Happy New Year

Wishing a rainbow of happiness to you for the new year.

Magic in the Morning

Walking in the pale morning light...still sleepy....a sudden noise alerted the Lodger...bounding out of the woods came two hares....oblivious to us the played in the grass...a game of hare tag.....spellbound we watched them....dive into the undergrowth...jump out again...tag...change direction....magic.


I have seen more hares in this year than the rest of my life..they must love wiltshire...i am always entranced by their size and their beauty....unfortunately they are also hunted...while picking up our boar sausages from the game dealer before Christmas I saw a box of dead hares..their silken fur cold and bloodied....long graceful limbs all akimbo....i got back into the car and silently wept.....

In Valentine Warner's cookbook he gives a recipe for hare..but then adds....

'one day while walking the Berkshire downs I came across a circle of nine hares, facing inward..in the centre two hares were back to back as if facing a jury, pupils or tribe..on sensing me they scattered in all directions...from that day i have never lifted a gun to a hare...i am convinced they have access to natures secrets'

Oh that everyone felt that way....God speed you out of danger magical beasts.

Seasons Greetings

Sending many Happy Christmas wishes to everyone who visits me....with blessings for a peaceful and happy time to you and your families....

Winter Wonderland

After trekking to the shops at the crack of dawn this morning I was rewarded by a magical trip home......the snow that had fallen last night was clinging to the branches...sparkling.....frosty....



...this mist rising from the lake.....



...a filigree tracery of branches.....




...I hope the weather hasn't caused you any problems....

winter sun

Winter walk in an old haunt of ours.....very excited Scottie dog....icy underfoot...freezing cold......


weakening late afternoon sun.....winter solstice tomorrow.....i look forward to the slowly lenghtening days....

Thou Gloomy December

I have just watched the culture show with this incredible piece of poetry from Robert Burns written in 1791 it stirred by heart today...
read by Robert Carlyle....it is absolutely haunting..(click on title to play this piece)

my life is a treadmill of cooking and shopping with hardly a minute to spend thinking about anything else...its my job and this time of year is just mad...

after a long day...watching this...i was spellbound....outside it is frosty...we may have more snow....

remembering long nights in Scotland....living close to the land...the seasons embedded in you....the simplicity....the history surrounding you....Rabbie Burns....the Ettrick Shepherd..Tibbie Shiels Inn....the Grey Mares Tail....the people....the land...the laughter and the tears....another life pushes into my memory....

The Calm and The Fury...

These last few days have passed in a whirl of cooking....shopping....chores....mostly work but some fun as well....my big brother was over from his home in France....he has a very significant birthday this month....as i said to him....its just WRONG!!!!....how can he possibly be that old when only yesterday he was mending beaten up cars on our parents driveway...making me listen to Jimmy Hendrix and generally putting up with an annoying younger sister!!!....Happy Birthday Gra....



....on an quickly taken lunchtime walk with the Lodger...the rain had stopped for a moment...we headed around the muddy path of the lake.....
there wasn't a breath of wind and it's stillness reflected the winter glory of the countryside....
the birds were singing...ducks and swans swum on the water....a glimpse of the crested grebe diving into the mirror depths.....
then suddenly a sight I had not seen before on this lake.....
a flash of turquoise skimming low across the waters surface.....a kingfisher....tiny...fast....stunningly beautiful....i feel so privileged to have seen this little rare beauty .......it lifted my spirted..they soared.....






..from the calm..to the fury of the sight over the dam....cascades of tumbling water...fast and furious after all the rains......

the power.....
nature is always so amazing......

Blue Sky Rising

mist settles
in the hollows
floating
over the still waters
below
deep in the depths
the pike glide
waiting
above
the swans caress
their snowy down
I watch
and see nothing
save the blue sky
rising.

Last night I dreamed of...

I love it when something I dream about really touches me.....last night I dreamed of my old English bull terrier ( terror!!)..its been six months since he died and I have to say I really miss him...as does The Lodger....




...in my dream..I was gardening in the sunshine and Louis was prancing around with a flower pot in his mouth like a circus pony.....this was one of his party tricks...along with balancing a five foot long fallen branch on his back and fetching two tennis balls in his mouth....he had many tricks....but what the dream told me was that if you really have that love of life....that joy for living and filling each day ( even if it was doggy hours and there was a lot of destruction involved!!!)...it can still touch lives whatever dimension its in.....

Frost....

The first day of December and our first hard frost.....last night was so beautiful...a full moon and so bright I didn't need a torch for the last dog walk of the day.....the stars sparkling like fairy lights strung up just for me.....but so cold......