The old house is soon to depart to another set of loving hands. The Cottage is filling with more and more "inhabitants"--numerous songbirds have discovered the feeders, the squirrels have attained a shocking familiarity with the humans of the Cottage, the toads and fish of the Pond live in happy cohabitation. Our furry family inside are quite calm and happy finally...though our youngest cat--Athena--has passed from kidney disease and is now buried under the feeders by our Pond.
So, as the new Moon approaches and the new year unfolds, the inhabitants of the Lair bid you to recognize the pearls which surround you...the beauty amidst the irritations of our lives...and to embrace the promise and potential!
In the light of the Moon...
11 November 2010
Late Autumn's Splendor
Keats's "To Autumn" is called to mind on days such as these--
While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,
And touch the stubble plains with rosy hue;
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
Among the river sallows, borne aloft
Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies (lns.25-29)
Indeed, the day started out much as Keats would have us envision the final "chapter" of Autumn. It was a quiet morning--a thin veil of mist rose from the hillocks and meadows surrounding our town. Wildlife and livestock alike milled about in tentative awareness of a "something" in the air. The newly-harvested fields lay fallow and clean. Yet, as sensual as this season is, it could not be that softened.
All the tumultuous passion of this season spent itself this afternoon and evening. The sun burst forth from his dimming cloud bank to reveal the jeweltoned leaves on the Crepe Myrtles and Oaks in all their splendor. Birds chirruped in the warming embrace of the life-giving rays. Then, just as suddenly, the skies darkened with the threatening gunmetal-grey clouds of an approaching storm. Breezes which has once teased the jeweled leaves from the branches now took on the guise of gusting winds--grabbing at still-verdant shrubbery. The heavens opened and the rains came down--a downburst of perhaps ten-minutes' time. As suddenly as it came upon this area, it dissipated as rapidly, leaving behind Nature's mirrors to reflect the season's effacement at its own hand.
We're in the "dark half" of the year indeed, my darling Lair visitors and friends--the season of preparation. It's a "nesting" season for many of us--baking, tidying away, decorating for the festivities of Thanksgiving and Yule which are rapidly approaching. We gather loved ones close and light the hearthfire to welcome the onset of darkness. We embrace the sensual nature of the Season yet yearn for the coming of the light of Spring.
Again, as with our Samhain preparations, sit back and truly treasure this time. Enjoy the simple pleasures--a soft throw over your legs to guard against the chill of November; the smell of the sleeping garden as you sit outside of a pleasant afternoon and enjoy a lovely book; the comforting crackle of wood in a fireplace while the bracing winds and rains of late Autumn rage without. Bake bread (always a favored pasttime at the Lair), create a comforting soup from whatever strikes your fancy, brew a strong pot of tea and share all with friends and family in celebration of the darkness which brings you together. We've time...bounteous time in which to sit and reflect and recognize all that She has bestowed upon us this past year. And yet, this time will end--the holiday season passes with a flash and a pop and then 'twill be another calendar year full of promise.
I pour you a cup of the Lair's blend of black tea--ripe with dried fruits and rinds and spices of the Holiday Season--and invite you once more to find solace and welcoming warmth here. Thank you for joining me...I count you all among our many blessings bestowed this year.
In the soft, misty light of the late Autumn Moon...
While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,
And touch the stubble plains with rosy hue;
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
Among the river sallows, borne aloft
Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies (lns.25-29)
Indeed, the day started out much as Keats would have us envision the final "chapter" of Autumn. It was a quiet morning--a thin veil of mist rose from the hillocks and meadows surrounding our town. Wildlife and livestock alike milled about in tentative awareness of a "something" in the air. The newly-harvested fields lay fallow and clean. Yet, as sensual as this season is, it could not be that softened.
All the tumultuous passion of this season spent itself this afternoon and evening. The sun burst forth from his dimming cloud bank to reveal the jeweltoned leaves on the Crepe Myrtles and Oaks in all their splendor. Birds chirruped in the warming embrace of the life-giving rays. Then, just as suddenly, the skies darkened with the threatening gunmetal-grey clouds of an approaching storm. Breezes which has once teased the jeweled leaves from the branches now took on the guise of gusting winds--grabbing at still-verdant shrubbery. The heavens opened and the rains came down--a downburst of perhaps ten-minutes' time. As suddenly as it came upon this area, it dissipated as rapidly, leaving behind Nature's mirrors to reflect the season's effacement at its own hand.
We're in the "dark half" of the year indeed, my darling Lair visitors and friends--the season of preparation. It's a "nesting" season for many of us--baking, tidying away, decorating for the festivities of Thanksgiving and Yule which are rapidly approaching. We gather loved ones close and light the hearthfire to welcome the onset of darkness. We embrace the sensual nature of the Season yet yearn for the coming of the light of Spring.
Again, as with our Samhain preparations, sit back and truly treasure this time. Enjoy the simple pleasures--a soft throw over your legs to guard against the chill of November; the smell of the sleeping garden as you sit outside of a pleasant afternoon and enjoy a lovely book; the comforting crackle of wood in a fireplace while the bracing winds and rains of late Autumn rage without. Bake bread (always a favored pasttime at the Lair), create a comforting soup from whatever strikes your fancy, brew a strong pot of tea and share all with friends and family in celebration of the darkness which brings you together. We've time...bounteous time in which to sit and reflect and recognize all that She has bestowed upon us this past year. And yet, this time will end--the holiday season passes with a flash and a pop and then 'twill be another calendar year full of promise.
I pour you a cup of the Lair's blend of black tea--ripe with dried fruits and rinds and spices of the Holiday Season--and invite you once more to find solace and welcoming warmth here. Thank you for joining me...I count you all among our many blessings bestowed this year.
In the soft, misty light of the late Autumn Moon...
31 October 2010
Samhain 2010
Once again, the blessed Samhain is upon us. The secular giving of treats to little ones (and not so little ones) at the door is over and the familial work of preparation and remembrance may begin. The Veil is thinning, the Circle is being cast, the candles are being lit, and the loved ones are drawing near from the Other World.
As we close in on this moment--this particular ritual so familiar and so infinitely new each Samhain--feel the magick of this night. 'Tis the final Quarter of our Lady's journey through the skies before She makes Herself New on November 6th. Things are slowing at this time...the Veil is parted, but we needn't rush our preparations. There is time, my dear Lair followers...there is ALWAYS time.
Hold fast to your kith and kin this beauteous Night of Samhain. Keep both those of this world and those of the next ever close. Feel the warm embrace of She who unites us for this loveliest of moments.
Blessed Samhain, my dears.
In the waning light of the Moon...
As we close in on this moment--this particular ritual so familiar and so infinitely new each Samhain--feel the magick of this night. 'Tis the final Quarter of our Lady's journey through the skies before She makes Herself New on November 6th. Things are slowing at this time...the Veil is parted, but we needn't rush our preparations. There is time, my dear Lair followers...there is ALWAYS time.
Hold fast to your kith and kin this beauteous Night of Samhain. Keep both those of this world and those of the next ever close. Feel the warm embrace of She who unites us for this loveliest of moments.
Blessed Samhain, my dears.
In the waning light of the Moon...
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