Flood guilt...

My mother and I are suffering from "flood guilt" this year. We scarcely dare discuss the weather. People who ring us up from far-off deluged counties ask in kindly tones, "Are we all right?" and "How are we coping with the floods?" and we hardly like to say that we haven't had any; well - any to speak of. The swooping bend out of the village gets quite puddlesome at times, and the fields down by the river have become part of the river, but compared to the South West, it's nothing. Even our railways are still intact.

According to the weather on Candlemas this year, winter should not be over for another month or more, but the proverb may not hold true this year - for yesterday the sun was warm! Admittedly, the air was still cold (and sitting outside without a hat has left me with a cold), but you can't have everything. And it wasn't raining! Actually, it felt a bit strange - blue sky, warm sun, no rain - was this some kind of alternate universe?
But who knows what the weather, in its wisdom (?!), will decide to do over the next few weeks. It could deluge us with snow storms yet...

the snowdrops and aconites catch some sun...

The Big Garden Birdwatch

Last weekend I took part in the British Big Garden Birdwatch. I'm not entirely sure why, because every year I go through the same agony: "What if the birds don't come?"
At any other time of the year, our garden is practically bursting at the seams with birds of all varieties, including, occasionally, really exciting ones such as the gold crest (of which I saw one this morning); but come the Big Birdwatch weekend, and hey, presto! they all vanish, and all I get to put down is two sparrows and a blue tit. I swear those birds can read RSPB leaflets. Maybe being put on the "endangered" list gives them bird street cred. or something...

Winter is icumen in...

Today I awoke to the first proper frost of the season. Bushes and branches were outlined with sparkling white crystals, the grass crunched under my feet, and the puddles and pond were covered in ice. The air was still, and up above in the pale blue sky, a waning crescent moon still hung. Hurriedly I filled up the bird feeders and put out a dish of water, and soon the birds began pouring in; mostly pigeons and collared doves at first, but the smaller ones weren't far behind...

Our Jesse tree came down on Christmas Eve, in readiness for the Christmas tree(s*) to go up. Because of this, I only have symbols going up to the 23rd of December, rather than the 24th. These were the symbols for the last week of Advent:

Our Jesse tree, 2013

19."Sculpey" brick wall (Nehemiah rebuilds the city wall)
20. Shell (John the Baptist - the second Elijah)
21. "Sculpey" mother and child (Elizabeth - barrenness made fruitful)
22. "Sculpey" white lily (Mary - human acceptance of God)
23. Felt Eeyore (Joseph - obedience to God)

That was our Jesse tree for 2013, and now 2014 is only three days away...

Happy New Year, Everyone!

*We have to have two trees, as my mother's and my decorations do not blend...

Merry Christmas!

"And Mary gave birth to her first-born, a son..."

'Tis the season...

...to receive lots and lots of parcels! Our postman arrived on our doorstep this morning, almost laden down with exciting-looking packages. As I opened the door he called out "Throw away your Christmas tree, you'll have to buy a bigger one!"

Speaking of trees, my Jesse tree is coming on well. I have made quite a few new ornaments this year; last time I didn't start until the 8th of December, so the whole thing felt rather a rush, but this year I started back in November, which gave me plenty of time. The strings of paper stars (for the promise to Abraham) give the whole thing a very festive feel, I think.

I have adjusted the symbols a little as well, and of course added in one extra, as Advent is a day longer. So far they stand thus:

1. Cartoon of God juggling planets (the creation)
2. Crab apple from a neighbour's garden (Adam and Eve)
3. Felt rainbow and paper ark (Noah and the flood)
4. Paper stars (the promise to Abraham)
5. Bundle of twigs (the offering of Isaac)
6. Gold-painted string ladder (Jacob's dream)

Rainbow and Noah's ark

7. Technicolour dream coat (Joseph the dream-interpreter)
8. "Stained-glass" burning bush (the calling of Moses)
9. Wooden lamb (the Passover)
10. "Sculpey" stone tablets (the Law)
11. "Sculpey" shofar (the fall of Jericho)
12. Cardboard crown (beginning of the kingdom)
13. Shepherd's crook (David - a shepherd for the people)
14. Stone altar (Elijah and the prophets of Ba'al)
15. "Sculpey" hot coal (the calling of Isaiah)
16. Glass tear drops (Jeremiah and the Exile)
17. "Sculpey" skull (Ezekiel and the valley of dry bones)
18. Picture of a lion (Daniel)

And now it's only one week until Christmas!

Hallowe'en...

The Eve of All Hallows, the Vigil for All Saints, a time when we remember that the veil between the seen and the unseen, the material and the spiritual, the gone-before and the now, is not so impenetrable as we are wont to believe...

The pumpkin carving was a family affair: one hollowed, one designed, and another carved. As day turned to dusk, they were put in places of honour (one in the window, and one by the road); and as dusk turned to darkness, they were lit. It was great fun to listen out for the childish chatter coming down the lane, and hear it suddenly turn to delighted shrieks of "pumpkin! pumpkin!" as they saw our jack o' lanterns.

Later, we sat eating buttered popcorn and home-made apple juice (from our very own apples), and watched the episode of Dad's Army in which those brave lads find themselves stranded in a dark, abandoned house, with the cries of ghostly hounds filling the air. Spoooky!

 

"Late Summer"

In the tradition of Chinese Medicine there are five seasons, the fifth being 'Late Summer'. For my part, I agree with this. There is a turning point in the year that begins in August, and continues on through September, when, though the full splendour of Autumn is not yet upon us, the glory of Summer has past.

"still drinking nectar..."

On days like these, when a chill appears in the air in the early mornings, and the mists begin to hang heavily over the fields, the sunshine (when it comes) is still hot; and whilst the ripening berries shine in the hedgerows like clusters of red and black jewels, neither the conkers, nor the leaves, have yet fallen from the chestnut trees.

And though we are reminded by the catalogues that have started coming through the door, that there are now only three months until Christmas, the butterflies are still drinking nectar, and the bees go on bumbling and buzzing in the flower heads, collecting pollen until they can hardly fly for the weight of it...

Collecting pollen in the sunshine