Happy Christmas To All...

It's that time again... All the presents are wrapped. And mostly delivered, I might add. Fudge has been enjoyed. Cookies eaten. Festive Holiday Cheer poured. Cards with ice skating Bears in high silk hats and vests mailed.

The KitthehCats are all fed and snuggled in cozy and warm (Some snoring slightly. Do cats have adenoids ?). Celtic music playing hauntingly on the cd player. Roast is thawing on the drainboard for tomorrows feast. It will have turnips and parsnips and potatoes and carrots and a nice Yorkshire pudding served with it. And gravy of course ! Pardon me while I salivate.

It began SNOWING here a few days ago and the total accumulation is around 15 inches. Most snow and midteen temperatures since 1968. I truly don't mind it but I do prefer Soggy and mid forties thankyou very much ! The Girls try venturing out ever so briefly. They go out onto the covered back patio. Stare around in disbelief.Then haul butt back into the house. And look at me like they were Silas Marners offspring. Weirdos. (They get that from me you know.)

So all in all I would say We are ready for Christmas here at Home. And I would would hope that the Holiday is Merry and Bright.

xoxo

The Conkers Are Falling ...The Conkers Are Falling...

... cause thats how I know autumn has arrived. Harvest Home, Fall, Mabon, Equinox... Whatever you choose to call it...

There is a huge old horse chestnut tree that lives in the yard. It is as huge as it has ever been. And I have been living here almost thirty years. Every spring it begins to leaf out with the softest of greens. Tender, pliable leaves unfold and seem to suddenly appear. A haze of green. There follows the "blooming". Large upright stalks of blossoms, white and plentiful. When they fade it looks like a young snow covering the ground. And each place there was a bloom forms a slight fuzzy/prickly nubbin.

As the season proceeds the nubbins grow in size and weight. The moss covered limbs lowering a bit each day. Some time in late summer you forget to notice them, and the tree for that matter. Other than to be grateful for the cool afternoon shade it provides to the house and back porch.

Then comes a fine day when the crickets start sounding different.You know,... they get that rusty louder churp that you remember from around a year ago. And you really notice the darkness getting here earlier than expected. And there is a whisper of a texture change in the air. The breeze makes you want to suck in a good deep breath of cooler air. The squash plants and tomato are starting to wither slightly. Some where in the back of your mind you begin to remember where the quilts are put away. You check your cupboards to see if there might be an old envelope of cocoa stashed somewhere. A shawl of some sort feels comforting drawn across the shoulders in evening. When you pet the cats there is a slight thickening of fur. Fur that just weeks ago was flying loose and free everywhere.

This morning I listened to the rain start. The plonking of a drip in the rain barrel that sits at the back corner of the house. Looking out the bedroom window, the tall grass is bent over with weight. The dry straw is dark with moisture.

And then you hear it. The thunking. The crash. The drying leaves giving way. The K-THUMP of a projectile hitting the earth. The hard smacking sound on the roof. To be repeated probly a thousand times this season.

The chestnuts have ripened on the old tree. Grown as large as a lemon. Hard and green and covered in hundreds of sharp pointy spikes. The seams giving way to expose the shiny new nuts held within. Three maybe four to each pod. The entire thing launching itself off the tree to careen down, making a pleasing racket. And hopefully giving you a moments notice to throw up your arm or duck, or listen and know they aren't headed toward your head. Scaring the cats. Making them scatter or look out with dark eyes at the big tree. More willing to come on into the house with Momma.

Conkers some people call them. Buckeyes if you are from Ohio. They are most lovely gathered and put in a bowl that sits in the sun.

I know autumn is here, my most favoritest time of the year, cause the conkers are falling.

You Take the High Road and I'll Take the Low Road...

The neighbors (and sweet dear friends) across the road from me just got back from their vacation. (Insert jealous whiny sigh.) They came over with goodies and trinkets to calm my envious side. There were snuggley wooly things and good tasty things and lovely brochures and long involved descriptions of being sequestered on a bus with a flat tyre for four plus hours.
In the chill rain.
In the dark gloaming.
With about forty other travellers.
In downtown Edinburgh. (Insert another whine.)
They talked about their good natured bus driver who wore his kilt. And the people they were travelling with. A man from Pakistan. A Korean couple and Japanese folks. Sikhs with white turbans wrapping their heads. Ladies from South Africa. Just a melange' of different sightseers. And how it rained , drizzled, misted, dripped, and was just damp the entire time they were there and then later in the surrounding countryside. He spoke of lochs and mountains and odd television stations that only showed ten year old U.S. reruns. She talked of the grocery stores and a thrift store she had found with some treasures bought for me. (I'm feeling better now thank you.)
They seemed to have a most adventurous time. What with cars on the left side of the road. Roundabouts instead of traffic lights. Trying to decipher the thick accents and then be understood themselves. And about how nice everyone was. Helping them with the pounds and pence and minced beef (hamburgers).
Then it was talk of how good it was to be home. With their dogs and kittys and everyone so glad to have them home again. Safe.
Cause they flew home September 11th.
Coming from Glasgow to Amsterdam then back to our huge local airport. About how on the plane there were a group of women who were wearing small white flowers. And then how when asked, they stated it was a gift given to them on their previous flight. To remember the plane crashes that took so many lives. All the people from so many places around the world that were just innocents, in the wrong place at the wrong time. Taken from their loved ones by people who were willing to murder.
After admiring my goodies and having cake and ice cream just because (She brought it. She is like that, bringing homemade treats to share.) they walked back across the road. To their cozy home and sun slanting in the french doors. Cats and dogs greeting them.

And you want to know the best thing they brought me today?
Themselves. Home again, safe and sound.

Hold On Fellas, It's Gonna Be A Bumpy Night !

Do you ever ask your self how you get yourself into certain predicaments ?
I do. Sometimes it is me lurching in with both feet... eyes wide open in the glare...yelling Yee-Haw !!!
Other times it is with the wringing of hands and dark introspection and mind numbing organization of facts and thoughts and what ifs...
Then like tonight, I asked my self "Why Not ?"...
I love to read those blogs by people who write about their day to day. Their crafts. Their creative way with crock pots. Just all the participation I see going on around me... So, here I am... Participating in my own odd quirky way.
And I have cats.
That should tell you a bunch about me right there...
So wish me luck !!!