It’s the little things in life. Sometimes the small things are the ones that matter.
Did I say thank you? Did I smile? Did I say hello? Did I help? Was I kind?
So today is a very small post. Just a reminder to myself really. Gifts come in all forms.
Category: Nature
Twittering on about Technology
I found myself watching the last fifteen minutes of The Apprentice this week.
One of the finalists was accused of being too cautious when it came to her use of technology. Well now, I thought, that I can understand! In fact, I’m sure my family would consider there to be a real similarity between me and the contestant in this regard!
It has taken me years to begin writing a blog. I only recently joined Twitter. I have been sporadic on Facebook and I opened a Pinterest account years ago and have only recently put anything on it! Oh well, c’est la vie!
So on this cold morning as Jack Frost spreads his swirling spirals ever further, I began to think about it all and realised that technology has opened some interesting doors.
Through Facebook I’ve become a member of bookclubs and stayed in contact with my family and so many lovely people I’ve met on my travels.
It was on Twitter I heard about the centenary celebrations for Muriel Spark (of ‘The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie’ fame) including the exhibition at the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh which is on my ‘to do’ list.
I discovered Robert Macfarlane’s ‘word of the day’ on Twitter. Linked to nature they are very inspiring and I love the way he adds in so many languages.
The lovely Rae Cowie introduced me to Goodreads and I’ve been having fun writing book reviews (and finding more book recommendations!).
I’m so encouraged by this way to share my love of reading, writing, nature, gardening and so on, there’s only one thing.
Just don’t tell my family! (They’ll never believe it!)
I couldn’t finish without saying a huge thank you to Small Beer Press for help with this website and to Shane Strachan and all at the Aberdeen Writers Room for their fantastic help and support!
Perfect Pawprints
What to say about today? When snow has fallen?
Today is a day for play, to create, build a snowman, a snowdog, a reindeer. To laugh and say, ‘It’s the wrong type of snow to build a snowman!’
Perfect pawprints on winter’s parchment.
The world softened, silenced under a fresh white duvet. Walking to the sounds of our own crunching and scrunching footsteps. Lichen replaced by a streak of white, light glistening low amongst the trees.
To sledge and slide and glide and fly down hills of sugared ice. To search for icicles or to skate freely on frozen ponds.
If I don’t today, the snow may be gone tomorrow. Carpe diem!
What would you choose to do on a snowy day?
Nature’s Fairylights
Outside is a day I would like to stay that way – outside!
Still I stomp along on my walk until slowly I realise where I am and what I am doing. I lift my head from the study of my welly boots. Visibility is poor, I can’t see further than the line of trees ahead. The world beyond is hidden, has become mystical and mysterious.
I tiptoe along the edge of mini lochs which appeared overnight. Coming to a standstill I see, what? What is it exactly that I am taking my time to see? What aspect of nature will I have the chance to appreciate today?
Raindrops.
Crystal fairy lights clinging to bare branches.
I tuck away my camera. Not every day is a bright, sunny one but each one certainly has its own moment, its own beauty.
The following day …
Welcoming Winter
I open my curtains every morning to gauge the weather. I suppose I could look at my phone and the Weather App would tell me but old habits die hard.
If it hadn’t been for the time I lived abroad I probably wouldn’t be so conscious of this part of my daily routine. I opened the curtains one morning after about six weeks in my new home to another day of blue sky.
It had been the same every day since I arrived. It was then I realized that the daily habit of a lifetime was of no more use. It was going to be pretty much sunny with cloudless skies, every day.
Now don’t get me wrong, coming from Scotland I felt there was much to be delighted about by this!
This morning I opened the curtains and a frost covered the ground. It hadn’t been there the morning before.
I knew it would be cold outside and yet, what a beautiful scene lay before me.
Nature’s artist providing a final flourish, the one to give it that wow! factor. The touch to highlight the beauty, clarify the lines, exaggerate every detail. It is a shout out to us all – Look! Look at how stunning Nature is; the delicacy, the intricacy.
My own choice and knowledge of words will never be enough to describe the scene and yet, how does it make me feel?
Like a child. Opening the curtains in the morning brings a dawning in me, winter is here. The time of woolly hats and mittens, boots and heavy coats has arrived. I step out the door to an icy freshness.
Sun, of a light different to the warm glows of Autumn, displays the frosty sparkle. It is a muted, hazy light contrasting with the freshness of the air. The first lulling you into hibernation as the latter wakes you up, demanding your attention.
I think of the bulbs underground. Tucked up for winter. Thinking of them brings me onto spring, but then again, what is the rush? Why not welcome the winter, enjoy the precious light of the days and the evenings, tucked up, almost hibernating myself? Safe in the knowledge the bulbs are waiting.
The Patchwork Plan
I have a plan. I’m setting myself a target.
One blog post a week for the next year.
My posts will be a patchwork of ideas, inspiration, and, hopefully, a little bit of sunshine – all in the time it takes to have a cup of tea!
I am a self-confessed Jack (Jill)-of-all-trades: someone who is always happy to learn new skills. So to pin down a theme for a blog has proven too difficult for me!
So, what to expect? Well if I had to write a recipe for this blog it would include:
books, writing, poetry, wildlife, gardening, baking, crafts, travel, music, the seasons, children, dog walking and more I’m sure.
Most of all I’d like to share the things that make me smile.
I hope you like it and I’m looking forward to having fun writing!
Last week I planted some hyacinth bulbs, getting ready for the coming winter days when there aren’t so many flowers in the garden.
As I did this I was thinking about National Poetry Day on Thursday and how one of my favourite poems for children is Robert Louis Stevenson’s ‘Bed in Summer’.
For me this poem is always a reminder of the long summer nights when you just want to be outside enjoying the light. Planting hyacinths is a signal of the shortening of the hours of daylight when you are inside so much more. Hence the need for hyacinths!
(Pictured mug; ‘Machair’ by Highland Stoneware, Lochinver – and there’s always time for a flower photo!)
Switch the Kettle on, Love 