A New Year.................

I think this year especially I am ready for a new year. A symbolic clean slate. A new beginning. I don't bother with the celebrations any more. I would just as soon sleep it through these days. It was not always so. I do remember probably the very best New Years Eve was spent in Trafalgar Square. I was living in Putney at the time, well between Wimbledon and Putney. I was working in London then. Well my boyfriend and his friend Len took me to Trafalgar Square for the New Year's Eve. I don't remember too much about the evening. I do remember people were dancing in the fountains, hanging in the trees and just having a great time. People sitting on the lions and I bet they would have climbed the column if they could. I have never been in such a crowd before. I can not remember fireworks. When Big Ben struck midnight, there was such a roar from the crowds.......... The whole crowd shifted, it was time to catch the last bus or the last train to get home and so the crowd headed towards the tube stations. We were carried along and I showed my boyfriend how I could take my feet off the floor and still travel. I suppose the danger of the situation did not occur to me at that age. There were kids dancing on the roofs of cars in the traffic jam that developed. Had to climb over cars to get to the subway. We made it home and I caught the last bus home. What a night. There have been better New Years eve parties since but nothing ever as memorable. Hooking up with Alderberry Hill and Make the scene Monday..................#55 Sharing with Blue Monday and Smiling Sally..............

Winter storm..........

(Photos from the web) Linking up with How Sweet the Sounds........Pink Saturday.

I heard the bells..................

“I heard the bells on Christmas Day, Their old familiar carols play, And wild and sweet the words repeat Of peace on earth, good will to men.” Christmas.........I am not really into religious holidays but I do love Christmas. The memories, the feeling of love, of family and giving. Kindness and generosity. Yes, people should behave that way every day. The fact is they do not. They do sometimes make an effort at Christmas and so I can go with that. I love the memories mainly. I do believe its not the same as it was years ago but what is? I guess we have to make our own traditions and new memories. We can't just say its not what it used to be, we have to make it what we want it to be. The problem as I see it is that after the dinner..........we eat at 4pm. Everyone sort of just sits there. Stuffed to the gills, and itching to go home and rest up. While Jason is bored out of his mind and all I want to do is relax. We still have clean up to do (usually my husbands job) I am certainly not in the mood for entertaining. The day is spent cooking or putting out the snacks. Making sure people have something to tide them over till supper. Years ago we had the granddaughters come over and stick around awhile. They and Jason would go to the movies or bowling. Now thats all passed, they have their own lives now.........so what can we do to make it more fun? I don't know. I think part of it is we have put aside the real reason for Christmas. Instead of expecting to entertain or be entertained we should be happy to be together as a family and maybe tell stories of Christmases we remember from childhood. We may learn some things from our kids and they will learn how different things were for us.........It seems everyone gets onto the electronics and no longer communicate. Lets try some candle light. No TV and no electronics......maybe we will begin a new tradition next year.

Tis The Night .........

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse; I suppose we all have some sort of memories from childhood that we remember this time of year. Of the child we once were staring out the window, looking, hoping for a sight of the sleigh coming over the roof tops......... We listen for those tinkling bells on the harness of the reindeer. Instead we hear bells and carol singers at the top of the road under the lamp post. Sometimes the Salvation army may come with their band and people wander up to listen as I watch from my window. Supposed to be asleep by now but its such a magical night, the stars shine so bright in the clear night sky. Sometimes the singers would go door to door and it was polite to answer the door and stand and listen.......The old songs, the real Christmas carols. When they had gone and all was quiet again, I know I would sit and continue to watch and listen Of course I would always fall asleep, never did see that sleigh but wonder of wonders next morning there would be gifts on the end of my bed. My parents thought they might get to sleep in by doing that but of course I would always run in to show them this miricle. So that would backfire on them I guess. Other years I would find the gifts under the tree. I suppose they figured they may as well just get up. I dont remember. Naturally I did not get gifts like those above. I would get one or two things from parents, a book usually from Nan and Granddad and my aunt Ivy would often buy me a book. That was all I wanted or expected I thought myself lucky to get so much all at once. A miricle. May the magic of Christmas stay with you always, and remember that it is our Saviors birth celebration. He gave us the biggest and most important gift.........eternal life.

Little Boy in the Snow...........

Tristen was fit to be tied today, he was so full of energy that when Gerry went to clean off the deck I sent Tristen outside with him. He had a great time. I expected Tristen to want to come in 2 minutes after he went out but no. He really got into the experience. Licking the snow off of his gloves Getting in the way..... throwing snowballs (look at Granddads bum)that behaviour must just come natural to little boys. He enjoyed trudging around the garden and exploring his house covered in snow I got a couple of Buds Christmas cards in my mail, so Gerry took Tristen over to give them to him. I then got him to come inside by bribing him with hot chocolate and a snack. Chocolate covered pretzels dipped in hot chocolate? and play on his Ipad......... After that he played on the computer with Granddad He is very comfortable with electronics, probably because he has no concept of the value of them. However it did not put an end to his energy. He was hyper all the rest of the day. I am joining up with The Chicken Chicks blog hop

Holy Night....................

My most favourite hymn and truly my most favourite song of all time. It gives me a sense of wonder each and every time I hear it..............

Sometimes you just have to smile..................

Today, I just drew a blank. I could not come up with anything I wanted to say. I just could not do it....................so.......enjoy these happy Jumbo's as much as I did. I had to chuckle. .....and laughter is the best medicine. Smile.............

Angels weep.............

There is so much I do not understand about this country. I have lived here since 1972 and yes have to come to terms with that. I am not a citizen and doubt I ever will be. I can not unite myself with a culture that I do not understand or agree with. Don't get me wrong. I love where I live and I love my friends. I just can not come to terms with the violence within this society. After this latest massacre, innocent children and loving teachers..........I just get so angry. Not even so much at the gunman, tortured soul he must have been, but at the NRA and people who believe in their own right to have weapons is more important than the lives of people. The NRA have yet to speak. What can they say, how can they justify their very existence after this. Yet people still say "Guns do not kill people, people kill people" .........That has to be the most assinine statement ever. Sure a gun alone will not have power but in the hands of a mentally unstable person it has the power to extinguish many lives. No one needs automatic weapons. No one needs clips of bullets in multiple rounds. No one needs a hand gun with multiple rounds. If you want to play with those types of weapons then join a club, keep the weapons locked up. Our forefathers could never ever have seen the day when these types of weapons were imagined. I believe a well regulated militia means the National guard not any yahoo who so desires. If you are so afraid of the government then you do not belong here in this country. The right of the individual should never ever supercede the rights of the whole. Is that looked at as socialism? I don't know, I am not into politics. I believe we have the right to be safe. Safe on the street and children should be safe in school. We are forced to have our kids in school and if some of the gun advocates have their way and arm the teachers? What kind of school and teachers will we have. None I would associate with for sure. I know teachers, and they are not the types of people who would want that responcibility. They want to teach and nurture. Imagine their pschye if they had to kill. Most good people would hesitate and that puts them in more danger. So many people are killed in their own homes by people who have guns and did not expect them home. This is my opinion. I know that a lot of people will not agree and that's fine. My heart goes out to those families who have lost children. So young, so much potential lost to us all. Who knows what they would have grown up to be. We can not afford to loose those good people who were loving nurturing teachers. so sad. So wrong. I hope president Obama is a success when he tries to make a difference. I don,t know what it will take. I think the mental health programs need to be upgraded and revised. People who need help need to be able to get it. Maybe schools need to be redesigned somewhat. I know our local one is lax in letting people in and out. All doors are locked except where we pick up our kids during the day. We are supposed to sign in but we do not. No one does. Maybe to begin with there should be a security desk where people sign in and out and show ID. Maybe a scanner could be installed for weapons check. Would it help? Depends on design. I don't know. Its a shame we even have to think about it. Michigan just signed a bill into law where it allows concealed weapons and in schools. How stupid is that? Who the heck thinks that is OK? I sure hope that the President gets support on this. We must do something and do it very soon. Put politics aside. Its not a political issue.

Who I am.............

Sometimes people take me to seriously.They analyze my every word when what I said may have been just a passing thought. Or maybe a frivolous comment, not an insight into my soul. Nor a reflection of who I am, or who I want to be, or who I will become. I see you as a person, not good, not bad just you. Not who you were a year ago or who you will be a year from now. We live and grow and change moment by moment, day by day. It takes a lifetime to form who we will become in the end. A lifetime of growth and spiritual renewal. If we are very lucky we will be a better person at the end than at the beginning.

Cousins..........

Watercolour paintings.............

Above is one of my favourite paintings that I did in watercolour. What I like about the medium is the unexpected results I sometimes get. That is also the worst thing about it too. You can not always control the results. One thing I really enjoy is doing the sky. In this next picture I was practicing clouds. The circle you see is a reflection of my camera, I didn't take the pictures out from under glass but I think you can see the effect of the wet on wet technique in the sky. Then by scraping across the sky it looks like rain (I think?).......It is supposed to be an Autumn scene. Below is another Autumn scene, brisk and windy. I will share a few more paintings in my other blogs, I normally only show them in the Pretty Things blog. I will be sharing this with Make it Pretty Monday at the Dedicated house.

Thank you................

In the Bleak Midwinter.......

Text: Christina G. Rossetti, 1830-1894 Music: Gustav Holst, 1874-1934 The bridge opened to traffic on November 1, 1957 according to schedule, despite the many hazards of marine construction over the turbulent Straits of Mackinac. The last of the Mackinac Bridge bonds were retired July 1, 1986. Fare revenues are now used to operate and maintain the Bridge and repay the State of Michigan for monies advanced to the Authority since the facility opened to traffic in 1957.... The bridge is 5 miles long. Before that cars had to go by ferry to St Ignace or over to Mackinaw Island. The Grand Hotel is on the island and the business was very limited without the all around traffic. No cars are allowed on the Island by the way. This is the entry to the upper peninsula. The good old UP. The first verse of one of my favourite hymns reminds me of the UP in winter. In case you did not see the connection between the hymn and the rest of the post. Winter up the in "God's Country" is awesome. Wolves and Moose and Elk. Its beautiful. The above picture is a typical winter in the UP. Although I must say The last few winters have been far from typical. I do not know who's home this is but my neighbour Bud, well he has a cottage in the UP near Marquette. He says some years they had to get out the bedroom window. So this picture made me think of him. My son and daughter in law live in Baraga and my granddaughter lives in Ishpeming. So we are often in the UP. Not as often as I would like though. The land of the Snowshoe Priest............wish you could see it. I am linking up with I love to participate and read all the links and finding more new friends.

Snow Today...........

It's snowing. The joy? the beauty, the anticipation. Well I could really have lived all winter without it but here it is. I suppose I should be happy its held off thus far, and it will be nice to have a white christmas. I mean, after all this is Michigan. Friends have already taken off to ski in other states (as we had none) so for our local economy its a must have. I don't drive now. I think come summer I will try to do more but after being sick I have sort of lost my equilibrium somewhat. I was just getting used to driving a couple of blocks to pick up Tristen at school. Gave me back some confidence. Now with snow I dare not risk that. Anyway..........I will be putting out more food for the birds and squirrels keep my little friends happy. It is beautiful that's for sure. Especially here where we live. Although Northern Michigan, the Upper Peninsula is even more beautiful and they get a lot of snow. (The above is the river at Calumet) I will be glad to get out and get some of my own pictures............I don't have any at the moment on my computer. I may have some somewhere on disc but it would be better to just get new ones. No idea who took the ones I have found on the web but I am grateful to the photographers for some lovely pictures. As beautiful as it is, snow can also be a hazard to drive in. I am glad that I no longer need to be on the roads when we have storms. I can enjoy it from home, or when it stops and the roads are clear I can venture forth and take pictures. Till then..........enjoy these ones.