Beautiful Light!

Hello Friends!

Happy New Year!
Blwyddyn Newydd Dda!

During the month of December I did not want to swamp you with my usual posts but I did keep writing, so let's start a little catch up, shall we?

December has generally been an unusually warm and calm month, and early in December I felt particularly blessed for there were some outstandingly lovely days for the time of year, and the light that cast it's golden glow over the Shire was magical. We saw a couple of mornings with a light ground frost and that always makes a delicious subject for me to capture.  Here are some of the photographs I took when December was young ~~~

On a beautiful, clear and crisp afternoon, the sun slowly lowering and casting a warm glow as I was looking out over the red roof ridge tiled converted chapel towards Carn Llidi ~~~ the smoke billowing from the chimney making the elephant of the rock's trunk look even longer ~~~

We had some beautiful sunsets throughout the month.  I always marvel at the diversity, the colours, the intensities of each new sunset and as each one shifts and changes as the twilight falls ~~~ I look at this and see a secret faerie village emerging from the gloaming ~~~ do you see it too?

A bare Sycamore tree, long divested of leaves and seeds, but with an evergreen Privet wreathing it's feet, it stands stunning, a skeletal form against the brilliant, bright blue sky of a cold winter's morning ~~~

On a cold and frosty morning ~~~ yes, one day I awoke to a silvery, frost kissed garden ~~~ it did not last long so I scurried about catching a few pretty, silvery frosty pictures while the day was young ~~~

A certain light, as the evening sun slips slowly into the west, casts a golden glow across all it touches, brings gleaming spires to the Shire ~~~

One pretty morning while I was in my laundry room I felt as if I was being watched ~~~ and I was!  I scurried off to fetch my camera hoping the pair of eyes would still be there, and they were!  Isn't this the most beautiful cat? The photos do not do justice to it's beautiful deep green eyes ~~~

It is a very well looked after and cared for cat, but if there was any shadow of doubt over this I would be looking to adopt it! He, or she, is a beauty.

Here are a few photos that I've shared before but I am rather fond of these so am sharing again ~~~

Autumn leaves captured in ice

even the compost bin log takes on an original twist in the frost

Alchemilla Mollis in heavy fros 

Alchemilla Mollis in heavy frost

Over the Christmas period I was looking for something, what that was is not important, but in my search I came across some long forgotten photographs, you remember those? Old, grainy, 35mm film that fades away with time, that we had to hand over the spool of film to get printed out by a specialist in photographic printing? Well, I've done a little experiment and taken photographs of the photographs! Here they are ~~~ they are from the rural area around the Somerset county town of Taunton, where I lived for six months in 2000~01. Every Sunday I would take a long walk out into the surrounding countryside, past tiny villages and through hamlets, surrounded by deep red freshly ploughed fields, sheep grazing in pastures lush and green, and bare trees standing tall against the winter sky that were full of big balls of magical mistletoe ~~~ I had no idea where I was, just wandering and meandering along using the rising sun as my compass and guide ~~~ oh, how I wish I'd had a digital camera back then ~~~

Until next time ~~~
~~~Deborah xoxo

The Return of Muse

Hello Friends!

Just the other day something unexpected happened. Long have I said my writing Muse has been on extended vacation, and there were times I felt she'd upped and left with no intention of returning. For so long I have felt I've just told you about my photos in a near clinical way instead of with my usual flourishes and curlicues,  but then, last Friday, I had an unexpected trip to a nearby beach and all that changed in an instant. You see, this was so unexpected I got well and truly caught out, for my camera was at home and for the first time in a long time I was "out and about" without it.

Shock! 

Horror!
Blind Panic!

What was I to do? The offer was made, it was too good to pass up, and I had to go there and then with no time to return home for my trusty friend, so off I went. It was a glorious day and the opportunity too good to pass up. I was near to tears without my camera, and feeling strangely alien not holding it in my hands ready to snap away, biting at the opporunities to shoot. As we drove along, all I could think was, "oh! look at that!" "that would be a great shot" or "isn't it a shame I don't have my camera" and so on until the unexpected happened {as it always tends to do when you least expect it, or aren't looking for it} I had one of those epiphany moments and suddenly realised I was letting this get in the way of me enjoying the moment. What do they call that? I think it is Mindfulness?

After getting over the initial shock of being camera~less, I found I had stopped looking at everything from a compositional viewpoint and was no longer subconsciously analysing how it would fit in the frame; I became aware that I was engaging with what was right there in front of me for the first time in a long time. It is astonishing how the camera has changed how I look at the world, or not look at it depending on the way you interpret all the time behind the lens. The camera is quite a distraction to actually appreciating what is right there in front of you; you get the shot but you miss the moment and the feeling.  I have said this before, the photographer is so focused {groan, bad pun} on capturing the moment that the moment is gone and they have not enjoyed or been part of the emotional experience.

Suddenly, my Muse was right there alongside me, helping me record the beauty of the moment in thoughts and memory! I had not realised, much as I love my photography, how much my reliance on the lens has destroyed my natural sense of recording ~ that is sight transposed into words! I am still reeling from the shock of all this, but it seems, to me, the camera has become to my writing what texting has become to conversation.

So, not a Wordless Wednesday, it isn't even Wednesday as I type, but a Picture~less Prose instead to record my half hour in nature on Friday last ~~~

We puttered along the quiet country lanes; there is very little traffic at this time of year, the world is a very different place compared to the height of summer when the roads are crammed jammed with tourists driving Chelsea Tractors, caravans, walkers and bicyclists. The stone hedges rise high, green covered, with red berried hawthorn bushes cresting the tops as nature decorates with festive bounty in Christmas colours ~~~

The day was clear as crystal, and over the tops of the hedges we could see as far as the hills allowed and we peeked through gateways at meadows and fields rolling away into the distance.  On and on we rode, down to the stream that winds lazily across the farm spotted fields and meadows of this corner of the Shire. As we came up the other side, a rocky outcrop dominated the skyline, as a sleeping dragon, clear and sharp guarding the land that lies beneath the sky.  Nearby, hardy golfers teed off, ready for a chilly walk in the cold winds that bluster in off the ocean just below the nine hole links ~~~

A tree stood, in the garden of a quaint stone cottage, bedecked with recycled buoys as giant oversized decorations, boldly bright and lots of seaside fun!  We gasped and giggled in amazement at the novelty ~~~

On we travelled, and we bounced merrily along the country lanes and down the other side to the now deserted beach; the tide was low and the pale golden sand stretched lazily before us as it gleamed, glittering grains in the glorious sunshine, contrasting against the icy blue and cloudless sky of a perfect late Autumn morning. Ah! the delight of respite from the howling winds and rain that battered just a few days earlier. The sea and sky both the shade of blue that was perfectly painted by that master of paint ~Turner ~ and with barely a ripple breaking the surface the day felt as lazy and languid as the barely existent waves.  The ocean view stretched way out yonder to the far and flat horizon, with the Bishops and Clerks offshore islands seeming almost close enough to touch; the Irish ferry chugged along to Pembroke Dock in a sea so calm it belies the storm that lashed against the rugged cliffs just a few short days ago ~~~

Two or three small groups strolled, long shadows casting across the sand as they walked along the water's edge, their dogs speeding hither and thither along the beach and splashing in the salty shallows while away in the distance, towards St Davids Head, a lone gannet flew; suddenly it's wings snatched back, it turned in an instant to dive as it plummeted beneath the surface of the ocean deep to snatch an unsuspecting fish for breakfast ~~~

All too soon we had to return to the village and back to my cottage for mugs of steaming hot tea to warm us up for, despite the beauty of the sun shining on us, the day was seasonably cold but still my heart is full and warm with the memories of a lovely morning, and with grateful thanks for the companionship of my missing Muse ~~~

Until next time ~~~
~~~Deborah xoxo

February Frosty Days and Clear Skies

Gentle Reader ~~~ It has been a while since I wrote here for I have issues, yet again, with the computer.  I have been totally locked out of Facebook for what now seems ages, but I think about a fortnight in reality. I have no idea what is going on, I cannot access my account,so I cannot write anything on the garden page, although I'm told it is still there.  Strangely, though, I am not missing Facebook in the slightest, but at least you know why I am not there now.

I don't know about you, but I find February one of the more confusing months.  I find it a slow month, a grey month, a hard~to~get~going again month. I suffer from mild SAD and February is often my worst month for this and I do my best to overcome the trials of the dark days. Winter is half way through, and it's teeth grip ferociously across the much of northern hemisphere; many of us shiver while the days start to lengthen and we look forward to the returning light and some warmth.  Yet, while I long for longer, lighter and brighter, warmer days ahead, I dread the very thought of the scorching heat of Summer, and part of me clings madly to the cold days of now. I wish we had snow. Snow would make Winter perfect. We seldom have snow here in the west.  I am reading all your lovely journals sharing your snow adventures and photographs, while I sit here with temperatures outside my window at a balmy 36F average!  I know many of you have had more than enough snow, with blizzards and thundersnow, and more, but I long for snow, my heart yearns for snow, but not a flake has fallen from the sky.  Instead, we have had sleesh ~ this is my new word for that horrible wet not~quite~hail and not~quite~sleet stuff that falls and leaves the ground a sloshy sloppy slippy mess. We have had wind, seventy mile an hour winds, and it brought down my television aerial! Thankfully, that was all and no damage was done, and it is fixed again.

Thinking ahead to those lighter and brighter days, Spring Cleaning continues in the cottage albeit slowly!  I find it just a tad too chilly to go and dig the claggy wet soil in the garden at the moment so I am making the most of days spent inside before the garden really starts to call, to clear the cupboards and drawers of things no longer needed. Many bags have gone to the thrift store, mostly to the Red Cross as they collect everything in one go from the cottage saving me a lot of trips.

The wicked winds have mostly dropped and the skies, by day, are mostly clear and blue with promises of Spring around the corner. We did wake up to a light frost the other morning, so I was able to nip out and take a few quick photographs ~~~

This tiny leaf was about the size of a 10p piece, maybe just a little smaller ~~~ so pretty with it's crystal edging of ice ~~~

This is a frost covered mullein plant ~~~ the fuzzy wuzzy hairy leaves look so different now ~~~

I love the light dusting on this leaf, it looks like a delicate mosaic ~~~

Even the lid of the compost bin took on some extra dimension! ~~~

I love walking out in the countryside, especially at this time of year when the leaves are gone and all we see are the skeletal structures of the trees in winter ~~~ here are a couple of my favourites ~~~
The trunk of this one is covered with ivy! ~~~

Moss covered stones bring colour and scatter the ivy covered floor ~~~

I love the different textures when you look closely at the fuzzy moss and the shiny smooth penny wort leaves ~~~

The first early snowdrops of winter ~~~

Clear, cloudless days give way to clear, cloudless twilight evenings and stars twinkle brightly in the darkening blue sky ~~~ this is Venus in the south western evening sky, the brightest star at the moment ~~~

In November ~ oh! how long ago that now seems ~ I planted some onions which I hope to harvest in the late Spring or early Summer ~~~ here they are in December and soon I will be showing you how much they have grown ~~~

I had to put down lots of string, tied across the frames to keep marauding cats and pigeons away! ~~~

I also planted garlic, and it is such a thrill to see the first sight of buds pushing their flavoursome shoots through the soil ~~~

They have even kept growing in the cold ~~~

February has seen me starting to eat more responsibly and sensibly than I have done in recent years.  I do not diet.  Diet is what we eat, not something we do. Here is a typical evening plate of delicious food ~ oven roasted parsnips, carrots, butternut squash, and onions with some spicy baked tofu cubes served on a bed of blanched kale.  Kale is one of my most favourite vegetables.  I am a vegetarian, but a recent health scare made me take a long look at what I eat and how I cook and prepare my food, so I have made some radical changes.  The hardest part was getting through Christmas and January with all the Christmas gifts of chocolate and left overs to deal with!  I have slowly introduced some changes, but this last week has seen me embrace the transition completely.  I have taken on a 'one meal at a time' approach which works for me. I am really enjoying my food.  I have already lost a few pounds and I have a lot more energy, which is a bonus as I find February is the month I seem to have the least energy of all the year. 

Soon, I will be outside working.  The Community Recycling scheme starts on March 12th and I think my bin will be full to overflowing by then!  It is only a month away now and that time will fly by, as January is already gone! I can scarce believe that, can you?

Until next time, when I shall have more photographs of the progress of the onions and garlic, and hopefully be able to outline some of my plans for 2015, remember that ~~~

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

A Kiss of Frost

Gentle Reader ~~~ the sun is shining brightly in a clear, blue Winter sky and the storms have moved on ~~~

Thank you to everyone who took time to reply to my recent question.  You have given me much food for thought, and some of the replies have surprised me in that the font is easy to read on small devices.  I am not going to reply individually {as I usually do} but I have read everything you have said and am now sifting through the pros and cons.  I think the search will be on for something that is  more easily read ~~~sighs and moves over, once more, to the drawing board~~~ but in the meantime, for the next few entries, I am reverting to something more simple ~~~ and it is now more like my own handwriting ~~~ oh, don't you just love an indecisive Libran?

For three days, a Winter storm raged over our heads, with gusting winds of up to 80 mph.  We did not have snow.  Instead, we had rain, rain, and more rain, with some hailstones thrown in for good measure.  The chimney rattled and shook, the rafters in the roof rafted, ~~~ and my rosemary plant of twenty years was rent in two.

We learned a new word.  Thundersnow.  This is the new buzz word I'm hearing or reading it everywhere, or so it seems. We did not have thundersnow, we just had a lot of thunder and lightening with plenty of rain. No snow.  I would love to see thundersnow, for I know it would give an interesting light for photographs.  I see such beauty and possibility in even the most adverse weather conditions, as long as everyone stays safe and free from harm.

We did have some frost! Not very much, but here are a few quick snaps for you ~~~ this first one fascinates me with all the puddly bits underneath the grass ~~~

This one is just frosty kisses on a delicate moss {the current scourge of my lawn} ~~~

After Hallowe'en, I put my pumpkins {the ones that didn't get eaten} in the garden for birds to peck, and this is what it looks like with a dusting of frost ~~~ I see so much in this and I'm itchin' and twitchin' to do some print making from this ~~~

I do not dead head until the Spring, leaving berries and seeds for the birds to forage naturally, as well as supplementing their food from the feeders. It is important for them to forage too ~~~

Tiny speckles of glistening frost on what I think might be a daisy plant ~~~

One of my favourites ~~~ rosy red and orange rose~hips with a backdrop of a frosty pumpkin ~~~

It is time for filling comfort food, and one of my favourite dishes to make in the depths of Winter is my Broccoli and Cheese Casserole.  It is very simple, and quick too, deliciously tasty, and warmly filling ~~~ here is the recipe ~~~

Ingredients ~
10 oz frozen {do not use fresh} broccoli
1 tablespoon flour
1 egg
3/4 cup cottage cheese
2 ounces Cheddar cheese, grated
1 teaspoon grainy mustard {optional}
salt and pepper to taste
1 oz butter

Method ~
Blanch the frozen broccoli in boiling water for two minutes. Remove and plunge into cold water to prevent any further cooking.  Drain well and set to one side.
Pre~heat your oven to Gas Mark 5 {375F or 190C}
Place the butter in an oven proof casserole dish and put in the oven to melt.
In a bowl, beat the egg and stir in the flour and mustard, salt and pepper if using, adding both the cheeses.  Stir in the cooled, drained broccoli.
Tip the mixture into the melted butter in the hot casserole dish and bake for about 30 minutes, or until the mixture is hot through and the cheeses are bubbling and golden brown.

Serves two with hot with crusty bread as a vegetarian main dish or four as a side dish. It is also very good cold, and reheats well.

I have also been using up the Christmas left overs and made some delicious marzipan mincemeat palmiers and will share those with you next time!  In the meantime, remember, despite the Wutheringly Wild Winter Weather ~~~

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