Monday, 4 March 2019

Preparing for Spring + Spring Inspiration

 

I'm looking forward to spring! While this winter hasn't seemed as long as last year's (at least not in Sussex since it hasn't been as cold and we didn't get much snow), I'm not a big fan of this season. I'm more of a summer person! The past few weeks the weather has been a bit weird- it was the warmest February on record on one day (up to about 16C (about 60F) in my area), then it returned to more typical temperatures and now we have Storm Freya. Today it's 8C (47F). The atmosphere feels "lighter" to me now. Since I get more depressed during the winter, I tend to feel better when the weather shifts and spring gets nearer.

As I've mentioned in last year's spring post, there are two starts to spring- meteorological and astronomical. The first one is 1st March and the 2nd is 20th March, the same day as the Spring Equinox (also called Oestara/Ostara). Read more about it here: https://inews.co.uk/news/uk/spring-2019-when-start-first-day-date/


Note: If you're in the Southern Hemisphere, it's almost time for autumn. You may enjoy these posts:

Getting Ready for Autumn: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2018/09/getting-ready-for-autumn.html

Autumn Photos + Inspiration: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2018/10/autumn-photos-inspiration.html


Last year I wrote a post about getting ready for spring which you can read here: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2018/03/getting-ready-for-spring.html

This year I'm writing more about preparing for spring and also sharing some new season inspiration! :)


Preparing for spring

Here are some suggestions:
 
Notice signs of spring- I mentioned this in 2018's Imbolg Celebration Ideas post. I enjoy seeing the flowers starting to emerge at this time of year (such as daffodils and snowdrops) and also that the days are getting noticeably longer. I wrote a bit about this in my February update post: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2019/02/february-update.html

Spring clean- Spring often inspires people to tidy up and refresh their house and other spaces. As I said in the Imbolg Inspiration post, Imbolg (or Imbolc) which is the first spring festival (marking the end of winter and beginning of spring) is a good time to start spring cleaning because it's about cleansing and purifying. I recently did some physical tidying in my house and digital tidying of online files, and plan to do some  more. Here are a couple of links with spring cleaning suggestions:

https://gretchenrubin.com/2017/04/spring-cleaning/*

https://richlyrooted.com/2014/03/deep-spring-cleaning-game-plan-with-printable-checklist.html

You can find more links in 2018's spring post too. :)

*I also just got Gretchen Rubin's book Happier at Home (I read it from the library the other year) for my birthday which is all about ways to be happier at home. You may find that a good read for this time of year.


Update your Pinterest boards- If you have seasonal boards on Pinterest then updating them can be a fun activity. I have a Seasonal one and a Various Seasons one. Check them out here:

Seasonal: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/moonsparkle84/seasonal/

Various Seasons: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/moonsparkle84/various-seasons/


Update your wardrobe- If you're into fashion then a seasonal change is a good excuse to update your wardrobe by getting out warmer weather clothes or buying new ones. Perhaps you may want to wait till the weather is consistently warmer before wearing them though! lol. There's an old saying, "Ne'er (never) cast a clout till May is out". A "clout" is an old word for clothing. Some people think the saying means until the end of May, while others believe it means till the May flower (hawthorn) has blossomed. The hawthorn comes out in April and May. It makes sense either way because cold weather can continue until April.

Here's some spring fashion inspiration:

https://www.oneawesomemomma.com/spring-must-haves/


http://www.sandyalamode.com/2019/02/28/spring-fashion-finds-at-walmart/


Plan spring activities- You could write a list of things to do during the new season, or browse Pinterest for inspirations. You could do activities such as go for picnics, walk in the park, take pictures of blossom trees, go lambing etc.

You could also plan your celebrations for spring festivals such as Oestara/Ostara (the Spring Equinox) and Easter depending on what you celebrate. See below for Oestara inspiration. :)

This oven roasted spring dinner from Vegan Magick Kitchen looks nice for an event/celebration: https://www.vegankitchenmagick.com/rustic-oven-roasted-spring-dinner/



Spring Inspiration

Spring has festivals and events such as Oestara/the Spring Equinox, Mother's Day (in March in the UK and May in the US) and Easter in March/April, then Beltane and May Day in May. This year Easter is later than some years (that's also why Pancake Day is tomorrow instead of late Feb), it's 21st April.  So there's plenty to celebrate if you'd like to. Here are some posts to get you inspired for spring! :)

Round-up of Spring themed posts on The Seasonal Life:

Pancake Day: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2015/02/pancake-day.html

Red Velvet Brownies + Pancakes: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2018/02/red-velvet-brownies-pancakes.html 

Hove Park in spring:  https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2014/05/hove-park-in-spring.html

Spring Photos: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2018/04/spring-photos.html
 

Oestara 2014: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2014/04/oestara.html

Oestara 2015: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2015/03/oestara-2015.html

Oestara 2016: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2016/03/oestara-2016.html

Oestara/Spring Equinox Celebration Ideas: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2017/03/oestaraspring-equinox-celebration-ideas.html

Oestara 2017: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2017/03/oestara-2017.html

Celebrating Oestara + Spring: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2018/03/celebrating-oestara-spring.html

Oestara 2018: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2018/03/oestara-2018.html
 

Easter Biscuits: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2014/04/easter.html

Easter Cake: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2015/04/easter-cake.html

Easter Chocolate Fridge Cake/Squares: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2016/03/easter-chocolate-fridge-cakesquares.html

Frosted White Chocolate Easter Cake: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2017/04/frosted-white-chocolate-easter-cake.html

Easter 2018: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2018/04/easter-2018.html


Also Beltane is quite a way off yet (not till 30th April/1st May) but here are two posts if you want to get early inspiration!

Beltane Celebration Ideas: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2017/04/beltane-celebration-ideas.html

Celebrating Beltane/May Day: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2018/04/celebrating-beltanemay-day.html


Finally here are more spring posts from other sites:

Spring photos: https://www.fromroses.co.uk/blog/something-to-get-you-inspired-for-spring

Girly things to do for spring: https://www.icecreamandclara.co.uk/2019/02/12-girly-things-to-do-for-spring.html

Moody Moons has a good post on witchy ways to get ready for spring: https://moodymoons.com/2019/03/01/9-witchy-ways-to-get-ready-for-spring/

And here are more pagan ideas to do during the season: https://otherworldlyoracle.com/spring-pagan-things-to-do/

Spring bucket list:  https://richlyrooted.com/2018/04/spring-bucket-list.html

Spring themed hygge:

https://www.ourheritageofhealth.com/ways-to-hygge-in-the-spring/

https://nourishingsimplicity.org/2018/04/embrace-hygge-this-spring.html



Hope you enjoyed the post and it gave you plenty of inspiration for spring! :) I'm looking forward to Oestara (20th March this year) and will probably do another post about celebrating  nearer the time.

What things do you like to do at this time of year? Happy Almost Spring! :)



P.S. Although I'm anticipating spring, it's gone colder again and some places have been having lots of snow. I'm still into hot drinks and if you are too, you may enjoy this winter drinks post from last year: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2018/01/winter-drinks.html


Photo: Moonsparkle 2019. 



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