February 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.
The laughter of school children could be heard, enjoying a few hours of playtime before darkness draws in.

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

 

News From Gobbler's Knob

Rabbits have been making a show in the garden, nibbling on the new shoots of grass.

The songbirds are once again appearing , a good sign that life is beginning to awaken.
It appears that winter is not yet over, according to the legendary groundhog Punxsutawney Phil.
Six more weeks and hopefully we'll be well on our way to warmer days and blue skies.

 

 

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

 

 

  

Timeless Treasures

I have a fondness for English Staffordshire Ware.

One look at those pastoral village scenes, and I'm transported back to my grandmother's kitchen, where her cupboard displayed shelf upon shelf of these timeless treasures.

I can see the kitchen table covered in a freshly-starched embroidered tablecloth, the milk-jug sitting atop, awaiting the first of many pots of tea served throughout the day.

Treasured memories of gentler times........

 

 

 

One of my favorite collections are from the Alfred Meakin "Tintern" series.

I'm drawn to their bucolic scenes from years gone by.

 

 

"Come along inside ~ We'll see if tea and buns will make the world a better place."

~ Wind in the Willows

 

Silent And Soft

We awoke this morning to a winter wonderland.

Soft, wet snowflakes, blanketing the ground, cocooning us in a world of silence.
A gentle accumulation, it's as if Mother Nature took her powdered sugar shaker, and gave the landscape a sprinkling.
Magical.

 

 

 

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.~~

 

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