Early Bird

Today I braved the bitter wind and went on a walk -- and my reward was seeing a robin. I have never seen a non-winter bird appear so early in the winter season before. I was amazed when I heard its familiar sound, first, then saw its tiny red form on top of someone's roof. I hope this means we will have an early spring...early bird -- early spring, makes sense. That's what I am hoping for anyway.

Thank You.

Thank You for the winter birds.

(I could not find a credit for this beautiful photo) --- Update: Photo by Fiona Childs

Top Withens

Open Window

Outside the open window
The morning air is all awash with angels.
~Richard Purdy Wilbur

Blah Blah Blah

I refuse to talk about the bitter, unforgiving, blah-blah weather outside for any length of time. It surrounds me and has settled in for the duration of this first month of the year, it is the elephant in the room and I acknowledge it, but only just. I will try to be cozy and calm, for that is what mid-winter is for....watching favorite movies cozilly wrapped in fleecy goodness from head to toe, sipping tea in cozy cups while reading a good book, and shopping online without having to leave the house or even your room.

So here are some things on my mind this January that are not even remotely blah-related. 

I discovered this darling Australian television series called "McLeod's Daughters," (thanks to my sister), that aired starting back in 2001 for eight seasons. I adore it. Just watch (Netflix or Youtube), and you'll be hooked, ...it's smart, sophisticated, romantic, and funny. Nothing blah about it. There are so many seasons they had time to develop the characters and story lines, and they did a great job with it. Two sisters reunite, after twenty years apart, on their late father's cattle station in the Australian Bush.


Another blog posted about this Cabin website and I just find it a perfect fit for winter because the pictures there are so comforting and familiar. You want to pull up the hearth, sit and dream you are a world away in a variety of quaint little spaces. Basically it's people posting pictures from all over the world of cute little cabin spaces such as this one, ...notice there is no blah at this cabin.

Photo by James Dennit - British Columbia

On a shelf in a remote room, sits this gorgeous, massive, blue collection of romance poetry from the likes of Tennyson, Coleridge, Shelley, and Byron. It is for sale in my shop rather than for my personal collection because...

 ...as much as I hate to admit it, my own collection looks like this....

...less massive and less beautiful to look at, but readable for my tiny-lazy-poetry-brain. I want the massive set in my head, but I'll settle for the baby version at least for now. Baby steps and motivation might get me into some "cast away the blah's" mid-winter reading.

As you can see, there is hardly anything blah-blah about January if you really think about it.

Starry Starry Night

I saw the twinkle stars to-night,

Unusual on a mid-winter night.

Clouds had broken murky cover,
Offering a view far and wide,

Inviting to touch the sparkle of,
Winter diamonds hung in the sky.

I saw the twinkle stars to-night,

An unlikely starry starry winter night.

Thirst

I highly recommend this little-known Aussie film called, "Thirst." 

Such a great message in the film, and the acting is amazing. 

You will fall in love with the stories played out by the four characters brought together through a fateful series of events, as they learn to live fully, and remain positive and happy in the most daunting circumstances.  It can be purchased or rented on iTunes. Be aware that it contains strong language and content unsuitable for children. (I cut out the scenes I chose not to watch by fast forward).

Official Site

Anne - Winter

Christmas Blessing

It's (finally) beginning to look like Christmas outside. A very Narnia-like storm settled in overnight and left a covering of heavy wet snow on trees, roads, cars. Everything is white and crisp and new. A Christmas blessing, ...heaven falling down for every living thing below, at the most needed time. 

Heaven's Coming Down

by First Call 

Out in a field nearby

The humbled shepherd's heard
An angel's holy word
The night the love of God was stirred
For here in Bethlehem
A mother's heart stood still
Her fragile arms were filled with her child
The crowning of God's will

Tell all creation to sing
To worship the King
Heaven's coming down
Shout from the earth to the sky
The one reason why
Heaven's coming down
He'll save the world from dying
There will be no denying
Where our hope is found
Heaven's coming down

There in Jerusalem
The House of God was made
In a room above
They stayed the night
They waited, watched and prayed
Suddenly the sound of wind
Rushed up the stair
The Spirit filled the air with fire
And our Savior met them there

Tell all creation to sing
To worship the King
Heaven's coming down
Shout from the earth to the sky
The one reason why
Heaven's coming down
He saved the world from dying
There will be no denying
Where our hope is found
Heaven's coming down

Gloria, gloria, gloria

Tell all creation to sing
To worship the King
Heaven's coming down
He is the opening door forevermore
Heaven's coming down
Shout from the earth to the sky
The one reason why
Heaven's coming down
He'll save the world from dying
There will be no denying
Where our hope is found

Heaven's coming down
Watch and pray
Till you see heaven coming down 

 

Thankful, So Thank

 I am thankful for good times when the beauty of life cannot be hidden...it pours out so abundantly you can barely contain it, the cup is so full you can embrace it all so easily with a perfect and honest grace.

 I am thankful for hard times, when the reasons for fire are not apparent at the start but are revealed at last, ...after you have already walked through the fire, ...and the ease of that perfect grace you had been granted seems far far away.


I am thankful for the dance of life, whatever it may bring,
.....thankful for it all, so I thank..... the One who shares His beauty in so many ways, for I would not want to live in a world without it.
We are thankful, so thank. We are 'guided by love, so love."

"may the fragrance of forgiveness 

stay with ya all the day long,

may the taste of tender mercy, 

remain on the tip of your tongue,

you're guided by love, so be guided by love

like the stars shine right behind the clouds

you're guided by love, so be guided by love now,

may the freedom of obedience, 

be what leads ya when you can't keep your stride,

when the experience of driftin 

further in to the desert lasts forever,

know the rain will soon fall from the sky

you're guided by love, so be guided by love

like the stars shine right behind the clouds

you're guided by love, so be guided by love now"

---"Guided By Love", written by Mitch Mcvicker

A Hundred Lovely Lakes

I remember a hundred lovely lakes, and recall the fragrant breath of pine and fir and cedar and poplar trees.  The trail has strung upon it, as upon a thread of silk, opalescent dawns and saffron sunsets.  It has given me blessed release from care and worry and the troubled thinking of our modern day.  It has been a return to the primitive and the peaceful.  Whenever the pressure of our complex city life thins my blood and benumbs my brain, I seek relief in the trail; and when I hear the coyote wailing to the yellow dawn, my cares fall from me - I am happy.  ~Hamlin Garland, McClure's, February 1899

Half Sick of Shadows, More or Less

For such a time as this, now more than ever, ...I am craving a simplicity more Thoreau-like than I ever imagined. The kind of simplicity that begs for little to no television (easy), and asks for less computer time (not so easy). To turn down the noise from outside sources whenever I want to,
and to turn them completely off if I choose.

 I am 'half-sick of shadows,' half-sick of the trappings and restrictions heaped upon us in the name of necessity and power. I expect more, and more is to be found in less... to live with less, or rather to live with more,
...by my own free accord.

Stepping back to define your own boundaries is good, Thoreau did that, too, ...especially when so much else seems to be slipping out of your control. Take it back in your own way... I say, define for yourself what life means and how you will live it. It may be quite a journey through the noise,
but at the end peace awaits you.

 

Just Right

These little vintage rose gems have become my favorite cup of choice. They are just the right size for warm drinks or any drinks really, ...not too little and not too much, but "just right." I will enjoy my herbal tea all winter from these dainty vessels.

Photos by M. Woodruff

Rosey and small

Cheerful and bright.

A warm welcome sight on

This cold autumn night.

Victorian Halloween

A Victorian Halloween is the one for me~

You Had to Be There

They are May-December,

True loves on the spectrum.

A month called October,

Thirty days named June.

'Divinely beautiful' Anne would say.

Words may not exactly describe,

How they have become so dear.

You had to be there I guess.

 Photo Credit - Partners For A Better World