It Is Christmas

It's pouring down here today. So much so that we are under a flood watch through much of Saturday.

Not the best kind of weather to be finishing up the last of the shopping, but if you are all done, then it's the perfect day for nesting.

 

 

 It is Christmas in the mansion,
Yule-log fires and silkin frocks.
It is Christmas in the cottage,
Mother filling little socks.
It is Christmas in the highway,
In the thronging, busy mart.
But the dearest, truest Christmas
Is the Christmas in the heart.
Author Unknown

 

A Mid-December Stroll

Snowflakes fell from the sky, unusual for this time of the year, in Tennessee.

No accumulations, just gently falling, like a dusting of confectioners sugar on a bare landscape.

 

 

" The rapid nightfall of mid-December had quite beset the little villages they approached on soft feet over a first thin fall of powdery snow.
Little was visible but squares of a dusky orange-red on either side of the street, where the firelight or lamplight of each cottage overflowed through the casements into the dark world without.
Most of the low latticed windows were innocent of blinds, and moving from one to another, the lookers-in, so far from home themselves, watched a cat being stroked, a sleepy child picked up and huddled off to bed, or a tired man stretch and knock out his pipe on the end of a smouldering log."

Ratty and Mole, In The Village. ~ Wind in the Willows

Turkey Talk

I came across this Johnson Brothers Barnyard King plate at one of the local antique shops several years ago.
One plate all by itself, I could only imagine what an entire dinner service would have looked like.



I'm going to display it for the Thanksgiving season, the colors on this picture do not do the piece justice, they are all hand engraved and made in England.

Barnyard King, what could be a more fitting name.

Wind

We have a wind advisory out today, blustery and menacing.

Birds were literally flying sideways.

 

 

 

Oliver cat and Tom -Tilly have spent hours chasing swirling leaves, now they are snuggled in their beds, wore out from the day's fun.

 

 

 

My granddaughter came bearing gifts.

Sweet little wool Christmas ornaments, guess who they resemble.....

I couldn't be more tickled.

Soup's On

A dark and dreary day.
Rain is falling.
The perfect time to warm up with a hearty bowl of homemade soup.

Cabbage and Bean Soup

Navy or Northern Beans
Cabbage
Onions
Carrots
Celery
Ham Hock
Smoked sausage or Kielbasa sliced
Chicken Stock
28oz can of whole tomatoes
Bay Leaf
Salt and Pepper
Basil and thyme to taste.

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, chopped tomatoes,  continue to simmer for an additional hour and a half.
Add water if needed.

Serve with buttermilk cornbread, or a nice crusty French loaf.

Yum

Lest We Forget

They fell, but o'er their glorious grave

Floats free the banner of the cause they died to save.

~Francis Marion Crawford

 

God Bless  all the service men and women, without whose unselfish commitment, our lives would be forever changed.

 

Oliver Love

Eight years ago, on a cold November day,  this handsome, ginger boy stopped by our house and said hello.

I gave him a handful of treats, and then he disappeared as mysteriously as he came.

He returned the following spring, and despite my best effort to try and find his family he decided to call our humble abode, home.

We couldn't be more blessed.

 

 

Holding On

The trees were just beginning their Autumn show, a little over a month ago.

And when we were finally receiving some much needed rain, we had our first freeze of the season.

Everything seemed to stop.

 

 

Yesterday, we awoke to an incredible sunrise, it cast an orange hue across the landscape. The difference a month makes, between changing landscapes.
 The grass has now gone to bed until Spring.
Leaf-raking begins.

 

 

 

We still have color on the trees, and more to come, from the late-comers of the woods.

 

 


There's talk of an upcoming power outage on social media.
In reality, this is a regular drill used by the Army Military Auxiliary Radio System also known as MARS to test what would happen if there ever were a large scale power or communications outage.

A statement released by the defense department says:
“The exercise will simulate a power outage scenario, it will not impact public or private communications. There will be no power outages of communication systems. This exercise is designed to improve readiness, build cooperation and public awareness, and better prepared to defend the nation.”

In the event, things do not go as planned. I'll see you on the other side.

The best of luck to us all.

 

 

 

For The Love Of A Cat

Oliver came bearing gifts this morning.

A squirmy snake......

Trick or treat.

🐍

 

 

"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains un-awakened"
 

~Anatole France

Long Awaited

I can hardly contain my excitement.

It's raining bucket-loads !!

image credit : unknown.

Season Of Mists

Our day started with a thick, soupy fog, and much cooler weather than we have had in weeks.

It lingered all morning long, making driving quite dangerous.

Of all days, I had appointments to keep, and putting them on hold wasn't an option.

By noon, the fog had lifted, and sunshine had made an appearance.

A typical Autumn day, I tried to forget it was Friday the 13th.

 

Home Sweet Home

 

 

Braided rugs
Tea-filled mugs
Flowers in jugs
Familiar hugs
Heartstring tugs
Home........

🏠

Autumn Days

Mother Nature must have heard our pleas for rain and obliged, courtesy of hurricane Nate.
The trees are slowly beginning their changing of color, yellows, oranges and reds.
Pumpkins are now decorating porches and gardens.
The songbirds busily returning to their winter homes.
The kettle is on the hob, and two sleepy felines are curled up by the hearth.
Autumn the gentle season.....

Rain-Less

We have been without rainfall for over a month now.

Our Autumn days have been unusually dry, considering throughout the Spring and Summer seasons we had more than our share of rain.

The lack of moisture will affect our Fall leaf show, trees have begun to lose their leaves, with very little color in sight.

The sunsets however remain spectacular.

 

 

 

 

Keeping Vigil

The fox has made an appearance once again.

Oliver is on watch detail.

 *sigh*

🦊

Seasons of Mists and Mello Fruitfulness

There is a subtle change in the air.

Cool mist-filled mornings, and daytime temperatures are seasonably pleasant.

Trees are slowly changing from greens to oranges and browns,  Autumn is unmistakably around the corner.

 

 

 

 
 

"Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,

Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;

Conspiring with him how to load and bless

With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;

To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,

And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;

To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells

With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,

And still more, later flowers for the bees,

Until they think warm days will never cease,

For Summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells."

~ John Keats
 

Watching

Oliver sits beside me when I spend time on the computer.

I'm sure he wonders what could possibly be the attraction.

 

Through The Garden Gate

Rain today.

It makes for happy flowers