Feeding the soul

 

Saturday was planned on being a quiet day apart from Himself and I getting our boosters first thing. We would spend the rest of the day gently biding our time while arms hurt and potential heads ached.

Then Youngest put in a request for help to collect his plants and computer and some furniture from his uni house. So after we'd been jabbed, we jumped in the van and drove up through large drifts of thick  grey mist and met up with him. After chatting and cradling mugs of hot tea, we loaded the van with his things then drove down to the docks for Moss. (Well, for us too - we love walking around that area and even though we knew there'd be no views, we still wanted to breath in the salty freshness).

The air was laden with fine cool droplets which swirled through the trees and drifted over the water. It had a damper effect making sounds seemed distant and hollow. The lapping of the sea against the boats felt almost as if a memory while bird song was paper thin and faint.

Dog walkers appeared out of the gloom and we nodded our heads in solidarity on our dog exercising duties.  A distant tractor's engine crackled and faded as we followed the old railway track.

Along the basin, where the narrow boats and the sea going yachts berth for the winter, water fowl paddled through the gloom with the occasional 'yark' or 'breeet' call seemingly bouncing off the water and rolling on to the shore. 

Moss of course wanted to swim and managed a quick paddle, rinsing off the mud from her legs and losing her ball in the process. Oh well, it had been a foundling in the first place - may it bring joy to the next dog who finds it.

I love reflections and the otherworldly images they give and even in this half light there were plenty to please me.

It was a short walk, but the difference it made was wonderful, Himself and I (and Moss) got back in the van and began the two hour long trip home.

Completing the circle

It could be said that 2021 has been quite a ride - a complete sea change in fact. It was incredibly difficult to choose a photo a month so, rather than trawl up and down until I saw what I wanted, I have chosen at random the first one that catches my eye and have written about that one  .... 

Top left - January : I started a new job, as head gardener in a walled kitchen garden as part as a charity which works to help with people's minds and mental welfare. It has been a steep learning curve, not just how to manage a large vegetable garden so that it produced a steady flow of fruit and vegetables to the cafe and for sale rather than a series of gluts, but how to manage volunteers, meet their needs, teaching them new skills, making use of their existing skills base, form a community and a safety net whilst getting the best from them - I am still learning.

Top Right  - February : I, on a whim, sort of 'sashiko style' stitched my work trousers all down the left leg. Why? Well why not? It does sometimes start a conversation, which when meeting someone new does help break the ice.

Bottom Left - March : Although we walk all through the year, March really kicks off walks that are further afield.  This particular walk resulted in a rather muddy and wet (but very happy) dog,

Bottom Right -April : A good month for walking,  gently balmy days, camping, once again a happy (and usually muddy) dog.

Top Left - May : Wild camping as often as we can, we walk along pathways strewn with cow parsley. The light levels are clear and bright and days are warming while nights remain chilly.

Top Right -June : I'd decided to allow the garden to gentle 're-wild' and for a brief few weeks in June, it was beautiful, romantic, flower filled with birds, insects, frogs and hedgehogs. However, it was not long before it became not so much 're-wild' but down right savage so required a bit of a machete job....

 

Bottom Left - July : Warm and wet. Sunny days that warmed me to the bone and rainy ones that drenched me in equal measure.

Bottom Right - August : Dusky hot days melted into sultry evenings with the most glorious sunsets

Top Left - September : The call of wild camping and walking had us revisiting places we love, sharing them with Moss who delighted in swimming in rivers and the sea, walking in woodlands and along the coast line. May have to take her back!

Top Right - October : The mellowing of the seasons, softened the light, made things feel reflective and contemplative. 

Bottom Left - November : I tentatively dipped my toe into the loom-weaving waters and was dragged off into a delight of weaving. The rhythmic movement and the gentle building of the woven fabric really pleases me - I know I need lots more practise and I have been experimenting with reasonable success - I shall certainly be playing with this a whole lot more!

Bottom Right - December : take today, this misty early morning photo brings the circle around back to January when I started at the walled garden.  I wrote - this year has been quite a ride and a rather good one.

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Don't think you have reached the end of my waffle just yet!

I have just one (or three) more photographs to share with you - December 2021 to me will be forever linked to festive wreath making, the pictures only show about half of what was made .... 87 in total to be precise ... a mixture of wreaths made by myself (44) and the rest made by participants of the wreath making workshops.  

It has been a busy month.

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Slipping through the mist

The crunch of my boot seemed unnaturally loud as I walked along the track. It seemed rather intrusive.

Smudged by the mist, the distant wistful song of an unseen bird, it's tune distorted and hollow sounding, seemed to echo around the trees.

Moss trotted on ahead, sniffing and following scents, reading different stories to the ones I could see with my eyes. Her ears pricked and listening to sounds I did not hear.

A faint dripping sound as the trapped mist ran down branches and collected at the tips, wobbling a while then dropping to the leaf litter below. 

Above me I could hear the breeze shush through the upper tree level, it was almost lazy as it swirled through the branches. I could just about feel it's chilly touch on my left check as we walked.

Along the route we were watched over by the guardians of the woods, it was magical finding them as they silently appeared out of the gloom.

A Victorian home, now an outdoor centre - looking forlorn, sulked with curtains half closed and an air of abandonment. I know that the pandemic has pushed it to the brink - it remains to be seen if it can recover....

Storms Arwen and Barra have certainly left their mark with hundreds of trees flattened it their wake.

Trees twisted and torn, still hanging or leaning on telephone wires, some cleared, others still looking shocked and felled.

It was eerie and beautiful in one moment. The dampening from the mist making sounds soft and muffled and the view fading until invisible.

I could hear the lapping of the water in the tarn and knew from years of walking along this route that the tarn, unseen, was a few meters away, the only confirmation being the wooden sculpture and the shadowy shape of the boat house.

The air was chilly and I'd reached the furthest point on our walk, time to turn and return back to the car.

 It was a brief escape - one that would have been longer if there'd been time, however for that magical half hour, Moss and I evaporated into the landscape and walked with memories and plans.

Tea and Toast

 What is it about a mug of freshly brewed tea and a slice of hot buttered toast?

Is it the salty butter that melts and drips on to your fingers making them so tasty to lick?  

Or the warmed seeds in the bread that add such depth of flavour as you bite into the toast?

Oh, there is that crunch of the outer crispy layer then the inner warm soft bread washed down with a mouthful of smoky Assam tea - warm enough to fill your throat with a comforting glow without scalding yourself. You can feel yourself radiate warmth from within.

It is a guilty and go to pleasure - when I want something to eat quickly - it fills that need. 

Some days I can fill the kettle and the toaster and patiently wait as both heat up. I can stir the tea and allow the vapour fill my nostrils and swirl around my head as the toaster emits a warm mouth-watering fragrance. I can then spread the butter and savour the taste and enjoy the moment .... then...... there are days that I slam the kettle on with barely enough water to give it the quickest boil time, I throw bread into the toaster - usually one slice in the false hope that is all I need, then fling open the fridge and retrieve the butter and milk.

The tea bag is hurled into the mug as the kettle clicks off and the water follows soon after. A teaspoon twirls the steaming hot liquid, fishes out the soggy bag and stirs the milk. Heaven help the toaster if, at this point it is still gently warming the bread - often I pop it up, give the bread a hard glare and quickly press back down.

Often the toast is barely tanned, more dried out when 'fridge-hard butter is forcibly smushed along the top and stuffed into my mouth ... as I put in a second slice, ignoring the voice in my head which in a  disappointing tone reminds me that I was not going to have that additional piece. However, I am usually so busy chomping that the voice is drowned out and then soothed by a glurping of tea.

The second slice is usually a little more genteelly quaffed  as the first slightly warm and dried out bread has taken the edge off..... but not always!

I was going to share a photo of an artfully arranged slice of toast and gently steaming mug of tea - but as you can see, the toast did not make it to the photo shoot and the tea ... well, the tea is all but finished.... oops.... it has been one of those days!

Never too late

 I'm numbingly tired, so only popping in to say hi ...

...and how are you? 

...and are you taking care of yourselves?

I saw this the other day and thought I would share it with you - just in case it was just what you needed xx

Never too late and never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream

I am still weaving - both gifts and stories and I love that two intertwine and become one. Really love it.

I'll pop back soon, just need to get the next 8 days or so wrapped up then I can relax - promise, xx

Red sky in the morning ....

Shepherd's warning - Red sky at night... Shepherd's delight.

The sky first thing was a rather startling pink and as I sipped a mug of tea I watched the pink slide rapidly upwards then vanish almost immediately. The sky darkened as Storm Barra arrived with a bang - it ripped through the village making the trees howl as they lost the last few remaining leaves they'd held on to. I worked briefly in the morning - regretting the decision and managed to hold on for an hour before I blew home dripping wet and frozen handed.

It took a couple of mugs of tea, a warmed mincepie and a change of fleece and socks before I began to feel human again and buoyed up enough to go back out and do a bit of shopping. I was was glad to get back home though - Barra was not for playing nicely at all.

In the afternoon, after I'd completed a few unescapable chores, I persuaded Himself that today would be the last day I would have time to put up the tree, before December melted into an unruly mix of work and festive get togethers, family and friends.

So, tonight, sitting watching 'Winter Walks with...' I keep looking over to the now dressed tree - I've tried to be more 'Scandi' than my usual style and I rather like the simple charm of stars and lights and nothing else.

So, apart from the tree there is only the wreath on the door and I like the simplicity of it all.

Meanwhile Barra continues to howl and thump around the house. Think it is time for a brew - stay safe and stay warm if Storm Barra is keeping you company tonight xxx

Sunday reflecting

The house has been full of voices the last couple of days with the boys and their girls joining us for our annual wreath making day - it was non existent in 2020 and this year it had been downsized to just a bare minimum of family and special friends; to be able to have a small part of our yearly tradition felt rather special.

With quite a few folk not joining us, I was busy making a number of wreaths - which I have to admit was rather hard to rustle up the enthusiasm I usually have - it seems I have made so many this year that the novelty has well and truly run its course... I also wanted this to be a lovely day because last year was .... well - last year didn't really happen, did it?

However after several mugs of tea, mince pies, gingerbread cake, gingerbread, lots of catching up and a constant background serenading of festive songs - I got there in the end!

Another very special part of this day is the arrival of a gingerbread chrimbly tree - where squeaks of delight and oohs and aahs of appreciation could be heard as it landed in the centre of the table with a flourish!

It is this plate of tasty sculpture that really makes me feel like the festive season has begun. And what makes it even more special is, it is part of my boys festive build up and and once they'd grown up and brought home their girlfriends - they delighted in sharing this tradition with them too. It also amazes me how quickly this plate of biscuits are scoffed - with the larger pieces being torn into large chunks and carried off triumphantly!

Nearly all of us had more that one wreath to make and if I have my calculations correct - I think, by the end of the day there were  15 or 16 made - so we were rather busy!

The pile of greenery both on the table and beneath it certainly looked impressive however I had to ask Himself to brave the dreadful weather outside and gather more as we soon depleted it.

The house smelt gorgeous - citrusy conifer, spicy ginger, mulled punch, mince pies, pizza, baked potatoes,  cinnamon sticks, crusty bread, quiche and nut roast.

In the evening, after all had gone, we sat quietly recovering around the fire, Youngest and his Girl quietly finishing off their wreaths, Eldest and his Girl reading on the settee and the weather howling around the house in a foul temper - I decided that despite this year's wreath day's build up being quite hard work - it was worth it - really worth it x