The Moon Shines Bright

Hello Friends

The sky is clear and cloudless on a crisply cold Winter's evening. Birds are singing cheerfully, chirruping a clarion call of hope, a promise that tells us Spring will soon be here as surely as the dawn will rise again. Sweet voices in the silence of the coming night, there's something in that sound, as it echoes across this quiet twilight corner of the Shire that stirs my spirit at it's very heart. The Snow Moon looks down and smiles, and moonbeams dance so bright and full of hope . . .

What do you see when you look up at our one and precious beautiful moon? Do you see the Man in the Moon? Did you know there are two men in the moon? Or, do you see the Hare or Rabbit in the Moon? For years I only saw the Man in the Moon, then one day I found the other one, and then I found the Rabbit! Our moon, with her many moods, is full of magic and secrets waiting to be found.

Until next time

Stay safe, stay well

Debbie xx

The Hare in the Moon and The All~Seeing Eye

Hello Friends!

Did you see the full Frost Moon last night? Ours was scuppered by cloud cover, which often happens here in the west.  In the middle of the night, I was woken by bright, silvery light gleaming in through some cracks in my not~so~tightly closed curtains, and the clouds were briskly swept aside by breezes that had risen during the night. I was tempted to get up and take photos, but as soon as I felt the chill air in my room I decided against, and snuggled back down under the duvet and back to sleep.

Do you see a Man in the Moon, or a Hare in the Moon? 

I did take a photo, during the late afternoon a few days earlier, of the waning gibbous moon, and it came out quite well, you can see the edges of the craters along the left side quite clearly. These are the kinds of images that set my imagination racing!

And speaking of getting my imagination working, just look at what I have staring in at me when I'm working in my kitchen! Talk about the All Seeing Eye! It's really quite spooky, especially if you know of Ents!  Maybe there's an Entmoot gathering beginning in next door's garden!

It's actually a forty year old Sycamore tree that has had all the ivy removed, you can see some of the old vines still clinging on!  During the twilight, it can be quite unnerving to see!

A note to all my British readers ~ if you are hosting a Bonfire Party in your own garden, please turn over that heap before you set light to make sure you are toasting marshmallows not hedgehogs! Be safe and have a fun time, but remember wildlife and pets don't like fireworks, so be considerate. Thank you!

Until next time ~~~
~~~Deborah

Oh! The Moon Shines Bright and Dydd Santes Dwynwen

Hello Friends ~~~

Today, January 25th, is known in Wales as Dydd Santes Dwynwen. I have written about her story many times, so today I will share the link back to last year's writings, which you can find here, should you wish to learn about her and read her story.

Dydd Santes Dwynwen Hapus

I was so distracted earlier in January that I forgot to share some pictures of the full Wolf Moon ~~~

Now, forgive my confusion, for I am begining to think that every other moon is a so~called Supermoon, but when November's and December's supermoons both failed to impress, no one was more surprised than me to see how boldly beautiful and big the January full moon was ~~~

On the evening of the full moon, I was taking my rubbish bins to the bottom of the drive {such a romantic and magical task that it is} and I had already noticed the special, pale light of the early evening.  We are a month on from the Winter Solstice, and the days are getting noticeably longer now, so it was no suprise that the evening seemed lighter ~~~ until I turned around to come back up the drive and saw this ~~~

a beautiful, buttery golden, full moon sitting in a darkening evening sky ~~~ it was so golden, so buttery, so creamy yellow, and just sitting in the branches of the trees on so perfectly clear an evening it gave me goosebumps ~~~ I ran quickly back to the cottage and grabbed my camera, for these scenes are wont to change in moments ~~~ she was already drifting slowly across the darkening sky ~~~

For the rest of that evening, she glid slowly and elegantly across the sky, sailing ever higher and higher, moving through the night from the twilight hours in the north east to the late evening in the south, eventually to rest in the wee small hours in the west ~~~ she was a joy to behold indeed ~~~

In future, the guideline I shall use to determine how 'super' the moon is, will be how full she fits inside the view finder of my camera! When she fills the frame and spills beyond, then that shall be my supermoon definition!

The following evening, the winds did blow and clouds scudded, dark and menacing across the sky ~~~

The winds were fierce and I could scarce stand up to take my photographs. I braced myself against the cottage to steady myself.  This night, the moon rose steadily, oblivious of the difficulties I encountered, and shone through the bare branches of trees clad in nothing more than winter nakedness ~~~ it was too cold to hang around and wait for her to move into the cloudy skies so I used this to my advantage with some arty shots instead ~~~

Remember, Dear Friends, next time you look up at the night sky and see the moon glowing back at you that we all look at the same moon as she shines on us all.

I think I like the bottom one the best. The edges of the moon are slightly blurred into the branches, and there is ever so slightly a hint of the tree behind, in the darkness.  Which is your favourite, if any?

Until next time ~~~
~~~Deborah xo

Crock Pot Cooking

Hello Friends!

A while back I decided to buy a Crock Pot. I'd owned one when I lived in America and loved it. I used it for all sorts of savoury dishes, but also used it as a hot punch bowl for my Spiced Apple Cider and even as a simmering potpourri pot using fresh herbs and spices!

So, for a while now I've been hankering after a good old fashioned rice pudding and with the weather taking it's turn for the worse and getting more and more wintry by the day, I decided to make one today ~ in the Crock Pot, of course. Now, rice pudding isn't exactly rocket science and is a very easy recipe, but oh! how much easier it is in the Crock Pot!

With the winds blowing wildly outside the cottage today and with a hankering to increase the hygge, it was the perfect day to make this childhood comfort food as a pudding for later on.

I weighed out the ingredients and just tipped them all into the Crock Pot which I then turned to high for about three hours. I kept an eye on it as I've not done a rice pudding in the Crock Pot before, and it did need fairly regular stirring but there was none of that lifting a heavy dish in and out of the oven, it was right there on the counter top making life so much easier.

I had a late lunch today, and the pudding was ready to be eaten with a dollop of strawberry jam after lunch ~~~

Just weigh out your ingredients, I'm sure everyone has the recipe, but just in case, these are the measurements I used

200 gr pudding rice {be sure to use short grain pudding rice}
1 litre milk {I used semi skimmed}
1 small can condensed milk {or increase your milk by 200 ml}
50 gr unsalted butter
30 gr soft brown sugar {any sugar will be fine}
{nutmeg, cinnamon, or other spices may be added to taste, if desired and you can always melt a little chocolate in, or add some chopped dried fruits, such as craisins, apricots, or sultanas}

Tip all ingredients into your Crock Pot and turn on. Cook for about 3 hours on high, or 5~6 hours on low, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking and checking to see if pudding is cooked.

I forgot to take a photo of the cooked pudding in the pot, but here it is, served up, thick and creamy, with a dollop of strawberry jam. If you like a thinner pudding, just add more milk ~~~

I don't know why, but this is one of the most delicious rice puddings I have ever eaten!

Meanwhile, back in the garden ~~~

My osteospermus just haven't got the message yet that the weather is turning rapidly and they really should not still be flowering ~~~ I bought these earlier in the year and put them into a growbag  meaning to move them to a permanent location during the summer. The best laid plans, as they say, and the move never happened so they are still in the growbag and I really must get them into the soil before we get the very bad weather that they say is coming.  Here they are, full of lovely strong new shoots coming from around the bases, and a few blooms still insisting on flowering for some autumn colour!

There are three different colours, but this purple one is my favourite of all ~~~

They are still not particularly big, but very sturdy and healthy, so I really must get them in the ground this coming week, even if I just bury them wholesale in the bag until spring to protect the roots.

Here are a few pictures of the skies over the cottage in the last week ~~~
I am always amazed and in total awe at the diversity and beauty of the universe ~~~

an early rose gold sunrise through a rain spotted window pane ~~~

a jewel coloured palette of a mauve and golden sunset ~~~

and I had hoped to capture the November Super Moon, but we were, as so often happens, scuppered by cloud cover, so here is one of our beautiful moon taken a few days before the perigee ~~~

Until next time ~~~
~~~Deborah

And So March Goes Out Like A Roaring Lion ~~~

Gentle Reader ~~~ The old adage of which I spoke some twenty nine days ago did not come to pass ~~~ for March, which came in like a lion, is leaving us with the power of a full pride of roaring lions as winds of strong gale force sweep across the country, battering us from every angle and bringing much torrential rain for many ~~~ my poor camellia "Debbie" is doing a very merry dance in the corner ~~~

Before I forget ~ as I am very wont to do ~ I'd love you to go visit an wonderfully charming entry in Susan Branch's Blog called "The Elf, The Gnome, and The Naked Leprechaun" and as you scroll down, look for the incredible tromp~l'oeil painting by the very talented artist Margot Datz.  Isn't that amazing?

I did promise an effort to return to the garden, and it is taking great effort this year to leave my books and mugs of hot, steaming tea and cakes, my warm and cosy fireside, so here is a gentle ease back into the gardening saddle ~~~

Debbie the Camellia has done very well this year, full of bright and beautiful pink blooms, cheering up the end of Winter and helping herald in sweetly, soundly sleeping Spring {who has yet to realise that it is her time to shine} ~~~ maybe her nose is out of joint at losing an hour as the clocks sprang forward an hour this weekend ~~~

I love the complexity of the petals as they fold in and around each other ~~~

and there are many tightly closed buds that will ensure many more weeks of this splash of colour in the corner ~~~

I love how these ones cascade through the deeply dark and glossy leaves ~~~

how others peek from behind ~~~

or push their blousy way to the fore ~~~

So pretty ~~~ I'm getting all swoony ~~~

however they behave ~~~

there is nothing shy or retiring about this shrub full of ballerina pink tutus !

A magnificent display ~~~

Did you know that the camellias we grow in our garden for their beauty, structure, and colour are related to the very same camellias that are harvested to make my, and maybe your, favourite beverage?  Tea! 

I have another camellia too, this one flowers later and so is only just coming into bloom. It is red, so quite a contrast, and here are some of the flowers that have opened ~~~

Is it any wonder that another name for this beauty is the Rose of Winter?

The sharper eyed amongst you will notice that the blooms and leaves are quite different between the two, and you can read a little about Camellias here on the RHS Website.

There was a sweet surprise waiting for me in an abandoned border ~~~ a small clump of the most magical double daffodils!  Aren't they just the most magical blooms ever for Spring {although everything is pretty magical about Spring} ~~~

The unsightly stalks behind are the remains of last Autumn's Wind Anemones that gave a magnificent display of white flowers, bobbing in the Autumn breezes ~~~ 

With the forecast of strong winds and heavy rain, I picked the flowers which were already showing signs of distress, for the stems are not quite strong enough to support such a heavy bloom, and brought them inside. I am delighted to say that they have already lasted four days indoors, which I really did not expect them to do, for they had been in full bloom for over a week in the border!

The moon is waxing in the evening sky ~~~

and the days are lengthening noticeably.  Soon I will be able to snatch a few hours in the garden during the evening too! What bliss that will be ~~~ Why! I do declare I think I love gardening best of all as the sun is setting to the west ~~~

The lawn has been mowed for a second time, with a lower cut again. My neighbours have told me to cut back anything of theirs that overhangs my fence, so earlier this week I set too and attacked their sycamore saplings and ivy that is turning into the tree kind. My garden waste bin was full to overflowing and I had so much waste that I cannot compost that I was relieved when a neighbour offered me a lift to the Community Recycling and Refuse Amenity Center {also known as The Tip} Another neighbour offered me space in his garden waste bin as his was less than half full, so I have successfully removed almost everything.  I have thoroughly cleaned underneath two blackcurrants and a gooseberry and now must make decisions over the future of the blackcurrants.  Piecemeal clearing has also commenced in several borders. Spring is definitely on her way ~~~ and I must be ready when she gets here!

Remember that 

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