Imbolc Par-tay follow-up

Gorgeous creativity poem to Brigid for over my loom from Kestril.

Beautiful yellow English primrose from Cat for the altar.

The ice bowl filled with holly twigs and leaves came out fantastic!  I have these little vintage silver stars originally intended for holding candles on Christmas trees.  I put one in the bottom of the ice bowl and placed the lovely green 8 hour candle on top of it. I love those darn emergency candles!

The reason I needed the star is because when I un molded the bowl/candle holder in the morning after it was outside all night to freeze it wasn't COMPLETELY frozen... It must have been just 32 for only part of the night.  The top 3 inches or so are frozen clear as glass- the inside and outside layers of the bowl are frozen in big crystals.  That indicates really slow freezing.  The water that remained in between the two shell bowl bottoms splooshed out into the sink.  Yay for me for unmolding this in the sink and not on the table!!

Big slow-formed crystals of water with gaps holding the star and candle.  So shiny.

The day began with good smells and presents!   We set ourselves up with Mimosas made with OJ and Prosecco and admired the altar and the day.  We spent plenty of the day catching up with family news and love life news too.  Kestril brought a wonderful mix-CD of songs about milk, creativity, growth... it was just great and everyone got one!

Our meal was a yummy 3 cheese quiche and these beautiful chicken pot pie muffins.  I made a bowl of sweet and sour cucumbers with dill and lavender using goldenrod vinegar I made in the summer.  I certainly need to get the recipe for those pot pie muffins!

Then we got raffia all over the place.

Traditional wheat crosses

 With instructions we shared a good time trying to weave wheat crosses for everyone.  The raffia went everywhere, but it cut easily with scissors so I was glad that was our choice.


Combinations of weaving, braiding and tying resulted in a bunch of awesome icons to hang over our doors at home.

 


No one was in any hurry to leave, and before we knew it the time was late.  What a good day!















The candle kept burning until I blew it out before dinner.

Imbolc Par-Tay Plans!

Brunch for Imbolc is the plan for 4 of my friends and I on Midwinter morning this year.  I have some white linen cloths in the moonlight to give each person a Bride's mantle tomorrow to take home and the sideboard is all set up with a 3 tiered altar and seasonal items.  We have a narcissus bulb just sprouting roots, green and yellow candles and a glass winter mandala sun made by my friend. The bowl of yellow candles and holly sprigs is waiting for ice cubes, I would put snow in it if we had some. It is our traditional reminder that the snow will melt and the Spring will thaw and grow green again.

Sprouting bulb and bowl of salt int he background.

Also on the side are the wine glasses and pitcher for the OJ and Prosecco mimosas, the plates and cutlery and napkins.  I am not always this well prepared for a party but I kinda like this.

Also slated for the tiers of the altar are seed packets to bless and some offerings from the guests. There are some little onyx bowls for the offerings, mine is filled with calendula petals.

I nested two BIG bowls and sandwiched more holly sprigs between them.  I weighted the inner bowl with some heavy glasswear I have and sat it on three ice cubes and some criss-crossed holly sticks in the bottom.
When its frozen I will warm it up a bit and unmold it and place a nice big candle inside.  I plan to have it on the front porch to greet the guests as they arrive.  I'm sure I will bring it in later and watch it melt just like the bowl of ice and holly.  I wonder if it will take all day.

Water and holly sandwiched between two bowls.
Outside freezing into a candle holder for the porch.

I plan to lay a small fire in the woodstove and keep a kettle on for pouring tea water.  I have lots of tea blends already in glass jars on a shelf in the kitchen.  A burl bowl made from our fallen ash tree holds oranges and sits on the brunch table with some lovely flowers Bearded Bob brought me this week.  He does that a lot.

Our menu includes cucumber salad and a 3 cheese quiche.  It's been so long since I made a pie crust...

I thought about it all day, and in the end it came together and was a snap!  I spent far too much time thinking about it.  The three handy cheeses were smoked Gouda  cheddar and parmasean, so along with onion and spinach it will be a hearty kind of quiche.

I addded calendula flower petals to the custard and cheese mixture and sprinkled more on top of the crust before it went into the oven.

Quiche takes only 35 minutes at 375F.  I know it will be a hit.

I put a two little snakes made of crust along the fluted rim of the quiche crust!

Brigid, Hecate and I are all fond of snakes.

My assistant chef Zambonie lost interest when she realized that I wasn't going to be dropping any cheese for her to supervise.

I just moved this rocking chair to the kitchen two days ago and  she has already figured out how to sit on the cushion- she never paid this rocker any attention while it was in the living room.  I thought it was too rocky for her to feel safe.

Location, location location!


See more Imbolc revelry at The Bewitching Home blog-party-winter-redux-edition.

Mirrored snowflake in place of the real thing.

Imbolc Wistlepig

Tradition calls for a badger (groundhog, whistlepig), snake
or hedgehog to make an appearance on February 2.
It all depends on where you call home.

 Imbolc is here and all we have to show that Spring will arrive soon is mud!  Here in PA, the tradition of the groundhog seeing his shadow is astonishingly central to people's midwinter conversations.  I have plans for a nice celebration with others in my circle on Saturday night... a meal of milk foods and fresh breads, a fire and the making of traditional wheat crosses.  I will put a bowl of holly and ice cubes (for we are without snow) to melt and remind us that the thaw is sure to come now that the days are longer.

In this part of PA, German families have held the fort since the mid 1600's, and with them many traditions found in few other places.  Midwinter celebrations among the old wise ones of Germany included watching a badger's hole. If the day was sunny, 6 more weeks of winter, if clouds rule the day, the badger may emerge as a sign winter is at its end.