Welcoming the Spring Equinox...

It seems as if Spring is right around the corner and perhaps through that alley doorway in our little Northern Arizona town.

This isn't to say that it will not be cold off and on, and it may snow again before Spring really comes in and sets her dainty self down at the Season's Tea Party  to stay (I think she probably drinks a mixture of hot and iced tea with her crumpets and always props her sweet silk clad feet up on a stool...) until Summer sits her hot self down (cooling herself off with iced tea only, using a fan on her often red face...and so her sunscreen doesn't completely melt and cover the table linens in oily ruins...eating her scones and lemon curd with gusto, flinging her crumbs...she's an excited talker that Summer...).  And seeing as the Equinox is officially tomorrow...we can be pretty certain that Spring is somewhere right at this moment jumping up and down in delight, clapping her little hands and letting her daffodil and tulip petticoats run wild, her bonnet strings blowing in her gentle breezes...

I have been thinking seriously about how I want to welcome Spring into my life and send Winter off with a shove a wave and a kiss...and pull up a chair to enjoy a cuppa with Spring herself...outside, on the patio at Foolsewoode.

I have begun preliminary yard work, as it looks as if we've been buried under feet of pine needles and leaves.  I usually let these fall where they will as I know that they will help hold in moisture for the plants that sorely need the water...and my vinca has all about but died back to its roots leaving whats left of it as a brown and black eyesore scattered throughout the yard, so the other morning found me out early with rakes in hand...I had an extra hour to kill after all, and it's just been so beautiful outside.

I filled up my garbage can, and I'm nowhere near done with the yard endeavor.  I also swept off the porch and walkway and removed dust from places it likes to sit and wait...and cleaned the big picture window, the inside and outside surfaces of the doors and sills and mailbox.

this dust.

I am working one day longer than I usually do this week, so that leaves precious time in which to fill and play catch up...and I have set my sights high for that one day off I'm receiving.  I am aiming to remove every stitch and pile that has collected in the kitchen and do a deep cleaning in that space.  Replace the Christmas tablecloth (ahem) with something a little more fitting for this time of year, polish and buff the floors (with my special floor cleaner) Switch the bedding and bathroom accessories to my Spring/Summer linens, change the air filter in the car, and redo the mantle in the living room for Easter (and get the Valentine's Day decor off...ahem again.  It's like a veritable Holiday of crazy at Foolsewoode)  I am feeling the pull to really go through things and organize and clean deeply, my nest.

We shall see.

And preparing myself for the ending of Winter and beginning of Spring started last week during a conference call with a good friend.  Working on clearing out the shadows and welcoming in the light...and I think tomorrow I shall wake up early to clear out toxins on a more physical level in the form of a Bikram yoga class.  Twenty-Five postures in elevated heat.  Something I've been wanting to try for some time now, and as we usually don't have the opportunity to participate in this style of yoga up here...I'm looking forward to trying it out.  (my sister has actually done a lot of Bikram and said that people often pass out from the combo I mentioned above, and if I need to...lie down.)  I'll let you know how it goes...and then home for a healing bath and off to enjoy the day at Snap Snap...

How are you preparing for the upcoming Spring?