It’s the light that is so magical at this time of year. The skies are sometimes heavy and grey, but even on the dullest of days every now and then there is a chink in the clouds and suddenly it is as if someone has shone the most powerful light on the buildings, a pure brilliance that lasts for less than a minute but makes one stop, catch ones breath and grab whatever is to hand that can take a photo. Continue reading “THOUGHTS OF THE FESTIVE SEASON ARE CREEPING IN”
If spring is the time of hope and regeneration, then for me autumn and in particular the month of November is a time of reflection. The days are shorter, winter is fast approaching, the blue skies, whilst lovely are not quite so frequent and the fire is permanently lit. The festive season is fast approaching, marking yet another landmark in the annual calender, but just for a couple of weeks, this is a month when I like to take stock of things.
In those days when I was at school and wrote letters on a weekly basis it was a chore not a pleasure, they would always start the same, “Dear so and so, how are you”? However, every now and then in this day and age there is nothing I like more than writing you a jolly good letter, electronically. A newsy little catch-up of what’s been going on, just as I would write an email to a friend.
Today my “How are you?” has additional thoughts and prayers for everyone in the path of Hurricane Michael, I know what you are going through; I’ve been there and it’s awful, and we are all thinking of you. Continue reading “Hi, How Are You?”
It’s that time of year that always seems to be a bit of a muddle as far seasons are concerned. If you stick to the astronomical calendar then it is still summer for another couple of weeks. If you listen to the gardeners and follow the meteorological system then we have moved into Autumn. Continue reading “Summer’s End or Not??”
There’s a time and a place for everything and right now it feels so right just to be out in the open, in the country, enjoying nothing but good clean fresh air and good clean fun. Where little changes except for the seasons and there are no decorations except for natures own way of trimming the trees and embellishing the landscape. Continue reading “Sunday”
I remember once receiving a phone call one late November evening from a friend in America. Izzi was a baby, so it must have been 21 years ago; the friend said it was a tradition, and he always phoned a few friends he particularly wanted to remember each Thanksgiving. We chatted for a while and the conversation drifted onto normal things, the weather, this and that, but the memory of what was essentially a special telephone-call has never left me. Continue reading “Happy Thanksgiving”
Days like these, when it isn’t really summer but it’s not quite autumn either; we’re in that in between-season, the nomansland of the calendar. Did summer really go by in the blink of an eye? Is it really over? There are days when I am quite sure it will go on forever, our doors and windows are still open, the sun is still hot on our backs and the leaves have not yet started to fall. But when the wind picks up it has that slight chill; the mornings and evenings have turned a little cooler and the rain, absent for so many weeks, has made its return. Continue reading “Black Eyed Susan”
We did and we didn’t – eat dog biscuits that is – more on this in a minute as it has in fact been rather a contradictory week. I love the spring and summer but profess to dislike autumn and winter. However, I then actually like winter when it snows because I love the snow, but we don’t get much snow here. As a result I inevitably tell everyone I dislike winter and the autumn. But isn’t it a woman’s prerogative to change her mind? Continue reading “We ate dog Biscuits!”
Finding the time to ‘stand and stare’. It seems like only last week I was lamenting the end of the summer holidays and somehow the children and I were trying to get back into the school routine of early mornings; bundling everyone into the car on time, usually while someone is carrying their shoes and someone else has a drooping backpack half-open with books threatening to make a bid for freedom. We’ve just about got organised, the daily drill has almost fully fallen back into place and now here we are eagerly looking forward to the two week autumn holiday known as les vacances de la Toussaint. Continue reading “Time to Stand and Stare”
It’s mid-October yet at midday you’d be forgiven for thinking we were still in the midst of summer; but by evening there is a discernible feel of autumn in the air, a decisive nod of acknowledgement towards the cooler months ahead. However, if you rise with the lark the crisp early morning chill is unmistakable. I’ve put the heating on in the car for the school-run, I’ve found a scarf to wear over a t-shirt and when I return home I firmly shut the front door behind me. Continue reading “Falling into Autumn”
Our French Oasis 