Today was full of feeling ill, wonderful thunder storms, documentaries, and more sewing. Meditation and ritual are still difficult due to coughing and throat congestion. Still, the fact that I’m trying feels good. It is so easy to fall out of a routine, thus even if it is difficult to experience a deep trance, continuing the actions develops a strength of will and one’s relationship to the Kindreds.
The omens during ritual were good. They spoke of new beginnings and a deepening relationship with Nature Spirits and Ancestors especially. Beltaine is nearly upon us, and with it, summer will begin. To me, the omens suggest that summer will find me delving into my Druidic studies with greater vigor. Although I will be taking summer classes at the end of May, I will have more and more free time. I can’t wait…
I did some more sewing today. Here are a couple things I finished:
Another tree spirit (oak) and a fresh mushroom spirit! Amanita muscaria may be a bit cliche, but I so love them visually. I need to have enough to go around at the various festivals they’ll be visiting!
Here are a couple other photos I want to share with you.
Here are a couple of white spruce saplings. Weretoad and I picked these up at an Earth Day event in Watertown. They are small enough for these containers now. One of these days we’ll get a home with land and put them into the ground… That is the hope I poured into these trees as we potted them.
And what is this!? Several of these popped up around my patio. They weren’t there last year and they don’t appear to be growing near my neighbor’s lawn. I can’t find it in any wildflower field guide. Is it a product of stray bird seed? Help!
Author M. A. Phillips 
It’s a grape hyacinth.
Thanks!
Yes, grape hyacinth seconded. They magically appeared in our garden, too! They are in fact a wildflower, though some people seem to plant them. They’re not native to North America, but they do grow wild, seeded by birds.
Very interesting – thank you! I guess their foreignness is why they did not appear in field guides … Still, I’m amazed I was having a difficult time identifying them! I couldn’t find anything, even in collections of color-organized photos. I read that they are very difficult to eradicate. I’m excited about that. The groundskeepers here chop and mow constantly… Thankfully they don’t use any chemical controls (too many kids and pets to get sick) so, hopefully, these will flourish around my patio. They’re very pretty!
Grape hyacinth – a bird gift!