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 2025 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
 

❤

Peace On Earth, Goodwill Towards 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

The Longest Night

    The longest night of the year, with the Cold Moon as it's companion.

                                                       Winter arrives.

 

" Lighting one candle

from another -

Winter night "

 

~ Buson

Christmas Memories

Each year as I'm busying myself with the Christmas decorating, my thoughts turn to home.
The traditions at Christmas that have stood the test of time throughout many English households.

The partaking of mince pies, raspberry trifle, sausage rolls, steamed plum pudding, and Christmas cake laden with dried fruit , marzipan and Royal Icing...hard as a rock.

Gathering around the television or the radio and listening to the Queen's Speech.

Afterwards a tipple of traditional sherry, or port, toasting the season and good health to all !

The pulling of the Christmas crackers before eating turkey dinner, wearing the paper party hats, laughing at the silly paper jokes inside, and delighting in the small prizes, most often magic tricks, or plastic trinkets.

Happy times, that are gratefully forever etched in our memories .......... 

                                          

Nesting

Winter weather has set in, cold and blustery.

There are whispers of the "s" word in the forecast, the hearth is lit, candles and twinkly lights glow.

A portly kitty sleeps.

 

"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

Thankful

Thanksgiving is just around the corner.

We have many blessings to be thankful for this year.
Children, Grandchildren, great-grandchildren , relatives and friends, for which we are eternally grateful.
A year of good health, and  peace in our little corner of the world. 
Wishing you and yours a Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving dear friends.

                                                           💗

 

Wooly Socks And Flip-Flops

We've been spoiled up until this point, with warmer than usual days, many not requiring the wearing of a jacket.

The last few pleasant days of Autumn, with sunshine aplenty.

Last night, the  temperatures fell into the thirties, no more flip-flops, now the winter boots and woolly socks appear.

Mother Nature sprinkled the landscape with frost, just enough to decorate for the season.

The birds have taken to their nests, the turkeys lead their flocks to the nightly roost.

Winter days will soon be here,  but in just 119 short days, Spring will once again return.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“The leaves fall, the wind blows, and the farm country slowly changes from the summer cottons into its winter wools.”

~ Henry Beston : Northern Farm

Plans On Hold

My plans to start outdoor Christmas decorating were put on hold, as a gentle rain has been falling throughout the day.
The house is dark and cozy, the teapot is full, candles are glowing, and a portly kitty sleeps at my feet.
Maybe tomorrow......

The Nesting Season

The ground is soaked from a day of rain. Much needed rain, for which we are grateful.

I've been busy running errands today, ticking off my to-do list.
Hearty soups have now become the meal of choice.
Nights are noticeably cooler, and darkness falls before the clock strikes five..
Candlelight glows.
The nesting season begins.

                                                     

Foggy Start

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

Rain is falling, and predicted for the next couple of days.

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

Traveling home down Main street our little town has installed  twinkling Christmas lights  on each light pole , it's such a magical time of the year.

 

In The Spirit

   A little early decorating.

Just to get in the "spirit" of things.

                                                                   👻 👻👻

Season Of Mists

Autumn morning mists came calling.

The grass is wet with a heavy dew, taking most of the afternoon before it is dry to the touch.

Down on main street, shopkeepers display their pumpkins and Autumn fayre.

Orange and yellows are now the colors of the season.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

"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

Autumn Muskiness

 

“It was one of those sumptuous days when the world is full of autumn muskiness and tangy, crisp perfection: vivid blue sky, deep green fields, leaves in a thousand luminous hues. It is a truly astounding sight when every tree in a landscape becomes individual, when each winding back highway and plump hillside is suddenly and infinitely splashed with every sharp shade that nature can bestow - flaming scarlet, lustrous gold, throbbing vermilion, fiery orange.”

        ~ Bill Bryson

Perfection

The most perfect of Fall days. 

A mere seventy four degrees, sunshine and NO humidity, which is rare as hen's teeth for this part of the country.

Tom-Tilly is chasing leaves around the garden, she seems to have accepted that Oliver is off on his travels, wherever they may have taken him...... 

There is much garden work to do before the first frost appears, but for now, a little down-time between seasons is enjoyed, and savored.

Salt Box Houses

 Primitive New England saltbox houses.
I do seem to have a soft spot for them.

Shine On Harvest Moon

The Harvest Moon brightened up the night sky as soon as the sun set.

For several days before and after the full moon, the moon hangs in the sky like a great, glowing lantern and prolongs the light far after sunset. It rises about the time the sun sets, but more importantly, at this time of year, instead of rising at its normal average of 40 minutes later each day, the moon seems to rise at nearly the same time each night.
This results in an abundance of bright moonlight early in the evening, which was a traditional aide to farmers and crews harvesting their summer-grown crops. Hence, the name "Harvest" Moon. 

Simply magical !

It is the Harvest Moon! On gilded vanes

And roofs of villages, on woodland crests

And their aerial neighborhoods of nests

Deserted, on the curtained window-panes

Of rooms where children sleep, on country lanes

And harvest-fields, its mystic splendor rests!

Gone are the birds that were our summer guests,

With the last sheaves return the laboring wains!

All things are symbols: the external shows

Of Nature have their image in the mind,

As flowers and fruits and falling of the leaves;

The song-birds leave us at the summer's close,

Only the empty nests are left behind,

And pipings of the quail among the sheaves.

~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

September Days

There is a stillness in the air, a slowing-down of sorts.

Nights are closing in fast, and darkness falls before the clock strikes seven thirty..

Candlelight glows.

 

 

Summer's Gold

                                                       

" Oh, the summer night 

     Has a smile of light, 

And she sits on a sapphire throne".

Barry Cornwall

Through The Garden Gate

                                                   Sunshine and the humming of bees.

Makes for happy flowers.