Merry Christmas and peaceful New Year!

I just think this is beautiful!

Deep Midwinter

Tonight is the Winter Solstice,the moon and stars are very clear in the frosty air. Airports and stations have been closed and travel disrupted as once more Mother Nature teaches us that we are not  masters of this beautiful Planet but it's children.  The cold  and snow has made me think about the way we live ,always rushing, so demanding and obsessed with material things. I am as guilty as the next person, I do "Retail Therapy" sometimes but this extra cold winter has turned me inward .I have been reading about the myths and legends associated with the Soltice and Christmas.

A lonely human dwarfed by the winter landscape,what lurks in the dark woods beyond,wolves maybe!

The constant need for sustainance,staying warm to stay alive until the Spring.

Elemental fire,the Yule Log,the holly,ivy and bay!

So I have been sitting by the stove reading "The Winter Solstice" by John Matthews and imersing myself in old lore and hoping that the Glastonbury Thorn will survive the recent attack and bloom again!

Two skirts I would love to wear!

Ewa Y Walla again! I love her clothes ,they do inspire me to get sewing .

I think it would  be great to make things lke this with recycled fabrics and maybe dye the garments afterwards.....?

Bloggers Block!

Is there such a thing? This snowy weather has made me want to sit and do nothing but watch the flames go up the chimney!
Not entirely ,I have been reading a lot of poetry and browsing through cookery books to find winter warmers for supper.
I have some favourite cookery books, European Peasant Cookery by Elizabeth Luard is full of wonderful recipes .Real food that has sustained the life of ordinary families throughout Europe and it is full of information on tradition. Elizabeth Luard lived and brought up her children in several countries and is inspirational.
Roast Figs and Sugar Snow by Diana Henry is subtitled "Food  to warm the soul" and it lives up to that assertion.The food is cold weather food ,mouthwatering recipes from all over the world accompanied by quotes from poetry and literature. Just reading the recipes is deliscious! 
I made pancakes this evening and we ate them with cinnamon sugar,lemon ,honey and maple syrup!!!!