Blessed Imbolc ...

To those of you who, like me, follow the old ways, a very Blessed Imbolc to you and yours.  I found a beautiful image on Mr G. Oogle this morning but sadly the artist wasn't credited.  Please let me know if you know so that I can do that.  

The wheel of the year has turned already and Mother Nature is stretching beneath our feet.  Seeds are stirring and the sap is rising.  Time to ignite your light people!













Whilst we woke to a rather grey horizon, by the time I walked through the pigeon park on my way to work this morning, the sky had cleared and revealed enough blue to make a sailor some trousers!  


The daffies in the Cathedral grounds are already a few inches above ground.  This makes me smile.  They're planted in the shape of two huge crosses in different areas of lawned area on either side of the Cathedral and I think this is their second year.  Last year one side bloomed brilliantly and was a sea of yellow, and the other was a complete disaster with many of them coming up blind.  I wonder why? 

In other news I'm going to name and shame myself for I am a complete clutter monster.  I was running late(r than usual) this morning and on getting out of the cab remembered that I had to renew my train pass.  Trouble was that my bank card had fallen out of my purse (Cath Kidston no less, natch!!) and into the depths of hell that is my work bag.  The train was due in 3 minutes and train ticket man had already input the transaction on to his machine thingie.  You know that feeling when you're getting hotter and hotter and you're chucking things out of your bag like a cartoon dog digging a hole, apologising profusely to the ticket man who is giving his colleague the side-eye in boredom and amusement.  My lunch bowl was balanced precariously on the side just waiting for an opportune moment to take a flying leap on to the floor and spray rice everywhere and the announcement was being made over the tannoy that the train was approaching the platform when with a flourish I found the bloody card.  Thank gawd for contactless transactions I say. I made the train with about 20 seconds to spare.   When I got to work I was suitably embarrassed (having had another semi-meltdown trying to find my work pass half an hour later) enough to clear out my bag.   Just look at it.  Receipts, old train tickets, empty packets.  I should be ashamed of myself.  And I am.  And I will be sure to learn this life lesson, for a while at least - until the bag of doom manifests itself again!!

Lots of love
Bridget Jones 

Weekend catch up

Hey guys

How lovely of you to visit me here at Peapods.

It's been very cold here in the Black Country this week but although icy we've had no snow.  The sunrises over the field have been stunning.

I'm so lucky to have such easy access to the canal towpath near to where I work. I never get tired of it.  It's odd. I feel a real affinity with it and the barges make me very wistful.  I often wonder what it would be like to live on a barge.

The canal has been iced over for days and the wisps of smoke hanging in the still morning air from the barges smells delicious.

As part of my self imposed 'get fit for fifty' regime, I've been trying to do at least forty minutes walking during my lunch break. If I can walk away from the office for twenty minutes then that allows me twenty to get back and still have time to grab some lunch.  It's baby steps right now but everyone has to start somewhere and at least I'm doing something rather than sitting vegetating at my desk.  So far I've lost 17lbs since 5 January so I'm feeling pretty proud of myself.  Stones and stones to go but again, it's a start.

During my walks I have seen coots, moorhens, Canada geese, ducks and a pair of swans who I'm really hoping will nest somewhere neat and raise a family. They've been around for a few weeks now so I'm hoping so.

This week I bought my fellow secretaries a bunch of daffies each as a cheer up token. I think we were all feeling a bit 'February-ish' so the splashes of gold around the office really brightened things. You can't feel glum with a pot of daffs on your desk!

I saved mine for home and mixed them with iris and hyacinths. Very springy!!

See you soon. Xx

Good Day Sunshine

"I need to laugh, and when the sun is out

I've got something I can laugh about,

I feel good, in a special way.

I'm in love and it's a sunny day.

Good Day sunshine!"

LENNON, JOHN WINSTON / MCCARTNEY, PAUL JAMES

I say!  There are a lot of happy posts in blogland today - how wonderful.  I've just been having a weekly catch up (absolutely DELICIOUS fun to know that I have lots of my very favourite blogs to read on a lazy Saturday afternoon with my feet up and a cuppa and a snoozesome pup by my side!).  I feel all inspired and invigorated!

The invigorated bit may also stem from the fact that I have NFW (No Flippin' Work) for the next week. (excuse I whilst I dance a little jig, let off party poppers, streamers and put out brightly coloured bunting!).

Isn't it lovely to wake to the sun streaming in through your bedroom window?  I certainly think that the bright mornings have mood enhancing properties.

Here's some things that made me smile today-

Sunshine cracking the flags -

Elevenses in my studio!

My Grand Calibur diecutting machine - and a bit of random heat embossing whilst my coffee cooled ....

 A canal barge on a duck pond ..... (and a lifeboat, a police launch and a luxury liner - out of shot)

All controlled by men of a certain age ...

Intrigued bystanders ...

Sunshine sparkles on the water ... (shame about the rubbish tho.  Grrr!)

Smiling teenagers (oh you have no IDEA how happy this makes me!)

Clumps of wild flowers

Families in the park, doing their family things...

 Beltane daffodils bought in tight bud, now shouting their little heads off in the kitchen window (next to the gargoyle incense burner, currently burning patchouli joss sticks....... divine.......

The constants in my garden which disappear and reappear with gratifying regularity....

Dicentra (photobombed by a marauding gang of dandelions)

Aliums

Aquilegias - they spring up in the same place every year no matter how many times I try to move them!
They've lived here longer than I have.  Perhaps I should have learned my lesson by now eh?

Dear old solitary Leia.   Goodness knows how old she is now - I know she's lived with us for more than two years now and she's still laying more or less every day.  She was fully grown when she arrived.  She makes me smile.   This photo doesn't do justice to how shiny her feathery coat is - like burnished bronze in the sunlight. 

Japanese quince - the flowers are very much hiding their light under a bush(el). 

I hope your Saturday is giving you something to smile about.

With Love -x-

“Spring drew on...and a greenness grew over those brown beds, which, freshening daily, suggested the thought that Hope traversed them at night, and left each morning brighter traces of her steps.”

Charlotte Bronte - Jane Eyre