Good Morning,
I am getting itchy for spring to arrive, which is why I updated the blog design to a cheerful springy/ vintage  theme. 
That, and birds, nests, babies and kids have been on my mind a lot lately. 

Part of that is due to the fact that I was assigned to write the Ostara ritual and article for the 2013 Sabbat Annual. The ritual I came up with incorporates birds, eggs and tiny bird's nests for symbolic props  in the Vernal Equinox ritual.
It was different and fun to conjure up that new sabbat ritual and those types of images and themes are always very season appropriate .

Perhaps it's the baby quilt that I just finished last night for a coven sister who is due in a couple of weeks... Maybe its the fact that my empty nest here at home- which my husband and I have thoroughly enjoyed for the past year- is about to fill back up as one of our chicks will be moving back home in late March.

Our daughter is moving back home to save up for graduate school. She wants to get a better car and put some money away before she takes the big leap and goes to get her Master's degree. Her father and I both support this decision and she will move the bulk of her items into storage and then move back home with her personal items and so forth. 

She is excited and is raring to go, so I imagine by this fall our nest will be empty again as she is looking at universities that are all out of state. We are happy to help her out while she saves up, gets a better car, and prepares for the next chapter in her life.
The girl is a hard worker, she was an RA in college and also held down a part time job off campus. She's been working full time since she graduated with her Bachelor's degree, and I have no doubt that her goals will be achieved.

This morning when I woke up I heard birds singing outside the windows. My daffodils and hyacinths are getting taller every day, and just yesterday when I was gathering some herbs I noticed my butterfly bush is covered in bright green leaves.
Seems to me that the Goddess of Spring is making an early appearance this year.

I imagine I will be running outside a lot in the next few weeks and covering up my plants with buckets to protect them while the temperatures swing back and forth. The perennials are pushing through the ground and the spring birds have returned. At this point I can only hustle and get ready for the new gardening season and all of the projects that are about to come to fruition.

I will be getting the proof pages for Seasons of Witchery, in a couple of weeks, (It will be released in June), the Witches Tarot deck is in its final stages, and I have started yet another new magickal manuscript. Why? because I had an idea and I wanted to explore it. So far while it has been a lot of work, it has also been fun.
No doubt about it, this spring is going to be busy on many levels.

No matter how you look at it spring is always a busy time. So my friends, brace yourself. Because spring and all of its changes and opportunity for growth- is just around the corner. Enjoy them all.
Blessed be, Ellen

Seasons of Witchery: Celebrating the Sabbats with the Garden Witch