Ring Out, Wild Bells

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
   The flying cloud, the frosty light;
   The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
   Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
   The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Excerpt from ‘In Memoriam A.H.H.’ by Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1849)

Happy Hogmanay all! Anybody have any exciting plans for tonight? I’m set to have my quietest New Year’s EVER! I’m not heading out anywhere, which’ll be the first time since I was a teenager, and neither am I going home to my Scottish mother’s house, which will actually probably end up madder than  any pub or party I’d have been going to anyway. It’ll always does between the crazy (in a good way) relatives and their wacky traditions. Instead I’m sitting in with himself, who’s all dosed up now too, and having a nice relaxing one. I’m rather looking forward to it, actually. Anyway, just wanted to wish you all the best for 2011 and let you know how wonderful it’s been getting to know you all over these past months. Here’s to another great year of blogging!

A Little Late

Hi folks! How’re you all doing this evening? Still enjoying the festivities I hope. Sorry I’ve not been on here sooner to pass on season’s greetings and such things, and I’m even more sorry that I don’t actually have anything nice to share with you today either. I’ve been having a pretty vacant week, you see. I was lucky enough to have a lovely Christmas day, really lovely, but since Monday I’ve been laid up in bed with the winter flu. There seems to be a bit of an epidemic going around here since the thaw- which was pretty insane, I might add. One day last week it was -16C and in a matter of hours the temperature rose to +10C. Madness!

Anyway, I’m not going to complain too much as it’s the first time I’ve had the flu in years so I was kinda due a wee dose. Plus if there’s ever a week you want to be stuck indoors it’s this one- so many new books to read and cheesy films on TV.  It’s not very conducive to blogging though; not only have I been doing absolutely nothing and thus have nothing to chat to you all about, but also I didn’t even have the energy until today to turn my computer on so I’ve no quirky internet finds or links to share. All in all this a pretty pointless post really, except to say hello and to let you know that I haven’t abandoned the blog (heaven forbid!). Well, as I said, hope you all enjoying the rest this holiday week and for any fellow flu-zies out there just remember that a giant mug of hot whiskey and a couple of nurofen be the cure for all evils!*

*Please note that to be highly irresponsible and unsound medical advice, so if you’re probably better just ignoring it. Still, it makes you feel better! 

As If We Needed More Snow

Make your own!

“Snowflakes are one of nature’s most fragile things,  but just look at what they can do when they stick together.”

 

Heard that quote somewhere the other day but I can’t remember where or who by… I suppose I could just Google it but I’m in the middle of baking attempt #2 and, to be totally honest, couldn’t be bothered. Anyway, I’m just stopping in quickly to share this great wee link for all those fellow procrastinators out there (let’s face it, if you’re reading this blog then you most certainly must have something better to be doing).  It’s a snowflake machine! I found it via the wonderful Black Journal last week and totally forgot about till I sat down for a cup of tea there. Give it a wee go, it’s great fun! I made loads of flakes when I first found it and copied and pasted them into Gimp to make textures and little pictures, like these three. They took about 15 minutes!  Well folks, hope you’re all having a relaxing, peaceful week. I’ll try to be back before Christmas but if not I wish you all the very merriest day!

An Early Christmas Present!

 

[Snow picture from last year, since it’s too cold and slippery to go out and take new ones!]

Hello folks! Hope you’re all having a great day and that you enjoyed the solstice yesterday. Did anyone see the eclipse? I was up bright and early myself but there was such a thick freezing fog all you could see here was a reddish tinge to the mist (which may just have been the sun rising now I think on it…) It would’ve been nice to have witnessed such a mystical event but ah well, there’s always next time. I think it’s supposed to occur again in around 80 years; the women in my family tend to live quite long though, so you never know. Something to aim for!

Anyway, I got some lovely news last night. I’d spent, no wasted, the evening baking a couple of things I’d never attempted before, which wasn’t the best idea since I’d planned on giving them out as gifts. I thought it would be grand since they were both simple looking recipes- peppermint creams and stained glass cookies- and to be honest they were really easy to make. They even seemed to turn out well too, looking exactly like in the pictures- which is why I wanted to make them in the first place, so pretty and festive!  Unfortunately they weren’t as pleasing to the taste buds as they were to the eye. The creams tasted more like toothpaste than sweets and the cookies lived up to their name as the ‘glass’ part in the middle was downright dangerous when bitten! I was all set to head off to bed in a foul mood until I went in and checked my emails. Instead I went to sleep with a smile on my face! It was all thanks to this girl, the most generous and wonderful Laura:

If you haven’t already crossed paths with Laura out there in the blogosphere,  let me give you a brief introduction. From the Pacific Northwest of the USA she is author of two of the most lovely blogs in the land- Gypsea Tree and Steam Spectre. The first is a little sanctuary of bohemian charm and inspiring wisdom, with pretty pictures to boot, while the latter is a must for anyone with a fondness for steampunk or Victoriana (which I imagine would be quite a lot of you!).  You’d think that would be enough to keep any girl busy, but not Laura who’s recently opened up a great wee Etsy shop called Gypsea Myth from which she sells her cosy knits with hand-crafted buttons. Like these: 

Aren’t they beautiful? And WARM! Just perfect for these artic conditions. Well folks, I’ve only gone and won one!  Yup, I think I’m the luckiest girl in blogland- every giveaway I enter I seem to win and each one more wonderful than the last! I even stopped commenting on giveaway posts for a while because I was feeling guilty about how lucky I’d been. That may sound weird but this is the first one I’d entered since the last time I’d won and look what happened! I don’t care that much though, I more excited than anything else. I’ve loved Laura’s knits since I first saw them and I’m over the moon to be getting one.  You really should go check out her shop, and her blogs. They were among the first ones I ever started following and really are not-to-be-missed. Plus she’ll be having another giveaway in a couple of months and you wouldn’t want to miss out!

The Key To A Happy Life

Words of wisdom indeed. Just spotted that little plaque as I was sipping on a cuppa waiting for my bus yesterday and had to snap it to share with you. Here’s a pic of said cup too, just because I thought it was cute. I was in a lovely little old café by the station which I get the impression hasn’t changed  in decades, cups and all. I love places like that. 

Anyway,  what a difference 24 hours make. After all my smugness the last night about how organised and chilled out I was about the whole Christmas carry on, I’m now as stressed and frazzled as the next person. I didn’t even last the week! It’s all the snow’s fault too. Don’t get me wrong, I still love the stuff. Especially now when I’m at home all tucked up and cosy looking out on it’s magical brilliance and beauty.  But it didn’t bode well for the shopping yesterday.

There was already a good blanketing before I even set off in the morning, which to be honest I was quite selfishly pleased about. I don’t have a car and am well used to public transport, so all it really meant for me was that the shops were nice and quiet. There was none of the usual madness you’d expect at this time of year, which made for quite a pleasant and festive shopping experience. For a while. I hadn’t helped myself much by starting off in a book shop, going a bit overboard, and then having to lug my purchases around town all day (I’d forgotten to bring a backpack with me too; my arms are killing me today!). And then it started snowing again.

At first I got that usual thrill that always accompanies the sight of flakes falling and floating their way down from the sky. Ah, I love watching it tumble… I even get a little giddy when it’s snowing, probably a remnant from childhood when the longer it fell for the more chance there was for snowmen, sleighing and (most importantly) no school! The charm quickly wore off yesterday though when it went on and on and on. And on. It just kept getting heavier too and by the time I’d remembered that I actually HATE shopping and was making my way back to the bus it was about a foot thick on my head alone and all my paper bags were soggy and tearing apart.

It then took almost two hours to make the 30 minute journey home, while I sat there with the snow melting off me into a puddle on the floor. I’d my camera in my bag and amused myself by taking these snaps through the dirty bus window.  I know they’re dull and blurry but after running them through Poladroid I kinda like their retro feel. Plus, to me they really capture exactly how damp and dreary that ride home was.

Anyhow, to sum it up because I’m starting to drag on a bit here,  in the end my usual disorganisation shown through and when I reviewed the day’s work I realised I hadn’t got near to everything sorted out like I’d planned. That wouldn’t even be so bad if I thought I could get out of my house to get the rest of it finished, but now the snow’s stopped the freezing has begun and there’s going to be one giant block of ice on my front door in the morning. The same thing happened last week and the little laneway leading to our house became so slippery it was literally IMPOSSIBLE to walk on. So it looks like we could be stuck in here for the foreseeable future.

Any other time I wouldn’t even care but this is the one holiday when all those friends you haven’t seen since last year are back and when you really want to get out and have the craic. If things keep going as they are, though, I won’t be able to get up to the pub nor will they be able to call round for tea! And that’s if they actually get home; even if the airports manage to reopen, they’ll have a hard time traversing the bottle roads of Donegal. Do you know our local council have actually run out of salt? Seriously! Apparently they’re waiting on shipment from overseas but the boat it’s coming on is stuck in storms on the Mediterranean.  Don’t exactly know why they have to import salt to an island country, but that’s the modern world for you. For now the whole county is practically at a standstill and it’s promising to be a very quiet Christmas indeed. Oh snow, lovely as you are, please go away now. I want to see my friends!

Overplayed? Yup, but it still rocks!

So today I heard the song below for the first time of the season which, in our house as I’m sure in many others, means it’s now OFFICIALLY CHRISTMAS! I’m not religious and I’m as fed up with all the Xmas commercialism as the next person, but still, how can you help but love this time of year? It’s so sparkly and cosy and comforting.  And a wee bit stressful too I suppose, though I have to say I’m fairly chilled at the minute myself. I finally got the tree up yesterday and hopefully tomorrow I’ll get the last of my shopping done. Then all I’ve left is to finish/start making and baking the rest of my presents.  You could almost say I’m pretty organised for once. Ask me that again next week and you may get a very different answer, but for now all’s just warm and fuzzy. The snow even came back again after abandoning us for a few days! Sweet. Anyway, I hope you folks are all well and are having a lovely week. Me, I’m off back to being organised and stuff.(Which, incidentally, I've decided I rather enjoy and may even keep up into the new year. Maybe it really is the season of miracles!)