Spring is in the air, the earth, and in my very bones. All kinds of small, wonderful sprouts are coming up in my mini greenhouses - peas; lettuce, forget-me-nots, cucumbers, bachelor buttons...the list goes on and on.

I suppose that this is one of my favorite times on the Wheel. After the slow, reflective time of Winter, it is a welcome if hectic change of pace to keep track of all the burgeoning seedings and where to put them. This year, it looks as if I am going to get a good start on the 'grand scheme' of totally landscaping this place and there is going to be color galore.

Yesterday, I bought more seeds - true lavendar, feista grass and bellflowers. I'm hoping the fiesta grass (it looks like a more colorful cousin of pampas grass) will be tall enough to act as a visual barrier of the road as well as the lavendar. Hopefully this time, the lavendar will be more understanding and will deign to even come up...

Yes, this time on the Wheel makes me feel the most alive - all that new life recharges my own reserves and it's as if I am giving back a bit by bringing all these new lives into being and giving them a permanent place to be.

The bird feeder continues to be more and more popular. Today there was about 8 cardinals and 12 grakles...and one very determined blue jay. The seed scattered on the ground seems to be the most popular of the two choices (an actual feeder or the ground) with both the birds and the cats - although for two very different reasons. The cats, for some odd reason, try to sit right in the seed in hopes of catching a bird but when their plans fail - the seed becomes an instant litterbox. I think I'm going to quit even trying to figure out what goes on in those fuzzy little heads.

I'm taking the cardinals as a good omen. There are both male and female cardinals here - a good balance. Plus red is good - the color of vitality; of passion - of life itself. The blue jay is welcome but I'm not sure what it signifies...in some circles, they are representative of psychic disturbances but I don't think so in this case. Now if only I can figure out how to feed everyone without those grakles musculing the other birds out. Those are the real disturbances at times!