Joy!

Saturday was a long day. After tidying and packing, I left Pool Cottage and set off down the west coast to the tiny village of Moylegrove, not far south of Cardigan. I needed some supplies, so stopped at a local store and also grabbed food for lunch. Remembering my rule of ‘picnic when you are able’, I turned off the road onto a small track. There was nowhere to park and so I kept driving and ended up at the sea!

I enjoyed my cheese, oatcakes and a perfectly ripe pear and then went for a potter along the shore. The tide was out and I have never before seen such a collection of beautifully coloured seaweeds.

Needless to say, I spent far too long and ended up arriving later than planned at Banc Cottage. It is a dear little place, and I soon unpacked and settled in for the night.

I awoke to a sunny morning and a feeling of such happiness, for today I was going to see Emily and Jordan, who were down for a holiday weekend with Jordan’s parents, celebrating a family birthday

What joy it was to see them! They wanted to show me the beach they love so well, so we all walked down there, except Julian, who nobly agreed to come and pick us up later and drive us all back up the steep hill.

Tresaith beach is most charming.  It has that beautiful curve, there is sand, there are rock-pools, and it has the most amazing waterfall!

It was such a happy time, Emily and I beachcombing, Jordan and his Mum chatting. As Rhian said afterwards, it was such a treat to spend time with our children.

It was a perfect start to my week where I have spent every possible moment by- or in-the sea.

Unwrapping the present

With every Christmas, I find more layers. As a child, it was a time of expectancy, excitment and then unalloyed delight. As years pass, more emotions are added and the simplicity is lost.
The magic can still be found. When I looked at our beautiful tree, the memories of all previous trees are still there inside me.
I can't re-create that wonderful piney scent that you smell when coming downstairs the first morning after the tree is up but this picture nearly captures the glow of delight I feel when we light the candles on Christmas Eve.

We have our rituals as most families do. The tree is carefully chosen, painfully positioned and then decorated (always in the same order) to a very old record from the 1960's.

We are each allowed to buy a new bauble.

 And every year we say -
"This is our most beautiful tree yet!"

Maybe we are right this year?
We put great skill and effort into wrapping our parcels. In the war of the wrapping, my brother always wins!

 It is still a time of delight, of families and love-

And yet it can be such a mad whirl, with so much striving to create the perfect setting for celebration.
I felt happy yet exhausted when I looked around at my home, decorated and ready for my loved ones to arrive

And a small, disloyal voice sounded in my head

"Oh no- It will soon be all full of people and get so messed up!"

I pulled myself together and looked up at my beloved mistletoe Kissing Bunch

And my edible wreath on the kitchen door

And thought, isn't Christmas all about loved ones to kiss and friends to feed?

And yet there is still something missing.

I love to be with my family and it is right that this is a time for feasting, presents and celebration.

But as so often at this most wonderful season, the spiritual side seems to have been put to aside. I do know this is my fault entirely and I that I have made my own choices.

I suppose I have come to realise that I simply do not have the reserves of energy and resolve to create a riotous family event and to still be quiet within myself and think about the other side of Christmas.

I did lean out from my window at midnight on Christmas Eve and think, just maybe, this is the actual moment that changed the religion and lives of so many people.

I did see the flame of love and joy that I call the soul, shining in the faces of people around me.

Yet I still feel that one year, I should like to be tremendously selfish and take myself off to a still, quiet place and just be and think and pray and spend an entirely different Christmas from the ones I know and ususally love.

But for now, this little gift is enough.

All my life I have rubbed berries on bark and longed to have an apple tree with its very own magic mistletoe.

And this year I have.

The best of Birthdays

Last year I had the great milestone birthday of 50 years. I have to admit, that despite some happy moments, it was a difficult time, with loved ones away from me and my Father so ill. I made up for it by celebrating in many ways throughout the whole year though!

Saints and Sinners Party with Ems and Sam

This year was made special by my lovely man. He (with some help from Emily) planned the most wonderful Birthday weekend to make me happy.
All was a surprise and a secret. We drove off into the dark night and I had to cover my eyes at particular places. When allowed to look around me, we passed an old arched gate, creeper covered walls -and suddenly the place seemed familiar...

He had brought me to stay in the Spread Eagle Inn, set within the grounds of the beautiful Stourhead Gardens.

The bedrooms are elegant, antique filled, old fashioned and comfortable. They were kind enough to have saved us supper, which was then brought to our room once we'd settled in.
I had packed with care-it was such fun to have a chance to use my favourite old suitcase.

...

 ( This discreet use of the three dots was first used in a romantic sense in Elinor Glyn's scandalous novel  "Three Weeks")
Next morning, after a suitably sustaining breakfast, we had the joy of wandering around these magnificent gardens all by ourselves. True, it was a little rainy but that didn't detract from their beauty or our happiness.

In fact, even the rain-drops looked lovely

We scuffed through fallen leaves

and in time-honoured fashion of happy couples, took our photograph with the camara held out in front us.

We were lucky to have peace and the time to look at the Autumn trees

The amazing colours

And those perfect moments that we usually miss during our tiring, hurried lives.

We stopped at The Gothic Cottage

to rest by the fire, with a  hot chocolate

and add our memories to the magic tree

It was a perfect way to celebrate my Birthday.

And there was still more to come!
We travelled to Bath where we were met by Emily and Sam, to finish the day with shopping, cocktails and the most delicious of meals.

So David my dearest, I can truly say "Thank You"

this was the happiest of Birthday Treats
xxx

The happiness of being loved

In the midst of trouble, sometimes a happy day can shine out, lighting up all the others.
It started with a beautiful hand-made card from Emily-

I love her quirky collages!

Then David nobly drove us both to the Artisan Spring Fair where we had such a cheerful, friendly day, with good sales and great customers.

Back home that evening, Sam set the table and the scene

with candles, flowers and a bottle of my favourite Freixenet, it looked perfect

The room was lit up and seemed full of colour

And from the kitchen came wonderful cooking smells as the two of them created the most scrumptious meal

Chicken breast stuffed with mozzerella and asparagus, with Anya potatoes and peas

The chefs were satisfied

And David and I were completely happy too

I'm not very keen on puddings but my very favourite chocolate was brought out with great ceremony...

Heaven!

I felt well loved and truly spoilt, I am so lucky to have my family.

And finally Sam brought out his card for me, so in character- simple, succinct and says it all...

It has been a very happy Mothering Sunday for me, I hope yours was too.