more pysanky

I finished up a couple more pysanky eggs.

This first one is one I've been trying to complete for years. Every time I start it, it gets broken! lol  This year was going to be my final attempt.  I wanted to make it to replace a MUCH better version made by a lady that I bought it from at a holiday bazaar at her house. She was an amazing pysanky artist, and her egg was perfect. But it broke in a move and I was disappointed to lose it.

When a friend taught me how to do this technique myself, I vowed to make one, but never could get it to last long enough to finish. LOL  If this one does not survive the egg drying process, I will not replace it.

This orange and red one is a simpler design I decided to do to give my brain a break. The non-visible side has a big screw up... but I don't care.

I still have the stuff out. I may try to get another egg done before March is over. :)

Ostara with the Veiled Isis

We all met at dawn at the site of the Veiled Isis statue in West Branch, Iowa; it is part of the Hubert Hoover Historic Site and museum. Isn't that crazy? A pagan goddess at a national site. It was a gift to Hoover from Belgium for his help during the war.

Anyway, it wasn't a large group that met, mainly my covenmates and a small group of other fellow pagans. We left offerings and libations before Isis, circled round her deosil and enjoyed an early morning ritual as part of community.

When that was over, we all went back to a covenmate's house and had pancakes and mimosas. Yum! We hung out for a long while, letting the kids play.

I always make a basket for Kevin for the equinox, from the Ostara bunny. ;)  Kevin enjoyed exploring his basket.


May this spring season bring you all the blessings!

Blessed Ostara!

We went to a friend's house for the day, and realized that we should try balancing an egg. We did it! It was kind of funny. :)


My friend always keeps a pysanky table set up during the spring. She asks everyone if they'd like to try it out and make an egg for her house. Almost everyone does of course, even if they've never done it before. I love doing pysanky so of course I made one!

When Kevin and I got home, I made another pysanky egg as the next morning would be a community Ostara celebration and I wanted to take an egg for that. This is the one I came up with for the celebration. :)

Have a Blessed Ostara!

Tuatha Dea in Iowa!

Girls night out to see Tuatha Dea in concert!

I first saw Tuatha Dea at PSG last summer. They are an appalacian rock/pagan band and I do love them!

The pagan shop in Burlington brought them in to play at a local Burlington venue and my good friend Sue and I went down to see them. I was so surprised that the concert lasted long after midnight! I was very glad that it was spring break and I didn't have to work the next day! The were so awesome though, they have so much energy. Check them out if you haven't heard them before.

Friday the 13th tattoo!

I had this put on my right leg, just above the knee on the outside.

I've always wanted a Friday the 13th tattoo (done on friday the 13th) ever since I heard of the idea. When I started using the "13 Knots" name for my email, the idea for this image started to firm up. A few weeks ago I started drawing it. This is how it ended up! I am really loving it.

Filling in the 13 was hellish though. LOL

Know things...

Like many, I was broken-hearted to learn that Terry Pratchett had passed.  I decided to make myself a t-shirt with my cutting machine and some iron-on vinyl. The quote is from one of Pratchett's discworld books.

"She couldn't be the prince, and would never be a princess, and she didn't want to be a woodcutter, so she'd be a witch and know things."

Spring is returning!

I was pulling out stuff to set up our seasonal household altar and pulled out all the decorated eggs that have survived the years. I decided to put them in one of my bowls on the altar, but before I did that, I took this picture.

Ostara season was never the Sabbat I resonated most with, but as my covenmate says, it is the herald of spring. As I get older and dislike winter more and more every year, I am coming around to her way of thinking! So I particularly enjoyed putting this year's spring altar together. 

I wish more of the eggs we've made over the years survived. But if I blow them out, they are super fragile. If I go traditional and leave the raw egg inside, sometimes they don't make it. But at least I have these. And we'll make more this year. :)