Iced Over

 If given the option, I would have chosen snow.
Soft, white flakes blanketing the ground.
Instead, we are covered in ice.
Trees, houses, vehicles, bird-feeders
.No snowballs today.

 

 

 

Silenced

Mother Nature threw down her blanket shortly after sunrise, just in time for an artic blast moving through the area.

Our first snowfall of the year, magically transforming the landscape.
Soft, wet snowflakes shutting us off from our little world as we know it, cocooned in a blanket of white.
Silenced.

Announced by all the trumpets of the sky,

Arrives the snow, and, driving o'er the fields,

Seems nowhere to alight: the whited air

Hides hills and woods, the river, and the heaven,

And veils the farmhouse at the garden's end.

The sled and traveller stopped, the courier's feet

Delayed, all friends shut out, the housemates sit

Around the radiant fireplace, enclosed

In a tumultuous privacy of storm.

The Snow Storm ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Soup's On

Cold winter days seem to go on forever.

Even when the sun shines brightly, the wind is still bone-chillingly bitter..
It's the perfect time to warm up with a hearty bowl of homemade soup.
Today's choice is White Bean and Ham soup.
Enjoy 💗

Navy or Northern Beans
Cabbage
Onions
Carrots
Celery
Ham Hock
Smoked sausage or Kielbasa sliced
Chicken Stock
Bay Leaf

Basil
Garlic powder 
Salt and Pepper

Soak beans overnight, discard water, add chicken stock, ham hock, smoked sausage, herbs, and seasoning, bring to the boil and then simmer for one hour. 

Add chopped cabbage, onions, carrots, celery, continue to simmer for an additional hour and a half.
Add water if needed.

Serve with buttermilk cornbread, or your favorite loaf of crusty bread.
Yum !

Snowing

   

                                                       Out of the bosom of the air,

Out of the cloud-folds of her garment shaken,

Over the woodlands, brown and bare

Over the harvest-fields forsaken,

Silent, and soft, and slow

Descends the snow.

~  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Nesting

We have had the strangest warm weather these past few weeks.

Here it is, the middle of winter, and the temperatures have reached a balmy 71 degrees,  folks are running around town, in shorts and flip-flops !
The Iris shoots are popping up out of the ground, twelve inches tall already.

Today....all change.
We are in for a true taste of winter, temperatures down in the thirties and  nightly freezes are in the forecast.

A good excuse to stay home,  indulge in a nice pot of tea and left-over Christmas cake, and some rather lovely reading material.

Hope all is well and cozy in your little corner of the world.

  

                                                                                 🏡            

Winter Days

A damp and sunless morning.

There is a list of  chores as long as my arm waiting for attention, but my motivation seems to be running on empty.

I've been gathering Christmas decorations  here and there, and today marks Epiphany  but not quite ready to devoid the tree of its ornaments or remove the twinkling lights in the kitchen.

Sparkly encouragement is welcomed.

Wolf Moon

 The first full moon of 2026 - the "Wolf Moon" - shines bright in the sky tonight

 

Brightly the moon like a jewel is beaming,

White in the east, o'er a lone landscape gleaming,

Over the meadows and over the snow,

Glimmering, shimmering, silvery glow.

Low in the east, when the gloaming is ending,

Slowly this white winter moon is ascending,

Looming so large and appearing so nigh,

Satellite framed by a star-spangled sky.

High in the sky, with soft radiance teeming,

Nigh to the time when men, women, are dreaming,

Weird is her splendor on valley and hill,

Cold is her gleam upon river and rill.

Brightly the moon like a jewel is shining,

White in the west she is slowly declining,

Beautiful Moon ! Which beams gorgeous and grand

Over the homes of our own Native Land.
 

~Charles Nevers Holmes. 1926

Ring Out The Old, Ring In The New

And so another year is coming to an end.

I'm grateful to look back
Our great-grandchildren  have filled our days, bringing new spirit and much happiness into the fold.
As the New Year makes its presence, I am mindful to leave less of a footprint on this magnificent planet we all call home, and offer a kinder word or action towards my fellow man.

 

I truly wish each and every one of you, a New Year filled with much love, peace, good health and happiness.

Your friendships have encouraged, enlightened, and have brightened my days throughout this past year.

Here's to a 2026 filled with the same !

Many Blessings, and A Happy New Year.

x

                                                       
A Happy New Year! Grant that I

May bring no tear to any eye

When this New Year in time shall end

Let it be said I've played the friend,

Have lived and loved and labored here,

And made of it a happy year.

~Edgar Guest
 

❤

After Christmas Silence

We've ate, drank and made merry.

Over-indulged in all the traditions of the season that makes this magical celebration.......magical.

Laughter was in abundance.

  

 

 

Recipe books are returned to their bookcase- home.
It's a ritual I go through every holiday,  drag out the recipe books, yet end up making  the same tried and tested dishes as the previous years.

Tradition prevails.

 

The gatherings are over, the house is tidied.

Time to enjoy a few hours of BritBox and  a nice pot of tea and biscuits.

I hope your Christmas was just as lovely.

 

 

Peace On Earth, Goodwill Toward Men

We truly wish each and every one of you, friends and family, near and far, all the blessings of a Joyous and Merry Christmas.

 

May you have the gladness of Christmas which is hope;

The spirit of Christmas which is peace;

The heart of Christmas which is love."

 

~Ada V. Hendicks

 

 

When Christmas bells are swinging above the fields of snow,

We hear sweet voices ringing from lands of long ago,

And etched on vacant places

Are half-forgotten faces

Of friends we used to cherish,

And loves we used to know.

 

~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox