February Days

After days of being cocooned in a blanket of white, temperatures have slowly warmed and sunshine has once again become our welcomed companion.
My plans were to clean-up around the garden today, but melting snow has the earth completely soaked, not the best kind of conditions if you are unsteady underfoot.
The tiny birds have reappeared, happily foraging amongst the bushes and shrubs, no longer a prisoner in their little nests made of sticks.
An entire week without venturing farther than the front porch, my to-do list is as long as my arm. 
 

 

Silent And Soft

We awoke to another snowfall this morning.

Beautiful to look at, but I have the suspicion folks are really looking for a few constant days of sunshine right about now. 

 

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.

~~By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.~~

 

                                                       

                                                              ⛄⛄

Winter Nesting

 

Cocooned in a blanket of ice and snow, our days are not much different from the isolating COVID days.
Days seem to run into weeks and weeks into months.
Many businesses are shuttered closed, employees unable to navigate the treacherous roads, especially the more rural ones that are left untreated.
I'm extremely grateful for a refrigerator and pantry full of food, and a house that is warm and cozy.
Others are not so lucky.

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.

 

 

 

 

With Love From Me To You

💛

" The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.".

 

Eden Ahbez "Nature Boy"

 

 

May your Valentine's Day be special !

((Hugs))
x

Talking In Their Sleep

 

"You think I am dead,"
The apple tree said,
"Because I have never a leaf to show -
Because I stoop,
And my branches droop,
And the dull gray mosses over me grow!

"But I'm still alive in trunk and shoot;
The buds of next May
I fold away -
But I pity the withered grass at my root."

"You think I am dead,"
The quick grass said,
"Because I have parted with stem and blade!
But under the ground,
I am safe and sound
With the snow's thick blanket over me laid.

"I'm all alive, and ready to shoot,
Should the spring of the year
Come dancing here -
But I pity the flower without branch or root."

"You think I am dead,"
A soft voice said,
"Because not a branch or root I own.
I never have died, but close I hide
In a plumy seed that the wind has sown.

"Patient I wait through the long winter hours;
You will see me again -
I shall laugh at you then,
Out of the eyes of a hundred flowers.

Edith Matilda Thomas  (1854 - 1925)

 

Snow Day

 And The Snow Came.

  

 

 

 

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 Eme

Wolf Moon

The first full moon of 2021 — 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

Nesting

 

"Surely everyone is aware of the divine pleasures which attend a wintry fireside; candles at four o’clock, warm hearthrugs, tea, a fair tea-maker, shutters closed, curtains flowing in ample draperies to the floor, whilst the wind and rain are raging audibly without."
 ~ Thomas De Quincey 1796 

 

 

Brambly Hedge : Illustrated by Jill Barklem

Winter Days

Our days have been filled with glorious sunshine.

The daffodils are shooting up from the ground, offering the promise of spring.

I tidied around the porches and fiddled in the potting shed yesterday, it's hard to stay cooped up when the sun is shining.

After a welcomed, warm and sunshiny day, today it's back to rain, dark and dreary.

A cozy day to enjoy inside.

Wishing you peace, in whatever little corner of the world, you call home.....

    

Little Things That Make Me Smile

  "As the years pass, I am coming more and more to understand that it is the common, everyday blessings of our common everyday lives for which we should be particularly grateful."

                                                            ~ Laura Ingalis Wilder

 

 

  

Hobbit Days

As with much of the nation we are experiencing a blast of cold winter weather.
It's predicted for much of the coming week, so hearty soups are the go-to meal of the day.

 

 

I've made a fifteen bean soup today, chocked full of country ham, celery, onions, tomatoes, carrots, garlic, and chili spice.

Served with a slice of buttermilk cornbread, it's the ideal comfort food, on a blustery cold day.
Come join us for a bowl.

 

 

 

 

We'll leave the light on for you ! 

 

 

 

 

If you feel like making your own pot, here's the original recipe.

• 1 lb. smoked sausage, ground sausage (browned in pan), ham hocks or diced ham. Our favorite is to use a leftover hambone with some meat on it.
  1 lg. onion, diced
  1 clove garlic, minced
  1 tsp chili powder (optional)
  1 can diced tomatoes (15 oz.)
  Juice from 1 lemon
  Bay Leaf

• 
  

• I also add:  

  Two stalks of celery
  Three cubed potatoes 
  Two sliced carrots

• Optional: Hot sauce or crushed red pepper to taste

 Original 15 Bean Soup® recipe Hurst Beans

Snow-Flakes

Under a cold spell for the past few days, the resident deer have been showing up at the water trough.

A group of eight does, mamas and their babies.

All fat and healthy, they have quite a variety to choose from in the nearby pasture and woods.

My arborvitaes  however, seem to be their favorites.

 

 

 

 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.~~

All Creatures Great and Small: Official Trailer

Masterpiece Theatre's 50th celebration kicks off with the new beloved James Herriot series All Creatures Great And Small,  based on the books by James Alfred Wright.

As Wright wrote the All Creatures series as an autobiographical account, to protect his identity, he created the name James Herriot as a pseudonym.

Treat yourself to a nice pot of tea, finish off those left-over Mince Pies, and settle in for a delightful evening of entertainment. Sunday 8pm.

Check your local listings for times.

                                                   🏡

Tea-Sipping Day

There are whispers of the "s" word in the forecast, just when the sunshine has returned, and green shoots are popping up all over the garden.
I hope the weather-forecasters have missed the mark on this one.

The Christmas decorations were returned to their boxes this morning, another year done and dusted.

We've been spending our days binge -watching Poldark *swoon* on Public Broadcasting Service, my annual donation affords a "Passport" status, allowing unlimited streaming  episodes of Masterpiece Theatre throughout the year.

A little respite in an otherwise chaotic world.