Wordless Wednesday - Seeking Shelter

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photo by Aisling, December 29, 2008, opossum trying to hide beneath snow shovel handle.

Monday Muse - Little Wonders

I haven't done a Monday Muse post in months, but wanted to share the song that has been stuck in my mind for the last few days: Little Wonders by Rob Thomas.

I love the lyrics, which include,

"Our lives are made in these small hours

these little wonders,

these twists & turns of fate

time falls away,

but these small hours,

these small hours still remain."

The full lyrics are here: Little Wonders

I don't have a good enough connection to the internet to watch YouTube videos, but if you aren't familiar with this song, you might find it there. That's what I've been listening too... What inspires you lately?

photo of bluejays by Aisling, December 2008

Sunday Stroll - The Year's End

My stroll was more like a lurch through slush, snow and brush this afternoon. Wild wind and cold hands made for some blurry photos, but still they will give you an impression of the afternoon hours, after the morning's winter storm.

Despite wind gusts of up to 40 miles per hour, three hawks flew over the eastern hills this morning. I photographed them through the window, without much success, but I enjoyed watching them interact with each other and soar against the gray sky.

When a tiny patch of blue appeared in the sky, I grabbed the camera, stepped into my clunky boots, and headed out the front door and down the hill toward the butterfly garden and the creek, running with yesterday's rain.

A busy gardener apparently forgot to finish tucking the garden in for the winter. A few pots and a bench, which has been tipped over by the wind, still need to be brought in for the season. Stalks, laden with seeds, were left to feed the wild ones who prowl the garden in the barren winter-time.

Leaves of huechera (coral bells) peak out of the snow, reminding me, as I leave the butterfly garden and head up the trail along the creek, that greener days are coming.

The creek scurries downhill, rushing while it can, toward the south. Soon, it will be hidden again ~ for weeks on end ~ beneath the snow and ice of a northern winter.

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all photos by Aisling, December 28, 2008

Sunday Stroll Invitation

"Do not let Sunday be taken from you. If your soul has no Sunday, it becomes an orphan."

~ Albert Schweitzer

On this last Sunday in December... this last Sunday of the year... I will take my final garden walk of the year. Later in the day, I think I will enter "Sunday Stroll" in the search feature of my blog and walk back through the circle of the year via my garden photos each Sunday since early spring. I am hoping for a January thaw in 2009 that will allow me the sight of a few green leaves, and a few green tips pushing through the cold earth. In the meantime, I am faced with a very blustery Sunday... with snow whipping through the air on strong winds.

If you have time to stroll today, and if your weather permits, please post about about it on your blog and then come back here with a comment and a link to your post. You may use the Sunday Stroll button at the top of this post on your post or side bar if you would like. I will add participant names to this post so other strollers can walk through your garden too.

Abbie at Farmer's Daughter

Linda at The Crafty Gardener

Nan at Letters from a Hill Farm

Margaret at Periodic Pearls

Joyce at Tall Grass Worship

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Night of Song

"Christmas Eve was a night of song that wrapped itself about you like a shawl. But it warmed more than your body. It warmed your heart...filled it, too, with melody that would last forever."

~ Bess Streeter Aldrich (1881-1954), American author, 'Song of Years'.

The Quiet Country House is nearly ready for a quiet evening gathering. The children usually frost sugar cookies on Christmas Eve to fill some of the waiting hours. We open a few gifts on Christmas eve. Often, there is a package of fresh new pjs for each family member... some years new slippers. We eat a "feast of snacks" on Christmas Eve, in place of a regular meal. I'll play some carols on the old piano that I took lessons on almost 40 years ago. Most likely a wiggly five year old will sit on the bench with me, adding a tinkling descant on the keys that sit too temptingly before him. Maybe we'll play this one and sing the beautiful lyrics written by Wihla Hutson and Alfred Burt over half a century ago...

Some Children See Him

"Some children see Him lily white,

the baby Jesus born this night.

Some children see Him lily white,

with tresses soft and fair.

Some children see Him bronzed and brown,

The Lord of heav'n to earth come down.

Some children see Him bronzed and brown,

with dark and heavy hair.

Some children see Him almond-eyed,

this Savior whom we kneel beside.

Some children see Him almond-eyed,

with skin of yellow hue.

Some children see Him dark as they,

sweet Mary's Son to whom we pray.

Some children see him dark as they,

and, ah! they love Him, too!

The children in each different place

will see the baby Jesus' facelike theirs,

but bright with heavenly grace,

and filled with holy light.

O lay aside each earthly thing

and with thy heart as offering,

come worship now the infant King.

'Tis love that's born tonight!"

May blessings wrap around you on this "night of song" and all through the year. Wherever you are, however you celebrate, I wish you love and warm memories of this season.

photos by Haiku, December 22, 2008

Sunday Stroll - Through the Windows

I have a confession to make... I took my stroll from the inside looking out today. Another winter storm is pelting us with snow, and there was no lull in the storm during which to take photos. So, here are the views from my windows today. The distinct lack of clarity in this photos is due to flying snow (the photographer refuses to take the blame!)

From the dining room window on the east side of the house, here are the wood pile, snow fort and the white pines on the hill just east of our property.

From the dining room and living room windows on the south side of the house, here are the vegetable garden and the playhouse, with the lake in the background.

Here is a tiny glimpse of the front garden, from the living room windows on the west (front) face of the house.

Here is the butterfly garden, north and east of the house, taken through the window with a sigh for warmer days...

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all photos by Aisling, Sunday December 21, 2008

Sunday Stroll Invitation

According to Dictonary.com, the word winter "comes from an old Germanic word that means "time of water" and refers to the rain and snow..." It has been a time of water, mostly snow and a little icy rain, for several weeks now, but winter officially begins today. Not surprisingly, snow is falling heavily... in large soft flakes that are moving sideways through the air as the cold wind drives them from the north.

If you have time to stroll today, please post about about it on your blog and then come back here with a comment and a link to your post. You may use the Sunday Stroll button at the top of this post on your post or side bar if you would like. I will add participant names to this post so other strollers can walk through your garden too.

Look who's strolling:

Margaret at Periodic Pearls

Linda at The Crafty Gardener

Abbie at Farmer's Daughter

Me, here at The Quiet Country House

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Sunday Stroll - December in the Village

Haiku and I went into the village for a little window shopping this afternoon. A light misty rain fell as we walked along a main street dressed for the holidays.

The warming pots and ice sculptures from last night's winter street festival remain on the sidewalks. The street is quiet today without the shoppers, carollers, and pink-cheeked children.

Despite the light rain this afternoon, winter has settled into the village for the season.

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photos by Aisling and Haiku, December 14, 2008

Sunday Stroll Invitation

"I thank you God for this most amazing day, for the leaping greenly spirits of trees, and for the blue dream of sky and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes."

~ e.e. cummings

I will wander today searching for that blue dream of sky. What I will see instead is the soft blanket of grey cloud that has draped our skies for days on end. Last night our snow turned to rain as the air warmed just a few degrees above freezing. I will be strolling through slush today I believe!

If you have time to stroll today, please post about about it on your blog and then come back here with a comment and a link to your post. You may use the Sunday Stroll button at the top of this post on your post or side bar if you would like. I will add participant names to this post so other strollers can walk through your garden too.

Look who's strolling:

Me here at the Quiet Country House
Ruth at Musings of an Everyday Woman
The Crafty Gardener

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Feelin' Groovy...

Does anyone besides me remember that old Simon and Garfunkle tune, 59th Street Bridge Song? "Slow down, you move too fast," the lyrics remind us, "You've got to make the morning last, just kickin' down the cobblestones. Lookin' for fun and feelin' groovy."

My classes are done for the semester... essays submitted, exams taken. After a pause for a deep breath, I still have plenty to do. I have already enjoyed picking up a non-text book, the memoir A Three Dog Life by Abigail Thomas, for the first time in months. I had to substitute at the school yesterday, my first day after exams, so today feels like my first day of the holiday break. I am volunteering at the school for an hour, later this morning, but after that I have a little time for the library, a little cleaning and laundry at home, and maybe another chapter or two in that book.

Tuesday morning at the bus stop, five-year old Tanka asked me, "How many days until the future?" Really... what could I tell him? I keep wondering that myself! *grin*

Despite the snow, I'm feelin' groovy. Where-ever you are, whatever the weather, I hope you're feelin' groovy too.

photos by Aisling, December 11, 2008 1) Come on in, if you can find the door (our pole barn) 2) our "groovy" driveway.

Sunday Stroll - December Landscape

The old pickup truck, no longer very road worthy, has kept our driveway plowed through many winters. Last week it came to a sudden stop in a drift of snow.

The western skies:

The road north:

The garden and hills, and the only bit of blue sky, to the east:

The little lake to the southwest:

The wind has written wavy script in the wide expanses of snow. There are ripples...

and ridges...

and waves.

The log pile becomes more inaccessible, and more picturesque, with each new snowfall.

Many of the garden plants are buried in snow, but the wind has blown the snow away from a few. Here is yarrow capped in ice and a Pyracantha, also known as Firerthorn, looking like a living wreath. The last photo is a close-up of the orange Firethorn berries which, like the blue sky in the east, are a welcome bit of color in the nearly monochromatic December landscape.

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all photos by Aisling, December 7, 2008

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