Wednesday 25 November 2020

No Man's Land

Hello Friends!

It's a no man's land between the seasons now; days are mostly void of colour and subtle shades of graphite wash over the fields and the valleys and the hills; the flowers of Summer and the leaves of Autumn have blown away, gone for another year, and only seed heads and skeletons remain, starkly standing against the sky, to remind us of the long gone days of Summer. Autumn days shift, and drift around us in swirling mists and Winter starts to nip at your nose and your toes.

Rain falls, often in great curtains of water, sheets of rain that fall from the cloud laden sky and often all is backlit by a pale shaft of sunlight that reminds us of that which is hidden from view

The gales of late Autumn batter us with increasing regularity and thoughts turn more and more to being indoors.  Hallowe'en decorations are down, but the seasonal pumpkins and leaves still decorate my home and will do until Thanksgiving brings this time of year to its conclusion.  Although I no longer bake a special meal, for it seems a bit odd to carry on a tradition observed from a different chapter of my life, and as a Welshwoman living in Wales I have now returned to celebrating Harvest Thanksgiving in early October, as is the way here.

Of course, a plus of all the cloudy weather means that occasionally we still see some lovely sunsets out to the west of the cottage and all the bare branched trees provide a perfect foil.


Occasionally, we have an unexpected break in the grey, late Autumn weather and we are blessed with that most precious of things, a blue skied, brightly sunny day.  Although cold, I wrapped up warm and did a few hours clearing in the garden.  These are the views to the west and north, respectively, from my future vegetable plot.



Sadly the fortnightly garden waste collection finishes this coming week, so I will have to make a corner in which to place the pernicious weeds if I am to continue clearing the garden without the bin collection.

It's Thanksgiving in America, and although we don't celebrate in Wales, I still think it's time to bring out the turkey patterned plates I found earlier this year.  Even though I am a vegetarian, they are so beautiful it is a shame not to trot them out again.  As the traditional meat for Christmas Dinner in Wales is turkey, I will keep them out through December.  

They are by Johnson Bros and are, I think, called stoneware, and look as if they are hand coloured on a transfer.

Barnyard King is the first, and the second is Wild Turkey


Soon, thoughts will turn to Christmas decorating, and I wonder how these holidays will be marked this year.  Will we be able to gather responsibly with limited numbers of close family, or will we have to stay put and celebrate responsibly and in a very different way, according to the guidelines dictated in our various regions.   However you celebrate, have as wonderful a day as you can manage while keeping everyone safe.

Some birds of a different sort now, a couple of garden birds happily foraging some forgotten apples.





Finally, despite the cooling, sunless days overall, I had quite a surprise to find these in the strawberry pots this morning.  The seasons sure are as out of kilter as the year has been.



Until next time
Stay safe and well
Deborah xoxo

19 comments:

  1. Beautiful words and photos. It must be wonderful to see the sea from your garden - what tremendous views you have. Lovely to see pictures of your garden birds too. A super post. Take care and stay safe and well.

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    1. Thank you, Ragged Robin. They are distant sea views, but even a glimpse of the colours of the sky, sea, and land is heart warming during a break. Stay safe and well, my friend!

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  2. Your garden has the most wonderful view, love it! And fancy finding strawberries in November! The birds seem to be enjoying their apples, too. Love your Turkey plates, so beautiful. Have a great day tomorrow even though you don't celebrate Thanksgiving It's bedtime here so I'll say good night! Stay safe! Hugs, Valerie

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    1. Thank you, Valerie. Yes, it's amazing to find those tiny berries holding on. Hope you had a restful night! Stay safe and well.

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  3. The views from your garden are indeed stunning, dear Deb. I would have a hard time not staying in your garden to enjoy those lovely vistas and beautiful birds. I'm so glad you will be leaving those handsome turkey platters out until Christmas. These are certainly uncertain times, but it's always lovely to visit with you here. Take care, my friend. xoxo

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    1. Thank you, Martha Ellen. I do wish the views didn't have so many interruptions on other sides, but people need houses too. Stay safe and well, and Happy Thanksgiving to you and Grayden. xoxo

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  4. I love your sentiment here and your turkey plates, so glad you’ve brought them out! Stay safe, kim.

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    1. Thank you, Kim. Stay Safe and well. Happy Thanksgiving

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  5. I always thought the harvest festival should be celebrated earlier when harvests were more abundant.

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    1. Thank you Sue. I think the primary difference is Americans seem to celebrate, give thanks for, family and friends, whereas ours is harvest based. Stay safe and well.

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  6. I am red-faced now as I sent you an email telling you it was Thanksgiving over here. Of course you already knew that, silly me. What a lovely post. Your words are magical and the photos are mesmerizing. The view from your garden...breathtaking. The birds are adorable and the turkey platters are gorgeous. A very satisfying read. Love it~

    Love and hugs and prayers,
    Darlene

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    1. Thank you, my friend. Wish you could see it in person. Have a wonderful day today, although it will be different and strange. My love to all of you. Happy Thanksgiving. Stay safe and well, Hugs, Deb xoxo

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  7. This is a lovely post. Also, there's no reason those of us who don't eat meat (I'm a vegan) can't have cute turkey patterned plates to eat our dinner off, or any reason why those of us who celebrate the harvest festivals earlier than November (I'm Welsh too) can't enjoy the Thanksgiving themed decorations until it's time to decorate for Christmas.

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    1. Thank you, Victoria. I try so hard to be vegan, but fall epically at the first piece of cheese. I'm getting ready to take Autumn and Thanksgiving down this weekend to clean for Christmas decorating next. Stay safe and well!

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    2. That happens to a lot of people... Cheese took me longest to give up too, despite the fact I'm actually allergic to dairy so shouldn't have been having it anyhow.

      Have fun with your Christmas decorating after the cleaning.

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  8. These were lovely words to describe the changing season, Deborah, and the photos were a wonderful accompaniment as well. The turkey plates are beautiful and I have never used holiday plates, but these could be used for anything or simply used for display as they are very colorful. I also liked the font you used and couldn’t find anything similar in google’s listing. I started taking down the fall seasonal decos outside our apt entry on Thanksgiving as they had been up since the start of Sept and it was time.

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  9. Deb, I use my turkey plates on stands for decoration. I read your twitter today about cutting your hair. I have a short haircut, and I cut 3 sturdy pieces of cardboard for guides 2" for the back, 2 1/4 for the sides, and 2 3/4 for the top. I small sections of hair and place the card board next to it and cut and keep doing it until it's done, Then I take my chances cutting around the bottom of the back. If I get tired, I do it in spurts throughout the day. It actually looks quite good, and saves me a lot of money, plus keeps me safe. Maybe this would work for you. I'd love your mac and cheese recipe if you'd like to share. I understand if you don't want to share such a special recipe, as I live in the US. you wouldn't have to worry about me showing up at your potlucks with it... Nadolig Llawen... Sue

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    1. I am thinking about blogging the recipe. It is in one of those fundraiser organisation cook books, but in a modified version and that is what I am thinking to do. One person, and one person only, has the original recipe and she has to give me her first born grand child! We're still waiting.

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  10. It makes me happy to see the Blue Tit and the Blackbird feeding on the apples. There are probably fat, juicy grubs in there.

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