Imbolc Bunting

We're halfway through winter now, if you can believe it. Always nice to know that spring is coming, even if I have enjoyed really leaning into being cozy and distracted by indoor activities throughout the chilly season.

The colors of this Imbolc bunting is a departure from my preferred palette, in that it looks nothing like the forest floor or the herbs and spices section of any given grocery store. But that's okay, as these garlands are meant to mark the changing of seasons and passage of time. They don't all have to be my favorite colors.

Things do feel like they're stirring under the mantle of snow currently blanketing southeastern Ohio. I haven't spied any crocuses or daffodils yet, but the sunlight's a little brighter and the birds are getting a little more vocal.

There has been a robin in the yard this week. They stick around through winter here, but I believe they spend most of the season deeper in the woods, eating berries.

There has also been a fox sparrow here for over a week now, the first one I've recorded on the property since I started paying attention to avian activity. Beautiful thing. Round, seems polite, beautiful shades of warm gray and chestnut. I'll miss it when it finally heads north to breed.

I think I'll also miss winter. Summers have become so intolerably hot and tick-ridden.

Besides crocheting eight sets of bunting to represent each stop on the Wheel of the Year, I've also separated a collection of 37 packets of different herbs to grow from seed. The first batch is set to start next week. I've been hoarding plastic food containers, bought an extra sack of potting soil, and decided just today that the three-tiered rolling cart someone in the neighborhood was throwing away would make a perfect station. Otherwise, it just holds empty mugs and miniature ADHD doom piles. Better use as a seed-starting station.

Speaking of migration and change, I have realized that my hand-built portfolio site (which I won't share here yet) has a built-in blocker in that it's tricky to update. Which, in combination with having unpredictable levels of productivity and enthusiasm, prevents me from wanting to update it.

On top of that, I've decided I'd like to begin a niche e-publishing venture, with the target audience being those people I would also most like to impress with my portfolio and turn into clients, should freelancing be in my future.

With those two builds on the table and easier-to-update CMS hosting offering multiple sites per bundle, it seems to me that adding this blog into the mix would be the most cost-effective measure.

SO, tearfully, I might be migrating this site away from Ghost before its renewal date. I have nothing against Ghost whatsoever and heartily encourage anyone to use it.

Things are quietly growing out of sight, for sure.