Eight weeks: back to life

Yesterday some technical problems didn't allow me to post, so here I am today, exploring how is life 8 weeks after the equinox. First of all I have to say that next sunday, 21 of may, we will be leaving and hit the road for approximatively 4 months, so I will have to stop my light tracking and mostly I won't have any internet connection, so my posts from around Europe will be very seldom. For the first time in years I feel so heart brocken at the idea to stop my life, my projects and go away. I'm not sure if I should be worried about my gypsy spirit being tamed or happy because that means that I'm finally enjoying the 'here and now'. But my family has been organizing this trip for so long, way before I could find my own peace of mind and so next sunday my life will have a turn and change to the core for several weeks.
Here we're experiencing the most cold spring in years, or possibly ever. Temperature just rised a couple of days ago above zero, but never more than 12-15 C in the sun ( it means maybe 8 ? ). It feels good on our frozen to the bones bodies, but still watching last year's nature journal, we were way over 20 this period of the year. The trees are amazing. They're still bare, but yeasterday's rise in temperatures is making blossom all the buds so the tiny leaves start making their shy appearence on the branches. Life goes on, Mama Earth is shouting, and I try to make her braveness my own, to face the colder moments of my own life. But let's track the light:

Sunrise has been at 4:35

Sunset will be at 21:53

Lenght of the day 17h 17min

( + 5h 1min of daylight in eight weeks, + 39 min since last monday)

 

A few of the older stats can be found here (equinox) and here (three weeks) and here (seven weeks )

 

 Can you spot the raven on the fence ? We have been bringing him food for two months now, and he is becoming our 'friend'. He waits for us and while we are in the park he sits on the fence and looks at us. I will miss him like a crazy, as silly as it may sound.

 

Seven weeks, back to life

Almost two months since the equinox, it is already time to look forward at the solstice and the mid-summer celebrations, incredible.
The light is nowadays our mistress, this part of the north has been blessed by several sunny days in a row now which feels so good after a winter so long which lasted way after the vernal equinox. Life now is in full bloom, animals are nesting, trees are showing the first tender leaves or buds so big ou can tell they're about to burst. Yesterday as I was outdoors with my two youngest we experienced something amazing. We usually go in this playpark which happens to be basically in the forest. From the short wooden fence we saw an hedgehog coming, and that is rare enough already as the little ones tend to be very shy, and 'burying' very close to us under a pile of dry leaves. We could hear the little thing grunting and moving and startling and all of a sudden it came out litteral dragging another hedgehog ! They started an epic fight ( from what we saw they looked to be two males ) that lasted almost 20 minutes, when one of them gave up and run away to let the other one go back in the pile and fall asleep almost on the spot. For once I had my cell phone with me so I could take a few pictures and make some videos. We didn't disturb them at all, just watched them from the fence of course.
But let's track the light now...

Sunrise has been at 4:55

Sunset will be at 21:33

Lenght of the day 16h 38min

( + 4h 22min of daylight in seven weeks, + 37 min since last monday )

 

here the Equinox stats and few more here, here, here 

 

And now a few evidences of our adventure yesterday ....

Five weeks, back to life

When observing the nature and trying to tune in with Mama Earth, every new week means extraordinary things happening and filling your days with beauty and awe. Even if this season is much more colder than any other in the last (at least) five years - I have been living here that long- many signs of the nature waking up and enjoying the warmer sun and the longer ( and longer and longer ! ) days keeps showing up. Trees are still bare, even if the buds are swollen and seems just on the verge of bursting in the greenest leaves you can think of, but the first brave flowers are blossoming in the fields and in the forest.
But let's track the light right now ...

Sunrise has been at 5:30

Sunset will be at 21:00

Lenght of the day 15h 30min

( + 3h 14 min of daylight in five weeks, + 39 min since last monday )

 

To see the situation of the past weeks you can check here, here, here, here, here. And now please, follow me in a walk in the forest ...

Four Weeks, Back to life

Already four weeks since the equinox and so many changes in light. This year the spring is showing itself extremely cold ( temperatures in the night drop to -6 and during the day hardly go over +2 ) and even if the sun is shining most of the days most of day, it's enough to have some wind and running clouds to have a fine and frozen snow to start falling. It's an impressive phenomenon indeed, many times there is still sun but we have real snowstorms that lasts from few minutes to few hours but that hardly leaves any sign after they stop, since the ground is too warm for the snow to keep. All this is making the nature more slow than usual, trees are still totally bare and in the garden we had the first crocuses  blooming, but most of them show the damages of the frost. Anyway, here is the light situation today :

Sunrise has been at 5:51

Sunset will be at 20:42

Lenght of the day 14h 51 min

( + 2h 35 min of daylight more in four weeks, + 39 min since last monday )

To see the situation of the past weeks you can check
 here
here, here, here .

 The grass is still dry

 The frost has damaged most of them

Love the close-ups
 

 Hoping for more flowers soon.

Three weeks, back to life

Almost one month since the equinox and the differences are already amazing. There is so much light and the temperatures are now almost constantly over or around 0C. Most of the migrating birds have come back and we have spotted the first butterflies, bees and ants. We still have sunsets and darkness in the night, but that shall pass and we'll get to a point in which night will be just an unknown concept here in the north. In a wicked way I almost miss now the introspection and 'homey feeling' that darker months give, these season I'm constantly out with my youngest two and I have very little time left for my projects, but I'm well aware that I just need to get used to these new rythms and 'light months life' and that when this will be over, well I will miss a lot what at the moment makes me almost uncomfortable. But let's give a look at the light situation.
 To see all the changes you can go and check here and here and here

 

Sunrise has been at 6:12

Sunset will be at 20:24

Lenght of the day 14h 12 min

 

( + 1h 56 min of daylight more in three weeks, + 39 min since last monday )  

 

 

This was the sunset a few days ago, beautifully pink.

 

One Week, back to life

One week since the vernal equinox and here in the North spring has sprung as she has been anxiously waiting Father Sun permission to show herself in all her majestic beauty pulsating life. So yesterday the outdoors called us really loud and me and my youngest doughter, another spirit of the woods as I am, have spent most of the afternoon-evening wandering in the nearby forest collecting fallen branches for our future creations and stones and much more for the young one collections. Before showing a few of the pictures I took let's track Father Sun, if you're curious to see the changes in one week have a look here .

Sunrise has been at 6:55

Sunset will be at 19:49

Lenght of the day 12h 54 min

 

( + 38 min of daylight in one week )

 

 

 Rhubarb has started growing ! Spring is really here

My guardians ...

One of my feathery friends in the golden morning light.

Father Sun, Sister Moon

Beside runes and nature, another of my passion is Sami culture. The Sami are the indigenous people of the north, they suffered a lot and have been dispossessed of their lands, their ways, their religion and for many years even of their language. Now they are trying to thrive in this world, they are trying not to give up their ways, and I think we could all learn so much from them ( as we could from most of the -few-indigenous groups still existing on the planet. Anyway, a while ago I did some research about Sami's Shaman drums and I could find some images online ( I'm sorry I can't remember which web-site at all ) and loved them, so i started realizing some pendants in polymer clay inspired by those signs. Here the first one I finished yeasterday. It's sun\moon signs and I really like it. It is polymer clay carved, coloured with pastel chalks and polished.

Vernal Equinox

Finally it has arrived ! Today is the Vernal Equinox in the northern emisphere, this means that the following three months will be characterized by a growing amount of light hours until the Summer Solstice when here in the north there won't be night anymore. It is an exciting period as the energy level of all living beings rises and rises along with the track of Father Sun. A few data for today :

The Equinox will be at 10:29

Sunrise has been at 6:16

Sunset will be at 18:32

Lenght of the day 12h 16 min

At the moment the weather is cloudy but you can spot some blue here and there and the temperature is +1 C. I can't tell if tonight we had a light frost or an even lighter snow fall, either way now outside it is beautiful, birds are singing and temperature feel quite mild ( even if on the colder side of course )

A few pictures I took earlier :

I will try to write an update of the light situation every monday, as I love to nature journal.

Slowly

This winter has been very mild here in the north.A few days really cold (-20C or so ) a lot of days between 0 and -10 C. Not so much snow, just the nice quantity to play and walk on in safety and have light, but not so much that needs snow-work ( we only had to make hard snow work three or four times ). But on the other side this is showing to be one of the longest winter, as for every springish day we have a very light snowfall in the night followed by a few cloudy and colder days. I personally don't mind that much, but there are a few people, even in my own family, whose nerves are about to have a breakdown over this. But still, spring days, as a matter of fact, being quite rare stuff this year, are even more exciting than usual and yesterday it was one of those.So even my youngest, who usually prefer the comfort and warmth of the home, asked me out for a walk, in which i joyfully indulged along with the oldest doughter and faithful camera.

How the yard looked like yesterday morning

And around ....

Feeling blue

The time soon after the sunset in this period of the year it is also called the blue hour . Most of the days the sky is still too cloudy to notice its real color, but there are a few days of pure bliss in which we are given the greatest display ever of divine colors, painted by Sun and Moon greeting each other on the doorstep of their own realms. I took some pictures a couple of days ago, actually divided in two sets, one without any artificial light, which are of course a bit blurred because of lenght of the shot due to the dim light; the other one with the artificial light of camera flash, which gave quite a good effect to most of them.

These were taken with no flash, and no other artificial light (too) close by.

Same place, same moon, same trees, but with camera flash. The second last is my favorite.

(p.s. Pun in title is intended ! )

Wandering

Yesterday morning the blanket of clouds that has been covering the sky for a while, suddently disappeared showing the bluest of blue and letting the snow and ice glitter and sing songs of melting waters. As I took a walk outside with my oldest doughter I took a few pictures of the beauty that was freely given to me by mother earth and father sun ....