January is Here!

Happy New Year 2015

Gentle Reader ~~~ is it not hard to believe that January 2015 is here already? Where did the last year fly to?  I've put up my Susan Branch calendar and if you hurry, there may still be some left.  

The wind of Winter is blowing from the East, so maybe Mary Poppins will drift by one day soon?

Cold and chill, no longer fragrant with the faded flowers of last Summer, whip and whistle through branches stripped of leaves long fallen to the forest floor.  Time to reflect on a year gone, and wonder, ponder what the New Year will bring ~~~

Here are some of my favourite pictures that I took towards the end of 2014 ~~~ some late Autumn colours, like a sprinkling of confetti, a remnant of a memory, scattered over the barest branches ~~~

A mossy wall and ivy clothed trees bring green to the muddy brown landscape ~~~ 

This particular bridge has always fascinated me ~~~ there is no vestige of path leading up to it, it is surrounded by fields on both sides of the bank, and it is quite a clamber to the top ~~~ it just sits there, the endless waters running underneath ~~~ my lovely, lonely bridge to nowhere ~~~

The newly refurbished clock faces on the cathedral tower ~~~ my, how lovely they do look, indeed, marking time and ever marching to the future ~~~

The wild and wintery looking sky of late afternoon across the Shire ~~~

Some amazing fungi ~ do you remember the secret fairy doorway? Well, it was hiding a great secret indeed ~~~ just look at what sprung up in the doorway ~~~

Here is a short musical interlude ~~~ the Tower Bells peal out across the gardens and the meadows of the Shire ~~~

Now Autumn is gone and the Winter sun sits low in the sky preparing for the long, slow climb ahead, and makes a nearby outcrop look quite spectacular in the late afternoon sunshine at Christmas ~~~ do I espy some people who have climbed all the way to the top?

There is a new tapestry, custom made to fit an alcove in the north transept of the cathedral ~~~ 

It is dedicated to Saint Caradog ~~~

The tree is lit in the village, on the Square ~~~

My hand shook taking this one, but I do love how each tiny light looks like a jolly jingling note of music, strung across the Square ~~~

Here is a picture of one of my favourite breakfasts during the Winter, when warm and filling food is called for to stave off the biting winds that blow ~~~ porridge made with almond milk, and topped off with a sprinkling of muscavado sugar and a generous helping of my home made Cranberry Relish with some whole almonds ~~~

The wind is whipping wildly about my cottage tonight and I am glad to be indoors and sitting by the fireside.  There are gardening catalogues by my chair and I peruse their pages often through the day as I plan what will be planted in the garden in the Spring ~~~ but in the meantime, remember that ~~~

~~~ A Gardener's Work is Never Done ~~~