Winter light

Beautiful winter light

This weekend we walked and walked around our favourite local places as we had no central heating and decided it was warmer outside!

So many amazing light changes.

Lovely Red Hiding Hood

I just love fairy tales!

The very act of re-telling a story through generations is a wonderful thing, I love the tradition and the family embellishments that go with it.

Red Riding Hood is amongst my favourites not least because of her iconic red cape, there are so many illustrations of her, I really love this one.

This Christmas I shall be giving Louise Rowe's amazing Red Riding Hood Pop up book

It is quite scary!

Beautifully crafted and in a wonderful muted forest colour palette - have a look at it if you have a chance, you wont be disappointed. ( She has just published a new version of Hansel & Gretel too! I should be very grateful if Father Christmas popped one into my stocking - if your reading this Mr.Lane? )

Red Riding Hood as an image translates so well, this 1930's poster looks fantastic

as does this gorgeous etching

I remember being up far too late one Friday night whilst my parnts were out when I came across The Company of Wolves being shown on Channel 4 back in the early days!

It was a delicious behind the sofa experience!

I hadn't a clue what was going on, do you remember it?

The Company of Wolves was a 1984 gothic fantasy - horror film . The film is based on the werewolf stories in Angela Carter's short story collection The Bloody Chamber ( The Company of Wolves ,Wolf-Alice and The Werewolf ).

There is a new film being released March 2011

a gothic horror re-imagining of the fairy tale set in a medieval village that is haunted by a werewolf. A young girl falls for an orphaned woodcutter much to her family's displeasure....

Hmmm, sounds interesting.......

Have a warm weekend, and be very careful if you venture into the woods.............

Sarah

xXx

Winter Roses

I love winter roses.

They battle on, flowering against the odds in the worst of winters' weather.

They seem so much more precious at this time of year, when all else is bunkering down a new bud appearing on a rose bush is real thrill.

I have even been lucky enough to pick a few rose-buds to decorate the table on Christmas day!

There are two very special winter roses I must mention here ~

To my dear friend "Ludo" Happy Birthday!


and my beautiful sil "Pen" Happy Birthday to you too!

sending you both wintery sparkles and roses every day!

Have a brilliant weekend everyone

and Happy Birthday if it's yours too!

Sarah

xXx

Bonfire Night

Last night the village gathered together to celebrate Bonfire Night.

A large bonfire, a muddy field, fireworks, hot-dogs, soup and friends and neighbours.

It was a wonderfully simple and low key affair ~ looking around I was struck by the image of everyones' faces pointed up to the heavens illuminated by glowing firelight and heightened by the rythmic bursting of huge starry sparkles and coloured chrysanthemum flower heads exploding above our heads.

This morning, feeling more refelctive than ever! I reach for the TOAST AW2010 magazine and lose myself in the fantastic images for a while

Feeling inspired by the homely images I am off to make boiled egg and soldiers followed by blackcurrant jam on hefty wholemeal bread

and then off to market to buy casserole ingredients ~ I do like to cook when I am melancholy!

Tonight I am planning to put my feet up and stay at home

Enjoy your weekend wont you!

Happy Bonfire Night

xXx

Autumn Accompaniment

"Never forget to live in the moment" I say to myself this morning.

I resolve to focus on the here and now ~ and here and now is this handsome chap ready for his morning stroll.


We set off and are joined by my trusty friends Vaughan-Williams, Elgar and Delius courtesy of a serendipitous shuffle on my i-player.

The sun is low in the sky sending spoke like shadows out from the tree trunks.

I like to see things, you know really notice things ~ details, colours, patterns.

Big sigh as we reach the woods

The ground is a confetti of fallen leaves

a crisp covering of amber - russet - gold - green

Studded with the spiny husks of chestnuts and hazelnuts

like a beautiful autumnal salad

The sea of leaves stretches out ahead ~ gently stirred by the mild morning breeze and the bruising of my wellington boots and four brown paws as we pass.

Its interesting to notice the leaf carpet subtly change as the leaf canopy above is different

and watch the sun slake through almost translucent leaves

Many of autumns jewels have already been eaten but some remain punctuating the hedges with scarlet (must harvest some rose-hips soon!)

amazing textures abound too

Elgar interrupts my thoughts at this point, the cello concerto is not to be ignored!

the strings rise and my heart sings along

Soon I realise as I turn for home that all my anxieties and worries are firmly in perspective.

We can spend too much time dwelling on the future and what if.........

It is glorious just to be

xXx

A good man

A very good man

I am blessed as my husband is a very, very “good man” indeed.

He always behaves honestly and honourably and I marvel at the admiration I still feel for him after these eleven years of marriage.

His Father was also a very good man and we have had good reason to reflect on this of late.

Our lives are full of uncertainty , we have been on a rollercoaster ride full of hope and disappointment and now for a moment, hope again. Through all of this my boy has been stoic and wise and good humoured and true and I? A rudderless ship bounced around on the tides of fortune have been elated and battered by equal measure and still he steadies me and guides me home to safety.

Thank you my love.

The Moment

The moment when, after many years
Of hard work and a long voyage
You stand in the centre of your room,
house, half acre, square mile, island, country,
knowing at last how you got there, and say “I own this”

an extract from The Moment by Margaret Atwood.