East Wind

The East wind from Siberia brings snow and cold temperatures too.
Happy Holidays to all creatures large and small.
Mr Bunny is eating green parsley in the garden while the cats are all warm in their baskets on the windowsill.
I shall make hot tea soon and eat a mince pie or two...

Stanley

A few years back when visiting Stanley Kunitz in his NYC apartment I was given a small orchid to take home with me. It was not in flower and needed TLC. Stanley had an extraordinary number of indoor plants, his window was filled with greenery climbing high.
I carried the orchid back carefully to the UK in my hand luggage.
When we got home I found a north facing window in the kitchen and took care of it. Since I did not quite know which kind it was I had to guess about the care. I called the orchid Stanley and I waited. Waited and cared and cared and waited. Now in time for the solstice 4 years later it has a flower! First it was a bud for weeks then each petal opened so slowly I could savour it totally. One amazing flower. Thank you Stanley for teaching me patience.

First Snow

Snow for breakfast, then for elevenses, lunch, tea and supper! I love snow.

Too much to laugh last night

Apparently so. Upon my return from London I had massive chest pains and had to be rushed to the doctors for an ECG!
Apparently I had laughed too much while in London! Go figure.
It was a good trip it really was. I love seeing my bestest friend Paul Martin. I have known him for so long I cannot count the time.
My chest still hurts and so I have very tangible memories from my trip south.

This time of year all I can think is COSY!

Cosy time in cutey-land. Seriously it is true that being cosy is a priority in these dark, chilly wet days of the Northeast.
I think library, warm red, music, computer nearby for work, hot tea or cocoa, purring cats, later in the evening a fire and candles.
I am library obsessed and I have always felt at home in them. I remember as a child sitting on the floor and looking at some of my fathers amazing books. History books mainly, but also art, and archeology and my favourite a tartan book of Robbie Burns!
Noah has that too, he always seeks out the library where he lives and spends time there and utilises it well. Reading all the books in it! Heby,Sweden, L.A., Cambridge, Ma., Hexham, London, NYC,...
We need to support their existence wherever we live.
I have found some pictures of delicious libraries above.

Rainbows and more rainbows

Yesterday was Thanksgiving in the USA. Here where I live in Narnia with its very own climate we had rainbow after rainbow after rainbow. It was one of those days with rain showers and the sun shining through them.
We counted well over ten!
Tarset is the valley of rainbows and it cheers me up greatly whenever they work their magic.

A pale sun tries to make itself known today and I think of the season coming up. We plan to take it easy. A good meal all together over the solstice holiday, candles and a fire in the wood burning stove. I shall decorate with holly from the country lanes. Time to read and talk and be together with all the cats who will get roast chicken!

I like it to be quiet over this time because the rest of the year is quite busy and can get hectic so the contrast is very welcome.
It is a good time for conversation and reflection. Reading the new books, thinking about new projects for the new year.
Turning point when the light increases and so does energy levels...
The plants enjoy the increase of light and warmth through the windows facing south. The bougainvillea may choose to bloom, the cactii, and the nerium/oleander. The Byre is the perfect room for large plants, there is plenty of room and light.

Continued deluge of rain and wind

Never ending it seems, and so I dream away. Dream of summer, dream of the garden, dream of projects, dream of Moomin Valley.
Above is the bathing/boat house where Tooticky hung out in the winter.
In the States they will be celebrating Thanksgiving. There is much to be giving thanks for. I have a notebook for gratitude nearby.

I am thankful that I am still alive. I would not have known all that I know now if I were not. Not known rural life, living with cats, making books, knowing poets up close and personal, missing my friends in the US because I care, meeting new members of my family I never knew existed, praying for my son each and every day, true appreciation from loved ones,...

I do believe we are agents in our own destiny as well as by manifesting we can accomplish direction and opportunity but there is also a great element of chance. Surprise is what I am grateful for because sometimes we cannot even imagine what we need or want.

There are always choices we make , consciously or not. Daily decisions, and it is important to recognise that. I call it my "mouse epiphany". When I was going through upheaval in my life a decade or so ago it was also a time of a great many epiphanies! The "post office queue", the "wedding" one...
Plus someone whom I loved dearly guided me with Rilke's words "You must change your life".
It is true I have made decisions to move away from and to move towards...Often to escape a toxic situation and go towards the unknown...These have been vital. Vital to my survival and still being alive today. For this I give thanks.