To each and everyone . . .

May your Christmas be everything you dreamt

Into the woods for holly & ivy

Oh for a wrapped up warm, wintry wander in the forest.

A favourite treat of ours during these shortest of days.

 

We loose ourselves in this place, filled with natures magic

amongst the silent & majestic bones of these ancient trees.

 And as we step deeper amongst the branches

the trees twist & turn & take on most mysterious shapes

 

We wander of the beaten tracks and explore

 glimpses of vivid lichens we spy tucked away here & there.

Yet these are not the things we quietly hunt

We are collecting bright prickly holly & starry leaved ivy

to carry back through the falling dusk, to our wee cottage

for there we "deck the halls" and bring the outside in
to celebrate the  coming of Christmas.
like our ancestors before us.

* Long ago holly was often planted near homes to protect against lightening strikes.
Nowadays scientists have discovered that the spiny parts of the leaf do indeed
conduct the lightening away from the holly bush & surrounding area!

Wintry crafts & traditions

Wintry days are upon us, with a chill in the air & frost sprinkled ground.

This is the time we worked towards through the days of Autumn, 

cutting fallen trees in the wood and humphing then into the log shed

I love these cosy nights in, snuggled by the fire, with a book & a cup of tea

I love trying different crafts and have been busy making

candles to burn on those darkest of nights

 and driftwood Christmas trees to decorate with stars.

 Also newly in stock my card " While angels sing", in my shop here

along with my other Christmas card designs too.

My Blessing tree prints are now available in poster/A3+ size prints, 

and folk have been buying them as Christmas presents, yay.

If you are in Dumfries you can now find my work at the lovely

 Art Room within "The old School " a veritable Aladdin's cave of goodies.

 I also just happen to love family traditions

and on the 2nd weekend in December we have one tradition

that always brings the excitement of the beginning of the season for  us.

We all gather at the forestry Kirroughtree visitor centre Christmas tree day,

 where we pick our own trees, eat mince pies & drink hot chocolate.

 and afterwards we all troop back to Mom & Dads for homemade soup & chatter.

I do so love traditions, do you have a special Christmas tradition to share?

* * *

I have also set up a new tradition of my own over on my Facebook page

as i love making & crafting so very much, every Friday I now share a

 "Project for the weekend", different crafts & how to's that I come across

as well as lots of other news & happenings both mine & others.

Do hop over and take a peep here and like my page.

Train travel & Glastonbury carnival

I love long train journeys, flying past hedges & houses, fields & forests. 

no distractions, time to think, to sit and read or just watch the world go by. 

Glimpses of inspiration, this time around all shrouded in mist. 

Time spent travelling far away from my quiet country lanes 

down to the bustling south for precious time with my lass. 

Time for catching up, planning Christmas days & get togethers.

We even squeezed in a visit to Glastonbury annual Carnival

 After tea, cake & a wander around the lovely town (with a vow to return)
we waited with 100's of others lining the streets, not knowing what to expect!
What a treat was in store, what sights met our eyes, well worth the wait.
 The largest illuminated parade of its kind in the UK and Europe.
 Entries from local businesses & folk from all around the region,

A spectacular parade of huge illuminated floats & wagons

decked with mechanical moving parts, amazing sets & piping music as they went

 fantastic costumes, mysterious creatures & such enthusastic people on board

  It was bright & bold & noisy & not my usual cup of tea at all.

But I loved it, so much to see & take in & every entry had a different theme.

An awful lot of hours and hard work had gone into everything.

 Themes ranged from Sweeney Todd to the Polar Bear Queen!
But my most favourite of all was  the "Dickens Christmas!

Huge moving characters and wonderful choreography.
Such an amazing effort, very magical & moving too.  
I think over 100 entries in total that took over two hours to pass by.

I had to share my wee video althought the quality is rather poor
I do hope you get a feel of the size of the puppets & the atmosphere created.
Very worth the trip to Glastonbury to see!
(If you click on the images above you can have a closer peep)
ps: A big hello to all my new followers too x 

More images from the parade can be found here 

A treasury of winged wonders . . .

A treasury of winged wonders from makers on Etsy

I wish i had wings to fly
such fantastical journeys i would take,
to worlds far away
filled with wonder & magic.

click on each image below to follow the link to the creation