Christmas done and dusted. Happy New Year

Christmas done and dusted,

off to visit my Mother now.

One  downside of Christmas was that my pipes all froze again. But there were so many positives I didn’t really mind about the pipes.

The 23rd was spent with a friend of mine who sadly lost her husband exactly one year earlier. Last your we planned our Christmas meal out together on the 23rd because her husband was dying and she was going to be indoors on her own nursing him over Christmas, sadly he deteriorated at the start of Christmas week and actually died on the 23rd. We have had to wait a whole year for our Christmas meal but this year we had a great time out together. The restaurant overlooks the sea and we had wonderful views of the snow, the sea and the harbour while eating our Christmas meal. We are a whole year on and my friend is doing fine.

Christmas eve was spent with my grandchildren, they don’t worry about frozen pipes, the dangers of falling on ice or the biting cold. They just love to play in the snow.

They were so funny, we walked through the park, they played in the snow, we did a few bits of last minute Christmas shopping and then I took them to a café where they had the most delicious hot chocolate I have ever seen. It came in a huge cup, was piled high with whipped cream, had loads of marshmallow thrown over the top and was finished off with a thick chocolate flake bar balanced in the middle. I’m not sure how they managed to eat/ drink it all but they did.

Christmas day was spent with my eldest daughter in her country cottage sitting by her wood burning stoves ( yes.. plural she has two of then one at either end of the cottage). You do get the most amazing sunsets where she lives and the view out over the farmlands is wonderful, especially when covered in snow and ice. I spend the afternoon watching Avatar on her very large, wall mounted TV screen. WOW………….now I know what all the fuss has been about, I was so bowled over by that film, its more like a religious experience than an animated film. I’m going to get the DVD and watch it over and over again.

Boxing day was the day the entire family came to see me. I had three daughters plus partners, four grandchildren, and one young friend and her three young sons……………great family celebration. We ran out of wine twice and had to send reconnaissance teams out into the blizzard to buy more supplies. There was more food lying around than could possibly be eaten and I ended up packing two grocery bags full of unopened food for my daughter to take back to her family. I also saved a few boxes of chocolates, shortbread and mince pies to take to my mother. By Boxing day my pipes had been frozen solid for over a week and every one of those visitors had to remember not to empty waste water down the sinks for fear of flooding my downstairs neighbour, somehow we all managed and it didn’t detract from the pleasure of the day. My youngest daughter who lives away on the west coast came and stayed overnight on Boxing day.

Yesterday, Monday 27th came and went in a bit of a haze, my youngest daughters ever so obliging partner fixed all my leaking taps before they left and ….’we woke up to the thaw’ !! The ice in the pipes was gone and drainage worked perfectly. Maybe some of you remember the pictures of her dog in my garden back in the summer that I posted? I wrote at the time that her dog had died shortly after that photo was taken and my daughter was heartbroken. This is her new puppy. Her name is daisy and she will never replace Cody, (the dog who died) but this little one, is perfect. She is a bearded collie and was on best behaviour all day.

And here we are on the 28th, I’m feeling a little fragile, have defiantly over indulged and am now preparing for my journey tomorrow to visit my mother. My mother is 80, she lives 600 miles away and I don’t get to see her very often. She recently had a nasty fall and now needs a bed downstairs and nurses in twice a day. We think this is a temporary arrangement she should eventually recover well enough to manage without the nurses and use her upstairs bed again. But I’m very glad I’ve been able to organise tickets down to see her and very grateful that the snow is almost gone and the trains should be running without cancellations or delays.

And so………………..wishing you all the best new Year, enjoy the celebrations and hopefully in the new year I will be posting a whole heap of snow pictures I’ve not had time to post yet.

Happy New Year every one. 

Sunday 19.12..2010

The cloud formations were as stunning as the snow on this day. All the photos were taken between about 2.00pm and 3..30pm on the afternoon Sunday 19.12.2010

Winter Solstice 2010

The first picture was taken at about 3.15pm, the last one at about 4.15pm. Maybe I was out for a little longer than an hour I don't remember the exact time, I know sunset was supposed to happen at 3.45.
The very first picture is taken in daylight looking east. The next 9 are looking behind me S/W as the sun is setting.
After that the pictures are looking east again toward the rising moon.

November snow

We seem to have had this snow laying for ages now. I have cleared my path twice already only for it to be covered in fresh snow again.

Winter Solstice in the Snow

Winter Solstice in the snow.

I’ve not been around here for the last couple of months. I don’t need to bore you with the details of why; suffice to say it started with getting totally engrossed in a work project, working away at home into the early hours until the onset a flu virus that felt like the return of bubonic plague, closely followed by a mini ice age which left me housebound with no landline phone or internet and catastrophic plumbing problems.

Well I’m still living in the midst of snow, ice and sub- zero temperatures but at least all the other little problems seem to be sorted. And moving on………………………………………………

Today is two things, it’s the last day of term, school holidays are here again and of course it’s the Winter Solstice. School closed at noon today and about 30 of us headed into town for our Christmas lunch accompanied by copious amounts of alcohol. I didn’t do the evening drinking thing, I had lunch and a couple of drinks and headed home. Feeling very festive I took the scenic rout home and I’m so very glad I did. As I walked home the sun began to set behind me and the new moon rose in front of me. WOW…. What a wonderful sight.

Recently archaeological remains of an Iron Age settlement have been discovered on a building site half way between my house and this park. As the moon rose in front of me I couldn’t help looking around at this unspoilt, snow covered landscape and thinking of the people who lived here 2500 years ago.

There is something strangely comforting in the knowledge that 2500 years ago families came together in this very spot and watched the new moon rise over the horizon. The terrain and weather remain virtually unchanged since that time. There was probably snow on the ground then just as there is now. These ancient people who left no written records knew how to weave plaid and striped fabric from wool and flax and how to make clothes of woven cloth and animal hide to protect them from the freezing cold.

They knew how to work metal into the most intricate and delicate clasps and broaches to decorate their clothes. They produced mirrors of burnished metal decorated with patterns that remain familiar to us to day. I watched the moon rise and thought of the people who lived here all those years ago and felt very blessed by the unchanging, continuity of life.The sun set early today, about 3.45, by the time I reached the end of the park it was too dark to take any more photos. Sometimes things just happen, I didn’t plan on walking home via that rout, I didn’t plan on walking home as the sun was setting, the last day of term wasn’t planned to coincide with the winter solstice and no one planned on uncovering Iron Age remains so close by. All of these things were little coincidences that came together and gave me the most moving solstice experiences I’ve ever had.