Winter Draw(er)s On

 ...yes, I know that's an old chestnut but it still raises a smile. 

As often seems to be the case, it has been some months since the last post, and we've begun to get out a bit more; we've both had our 3rd 'booster' dose of Pfizer. We've been to the flat a couple of times, and we went to The Castleman again for Mr Bufo's birthday. 

This was the breakfast table 

And this was the lounge the night before.

We've also been to Eastbourne - hence the sunrise in the top picture. 

Now we're making plans for Christmas and the year will soon be over - we already have some appointments in on the new calendar for next year!

Still knitting and crocheting, too - a blanket (this is the centre section, there is more to come)...

...socks...

...and I've made a Christmas cake, which has now had 3 (of the 6) weekly feeds of brandy!

   

A Snowdrop Day!

What might have been a drudge around to take some stuff to an auctioneer and pick up an order from the farm shop became a magical day yesterday. 
We set off soon after 9 and got through Salisbury & Wilton without any trouble - not always a given, so doubly welcome when it does happen! We noted on the A27 on the way to Salisbury that the snowdrops were out in the usual places along the roadside, but it wasn't until we turned off the A30 and were on our way to Teffont that we began to see more and more of them along the verges. Then we turned south at Teffont, and the narrow road there was lined on both sides with a marvellous array, all the way through the village to the church. Several more clumps as we went through to Fovant and rejoined the A30, and then all the way to Shaftesbury we came upon patches; some rather the worse for wear from the muddy spray coming up off the road, others gleaming white.
We had a very pleasant lunch and collected our meat and one or two other things - is it possible to go to the Udder Farm shop and not spend a substantial sum? - and set off towards home again. 
Most of the time it had been impossible to stop and take photos, but we did manage to get these, by the side of a lay-by on the A30 near Swallowcliff, on the way home. 

They are in a rather messy grassy area, and not as spectacular as some we had seen earlier, but it's the best we could do. 
I'm sure we saw several different types, as some seemed larger than others, and it wasn't just that some were more open than others. But I'm not an expert! I have a very small clump in the front garden that are also in full bloom, but they'd be embarrassed to be shown in this company! 

To wish you...

...A Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Columns in St Andrew's Cathedral, Bordeaux

Hoping you are all able to forget the troubles of the world for at least a short time and to celebrate the holiday with those you love.

Wishing Joy to the World in 2017 - however unlikely that looks from this end of 2016 ...

...and finally, a little tease - some of you know where this picture is, more will be revealed in my first post of next year ...

Winter Solstice

Well, it seems the world did not end at 11:11 this morning; and so I return, as every year, to this poem by my favourite living author, Susan Cooper.

The Shortest Day

And so the Shortest Day came and the year died
And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world
Came people singing, dancing,
To drive the dark away.
They lighted candles in the winter trees;
They hung their homes with evergreen;
They burned beseeching fires all night long
To keep the year alive.
And when the new year's sunshine blazed awake
They shouted, revelling.
Through all the frosty ages you can hear them
Echoing behind us - listen!
All the long echoes, sing the same delight,
This Shortest Day,
As promise wakens in the sleeping land:
They carol, feast, give thanks,
And dearly love their friends,
And hope for peace.
And now so do we, here, now,
This year and every year.

― Susan Cooper

Winter sunshine on the hill behind Halsway Manor, Somerset