It Snowed ~ Or Did It?

Hello friends!

It snowed last night.

We hardly ever get snow where I live. The last time we had any discernible snow was about 14 years ago when it snowed and it snowed. And it snowed. And it stuck with us for three long weeks. Long enough for the novelty to wear off.

Before that, I think the biggest snowfall we had was 1963. I had not long started primary school. and the school was shut for three days because the toilets froze over. We still talk about it all these decades on that's how often we get snow.

So last night close to midnight I got a surprise to see my garden lightly dusted as snow started to gently fall. ' Late though the hour was, I got my phone and took this photograph, just in case I thought I had imagined it when morning came.  I went online and posted it on Facebook. And lo and behold, my feed was full of photos of snow falling across the city. I was not the only one bringing proof that we did actually have snow.  We all knew it would be gone in an hour.  That's just the way it is here.

If we had a centimeter that's all we had. However, by this morning it had started to melt but then the temperature plummeted, and it has frozen. So my patio is now like a skating rink. I will not be venturing out on it today.

It's all geographic as I live on a peninsula, which sticks out just enough into what is the North Atlantic Drift, on the northerly reaches of the Gulf Stream. This elevates our temperature by an almost indiscernible amount. Yet it is enough to keep us relatively snow free unless it gets really bad in the rest of the country. Even three miles down the road, they can have a few inches of snow, and we get nothing.

Here are some photographs of the last time we had snow.  Some of the clouds were spectacular.

Roll on Spring now, the novelty of keeping warm has gone.  Unfortunately it seems this coming weekend sees us back in the land of gales and storms.

I also need to tell you that my air fryer makes perfect toast, in fact the crispiest and driest toast, the most delicious toast I've ever eaten.  I put it in the drawer on a rack on the Max Crisp setting and five minutes later I'm tucking in to the Best Toast EVER!  It doesn't even sweat on the plate.

Until next time.

Stay safe. Stay well. Stay warm.

Debbie.

Nurtured by Nature

Hello Friends!

You all know that I love where I live, and I feel deeply blessed to be where I am. There is a deep and ancient spirituality to the land, which you cannot fail to feel; open your heart and your spirit, throw open wide your welcoming arms, and it will softly ooze into every corner of your being, connecting you on levels you have never known before. Everything surrounding you is alive with special energy as it sparkles and glimmers with ancient magic, from the pre~dawn of time.  Significant Ley Lines run nearby, and evidence of ancient settlements are at every turn, if you know what to look for. 

This is a land shaped by the forces nature long before man came along and turned it to his design by his own hand.  This is a land where coastal inlets and caves are carved out by the relentless pounding of the Atlantic Ocean.  This is a land where small streams carve out small but beautiful valleys as they run to greet the ocean  This is a land where the mighty westerly winds that whip without end dictate and shape what grows in the fertile soil of the land.

After a walk on a rare and wonderfully warm and windless mid December day, I rested, quietly, on a special, handcrafted, slate seat set into an old Pembrokeshire stone hedge.  I let my spirit drink deeply from the draught offered to my parched and hungry soul. As I sipped from the never ending well of universal energy, I was nourished and restored by all that surrounded me as I sat in peaceful contentment and awe.

The sun was as strong as it could possibly be for the time of year, as it slips slowly closer to the horizon each passing day, with the Winter Solstice just days away, soon it will be starting its long uphill climb, rising slowly higher each day as the light returns and the circle of the year unfolds once more to bring the Summer Solstice; and so the world turns ~~~

I sat, at first, in silence and with closed eyes, but then the magic unfurled to disclose the unseen. The sun, although pale, shone through my closed eyes and lit up the dark behind my eyelids; a distant gull raucously cawed from a high vantage point; closer by more and more birds joined in the chorus; soon I was hearing birdsong all around. The waves, just a few yards away, out of sight, below the high cliff, lapped languorously, for with no wind there was no urgency, but my ears, now sharpening to the sounds of nature, picked up the quiet lap, lap, lap as barely an effort was made.  The bay is seldom seen so calm ~~~

~~~but the fields are almost always so lushly verdant green, for we have a lot of rain! Indeed we do!

I opened my eyes as I sat and observed: small tussocks of dying grass, mounds like graves in honour of the dying year, were all around my feet ~~~

and as I watched those mouldering mounds, with newly opened eyes, I saw life springing all around!  The clear, clean air was full of tiny gnats, swarming and swimming around in the warm afternoon; the finest of gossamer threads, silver, spider parachutes spread, flying out, glimmering and shimmering, catching the pale light of sun, as spiderlings fly to seek out new homes; and all the while the birds still sing and the water gently laps the shore.

One thing I love at this time of year is seeing the bare, leafless trees, the structure on which all the other seasons are built. We have some special shaped trees all along the coast, sculpted by the {usually} relentless westerly winds. If you are ever uncertain which way is west, look at the trees! Their west facing sides are clipped by nature, giving a very lopsided look! Of course, you have to know that the prevailing winds are the westerlies that romp and rage in from the wide Atlantic Ocean, or this doesn't work!

Here are a few such trees, some much more pronounced than others depending on how sheltered they are ~~~

This one does not like the salt water at all, for you can see the greenery burned by the salt laden winds ~~~

This stand of trees always captures my imagination, it has done since I was a child, for it looks like a giant wave of trees sweeping over the land, shaped and flowing in from the wild western seas ~~~

Slowly, yet all too quickly, the sun slipped lower, and lower; the soft, pastel shaded clouds coloured the coming sky of evening told me it was time to turn and wend my way home once more, while the sun gave one last shimmer across the cold, grey bay ~~~

On my way home, some friendly horses say "Hello!" I think they might be hoping for a carrot or a juicy apple! Sadly, I had nothing to offer them.

Until next time ~~~
Deborah xo

Winter has a Heart ~ Memory Making

***a note to my readers ~ my computer is on it's last legs and I have struggled to put this together because periodically my typing does not enter on the screen. Consequently, for those of you who do leave a sweet comment, I should be able to publish, but may not be able to reply immediately, so please be patient. A new computer is on the horizon, and, frankly, is something I dread doing!***


Hello Friends!

Brrrrrrr! Unless you live in the Southern Hemisphere, I think Winter has arrived with all of us. It isn't too bad here, yet, but I'm sure we are going to pay this Winter for several exceptionally mild years recently.

As many of you know, I am a full time care giver, and now, for two afternoons a week, I have help coming in so that I can get out to do things that I could otherwise struggle with, such as getting to the bank, or off for my 'flu injection!  One of the things we can do, weather permitting of course, is to go out for rides in the countryside and make some new, happy memories to cherish as we visit garden centres ~ ones with tea rooms, naturally; go out for lunch or afternoon tea; just go for a ride to see pretty scenery; in fact, pretty much anything. This is why, of late, I've been able to share with you some of the photographs I've taken on some of these precious days out. 

Here's what we did yesterday. We visited a lovely little tea room in nearby Mathry called "Siop Fach Tearooms"  Sadly, they do not have a website but have a very good rating on Trip Advisor.  Here are the photographs I took of some stunning scenery, and delicious food we ate.

I have to say that the tea shop was immaculately clean, light, fresh and airy. A welcoming aroma of cooking food filled the entrance, and a display of deliciously tempting home made cakes was on display by the main counter.  More photos of those next time, but today I'll focus on what we had to eat.

A simple Scampi, Chips and Peas ~~~

I had one of several delicious sounding vegetarian options, Glamorgan Cheese Sausages. These are a traditional Welsh dish of cheese, onion and leeks. Served with yummy Sweet Potato Fries ~~~

Desserts! Puddings! Yay!  Lemon and Lime Cheesecake ~~~

Apple Pie with Custard Sauce ~~~

and I had Warm Chocolate Brownies with Ice Cream ~~~

I confess, the portions of pud were rather generous, but who's complaining? We cleared our plates!

Of course, it has to be Heinz ~ I fell for this cute condiment tray! I would have bought one had they sold one in the little shop next door ~~~

Who can resist an ice cold Fiery Ginger Beer, made in Radnorshire, on a cold Winter's day?

Isn't that a cute name for a company? "Heartsease Farm" It just makes you want to drop in and visit them. On the subject of hearts, I casually tossed my gilet to one side and look what happened? The folds just arranged themselves into a lovely heart shape? How cool is that?

I took a couple of photos from the window, the first has to be the creepiest creeper covered cottage I think I have ever seen ~~~

and this is the Farmer's Arms pub, just across the road. Recently, I was asked if this is 'arms' as in with hands on the end, or 'arms' as in "up in arms and going off to fight" ~ as far as I can tell, it is the 'with hands' version, although I've tried to look into this for you and there is nothing easily found to clarify. Let's go with 'with hands' as it is far more friendly, I'm sure you'll agree. It is a very common pub name in Wales ~~~

On our way home again home again jiggetty jig we pulled over so I could take a few quick photos of the wild and woolly wonderful big sky across the lush, softly rolling hills and gentle valleys of the Shire. In the far distance of this one you can just see the Preseli Hills, where the world famous bluestone which forms part of Stonehenge originated. Bluestone can be found across the world. Preseli bluestone is a fine grained dolerite, a magical stone with particular healing properties used in Shamanic rituals.

The weather was decidedly wintry, with gusty blasts of icy winds coming from the North, and I got caught out in a sharp, prolonged hailstorm! I love looking at the big skies over the Shire, in all their glorious majesty, in wonderment and awe.

Until next time ~~~
~~~Deborah xo

Gardening Joy in December

Hello Friends!

I hope you all had a PEACEful and JOYful Christmas and are now looking forward to a brand New Year waiting just around the corner; it's an empty page just waiting to be filled with joy, gratitude and new adventures ~~~

Now that the daily Christmas Countdown posts are over I am finding it strange not to be writing every day. I learned much about the Christmas season as I researched each new thread, and that is a joy in itself; also a joy is that I have renewed the habit of writing ~ although I did very little over Christmas and Boxing Day ~ I was given some pretty new note books for Christmas so some of my writing will be placed on those delicious new pages that are waiting to be filled with words ~~~

I had prepared everything in advance for the 25th so I was able to take a well earned "down day" and indulge myself in watching Christmas specials on television, reading new books, and colouring in with new supplies ~~~

Rarely have I been so blessed as to be continuing to garden in December! With the generally mild weather, over the last few days I have found things that defied the earlier December frost and just keep on bringing beauty in their small corners!  Despite the grey December days, the garden is still giving pretty spots of uplifting colour with Kaffir Lilies and Osteospermums! I am in awe over the way these delicate plants overcome the cold and frosty mornings as they continue well out of their seasons ~~~

The bright sugary pink of the Kaffir Lilies look amazing against the glaucous leaves of the Euphorbia plant ~~~

A single bold and bright yellow Marigold braves the chilly days ~~~

Delightful purple Osteospermums still flower ~~~

and a golden yellow rose blooms still ~~~

I am not as hardy as the plants so I wrap up warm and enjoy stolen moments, picking a few herbs from the herb garden {mostly rosemary, oregano, sage, and lemon balm} for cooking. The flavours aren't as strong this time of year, but it is such a treat to pick fresh ones as needed ~~~

There are still a few small piles of leaves and while no one is looking I let my inner child gleefully kick and crunch her way along! Soon, the frost will speed up the decay and next year there will be bags of delicious leaf mould for the borders.  The circle of life goes on ~~~

Until next time ~~~
~~~Deborah xoxo

Winter Solstice Blessings!

Gentle Reader ~~~ I bring you

Greetings for a 

Blessed Winter Solstice

Today, December 21st, marks the Winter Solstice ~~~ the official start of Winter, and in the northern hemisphere it brings the longest night, but I offer grateful thanks that tomorrow the light begins its slow and most welcomed return as, minute by precious minute, the days will start to lengthen ~~~ it is a most important day in my year, one of two Solstice days that govern the light and dark ~~~

In a few days it will be Christmas Day and the moon will be full in the sky to brighten the night. It is a rare occurrence for a Full Moon on Christmas Day and this year is a time of especial magic as the full lunar phase is at precisely 11:11 a.m. GMT on December 25. This full moon is known as the Full Cold Moon because it occurs at the very start of the Winter season ~~~ the coldest season of the year {or it is supposed to be!} ~~~

The Christmas Tree brightly lights the Village Square ~~~

The Cathedral waits the Christmas Processionals and services that will follow in the coming days ~~~

So, Gentle Reader, I wish you a Happy, Blessed, and Joyful Winter Solstice

Until next time
Warm Winter Wishes
Deborah xoxo

Curling up with a Good Book ~~~ or ten ~~~

Gentle Reader ~~~ Winter {hopefully} must surely be exhausted.  Days spent in luxurious hibernation, snuggling under a comfy quilt, sitting by the fireside with a cup of tea, a slice of cake, and a good book while winter rages outside, are coming to a close for another year.  The sun, when not hiding behind clouds, is rising higher in the sky with each passing day.  The days are lengthening. This is the point where I'd like to say they are getting warmer, drier, and less windy. They are not. However, work is slowly being resumed in the Garden in the Shire ~~~ probably not as energetically as I should, but {forgive the moan} age is catching up with me and the garden, much as I enjoy puttering, seems bigger and more out of control than ever before.

The onions and garlic that I planted late last Autumn are progressing, albeit slowly, and will hopefully gather some growing momentum with the lengthening days.  I will write more on these in the coming days, for slowly this journal must return to the garden ~~~

I can only stand by and watch weeds grow for so long. I had enough of seeing how rapidly some are already growing, so I went out in a thick, damp sea fog, well wrapped up, and dug up by the root many Evening Primrose, Dandelions, and Borage before they become established and difficult. Oh! if only the onions would grow like the weeds have done ~~~ but that is asking too much, isn't it?  

It was so lovely out there, shrouded in the comforting grey fog ~ you may consider that strange, but I grew up by the sea, salt water is in my blood, and sea fog comes with the territory.  I enjoy time spent, alone, sitting in the still, early morning quiet of the house where only the tick tick tock of the mantel clock disturbs the heavy silence of a sea fog blanket outside ~ oh, how my heart years for the sound of the fog horn, long gone now. 

As a child, I would listen for the deep, echoing booms carried on the air, that muted sound that carried through the fog blankets that hid the coast and dangerous reefs that sit beneath the surface of the sea. There was something deeply comforting in the sound that warned sailors of the dangers ahead. 

Here are links to two of our local lighthouses ~~~

Smalls lighthouse paragraph three 

South Bishop lighthouse

I digress ~~~
Are you sitting down?  If not, find yourself a seat quickly ~~~ for I have mowed!  Up off your fainting couches ~~~ 

Yes, I have mowed!

I do not think I have ever mowed the lawn so early, but did so on the divinely sunny afternoon of February 17th. 

It felt so amazingly good after the near onset of Cabin Fever as the long, dark months of winter approach their end ~~~ although I do love those shorter days of winter, for it affords time to visit faraway lands; catch up with old friends; discover new recipes to try; take a glimpse into the lives of others; and go on many a grand adventure; all from the comfort of my own armchair ~~~ 

Sometimes, just sometimes, a book passes into your hands and something magical happens as it stops you in your tracks ~ time suddenly stands still; more than the usual joyful feelings that come with a new book begin to happen ~ as you carefully open the pages, the goosebumpy thrill of knowing that you are the very first person to peek inside this copy washes over you; you smell that indescribable new book smell that you love so deeply; sometimes, just sometimes, more than simply lovingly stroking and caressing the covers, turning the pages, and looking at the pictures, before you start to devour the magical words that are written just for you, you close it back up and hug it to your chest, because sometimes, just sometimes, you find a book that is so exceptionally special you begin to coo and wax lyrical over it ~~~ just sometimes ~~~ and then the adventures begin!

Such books are the books that, if they do not build empires in the greater scheme of things, certainly build empires in my heart ~~~ they are the very stuff that speaks so loudly to me, and here are some of those authors who have greatly influenced me, and who speak in the most gentle of ways the loudest of all to my heart ~~~

Louisa May Alcott

L.M. Montgomery
Susan Branch

Tasha Tudor

Beatrix Potter

and here are some hints at the books I have enjoyed getting to know, and some old friends I've revisited, over the past winter months ~~~

I've held the hands of the March girls through their many joys and heartbreaking sorrows, and taken tea with them, and fallen in love with Jo once again ~ for when I was a child I wanted to be Jo March when I grew up, more than any other girl whose lives I shared ~~~

I've experienced the humiliation of red hair and the trials of an imperfect nose, and being called "carrots" by my future husband; sharing secrets with my best friend Diana as we sit by the Dryad's Bubble, or stroll, daydreaming, making plans for our perfect futures, along the White Way of Delight or by the Lake of Shining Waters ~~~

I've gazed, in pure amazement, up to the stars at night from my bed of sweet hay in a chalet perched high on the side of a steep Swiss mountain, while waiting for morning to come so I can run over the mountain with my friend Peter the goatherd as he takes the goats to pasture and I've known the horror of being estranged from the people I love, unable to reach out to them or return to my home in the Alps ~~~

Long afternoons spent wandering and exploring gardens in the company of a quintessentially English lady who loved her gardens and found such inspiration therein that she wrote and illustrated some of the most charming of all children's books ~~~

I discovered Pear Ci~dah {a traditional English drink made from pears, formerly known as Perry} as I toured the countryside of merry England in spring time with a Girlfriend who is a self~confessed Anglophile with a love of sheep ~~~

There was a very special visit to Martha's Vineyard with a tiny, adorably cute mouse named Eliza ~~~

Eavesdropped on an inspiring collective of creative souls and spirits that became one of the most legendary and influential groups of the twentieth century ~~~

Someone must have decided red was a very good colour to bind books with this season ~~~

I have read recipes, tried recipes {let's not go there today} and consumed copious amounts of hot tea in any number of varieties and flavours {winter is a good time to experiment with new flavours of tea} and some of my new favourites are made by Twinings, especially their fruity green teas, such as Apple and Pear, or my top winter time drink Gingerbread Green Tea ~~~

I love the new Twinings Tea advert, it is so happy ~~~ makes me smile each time I see it ~~~ too sweet not to share ~~~ it will make you smile too ~~~

I have fed birds on my feeders, and spent many a wistful hour just watching them flitting and feeding ~~~ I am sorting out my photographs to tell you all about them soon ~~~

~~~ there are books of one sort or another in every room in the cottage ~~~ and on a diverse variety of subjects as you could want to find anywhere ~~~ I love books, I just can't help myself ~~~ and there is always room for one more book ~~~

~~~I wonder where I'll be voyaging to next?~~~ 

What are your favourite books to visit time and again? Where are you off to on your next adventure? 

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~~~