here we are in the driest [and least fertile] season
in the driest state
on the driest continent
in the sunny South
and Easter
- the religious festival of re-awakening
built around the much older Northern ceremony of renewal
[Oestre] that took place annually around the vernal equinox
with the arrival of the spring and the first eggs -
is in full swing
everywhere folks are celebrating
some by attending horse races [where horses are thrashed over obstacles at full gallop]
many by consuming vast amount of chocolate
and some by attending church
where their numbers are swelled
by what a cousin of mine refers to as the
"taucher Christen" - the "diving" Christians who bob up in church at Christmas and Easter
the older i grow
the more confusing it all appears
whatever your beliefs [or not]
i wish you a pleasant weekend
Same, enjoy the weather and the occassion of family enjoyment in our dry country, which here in the South is poised on the edge of renewal and new growth, just waiting for the rains on April 25th.Pleasant days to you to!
ReplyDeleteand a pleasant weekend to you India and your family. as always your blog is a source of joy! I enjoyed your visit north to the rich looking country where you once lived. I would like to visit there one day. your traditional easter eggs are wonderful - the orange colour looks gorgeous in the blue and white bowl. may it rain soon.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful day here today and predicted for tomorrow...out for a *long* walk with the dogs to breath in and out the magic of seasonal change. Hope you have time to stop (or walk) and enjoy, too.
ReplyDeletehappy easter from a cold windy and rainy country
ReplyDeletelove
Happy holiday. The mucking around with eggs is fun you gota admit. I enjoyed watching a 17 yr old 14 yr old and a 10 year old upturn the house looking for mini eggs. Good for a giggle.
ReplyDeleteI saw your blog title on someone else's blog the other day. It appears to be a quote from Tolkien. It was just one of those 'oh' moments, when something is familiar and you can't figure out why.
ReplyDeletealways enjoy visiting and your self definition as a 'botanical alchemist' is just my most favourite personal description anywhere on blogger (and people say some very weird stuff about themselves:-)
thanks for sharing
martine
i'm confused too.
ReplyDeletebeing simple here, no eggs or chocolate, just spring.
ReplyDeleteyes, Martine, you've found me out
ReplyDeletehere's the full verse
“All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost; the old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken, a light from the shadows shall spring;
renewed shall be blade that was broken, the crownless again shall be king.”
it's been a favourite line with me since I was a bright young thing
and is tattooed on my wrist in case of short term memory loss
he he
Hi India,
ReplyDeleteI also feel confused in the way you describe. Yesterday I tried your method of dyeing eggs. I must say I really doubted whether I would have nice results. But I had great pleasure in making the bundles and I had lovely results. I want to thank you for sharing this method in your book. I have place a picture of the eggs on my blog.
wishing you lovely Oestre/Paasdagen,
I am catching up with some of the blogs today, so hve been reading your last posts now. The eggs seem to have the same colours, the reds and dark orange as the photo's you made up north. So unfamiliar to me, the earth here is dark and thick as clay or soft as the sand near the sea. Would love to come to Australia one day to see this for myself and smell the air.
ReplyDeleteBeing confused isn't that bad at all.
ReplyDeleteThese days your Latvian eggs are travelling the world. I love that.
XXXm
maybe the eggs start wandering....
ReplyDeletehappy easter too, Xdorie
Ah, my girls and I did eggs with onion skins too, and were very pleased with the results. As for the seasons, if only it were a simple matter of just swapping them over for the southern hemisphere, but that doesn't work either, because in many ways, Autumn IS the season of rebirth...I've just been down the south of our state and the green grass is starting to creep up the dry hillsides from the creeks that have just started running again after first real rains!
ReplyDeleteHonestly I was feeling somewhat confused this year too. More from differences within Christian denominations on the subject, tho. We really did enjoy dying eggs your way...Eowyn (I'm sure you know her name is from Lord of the Rings...my dear one is the fan having read the books many times) thought they were so beautiful and I thought the joy in her eyes was priceless.
ReplyDelete