Wishing All Joy at Christmas - From My Home To Yours 🎄✨

Happy, Peaceful and Joyful Christmas...

Hi everyone. I just wanted to pop in to wish you and your families a very happy, peaceful and joyful Christmas. 

It can be quite a hectic time of the year, but I hope that we can all take a moment to remember the true meaning of Christmas, and to honour it in our hearts.  Also, to be grateful for the family and friends that bring love and joy into our lives, and to remember loved ones that are no longer with us. 

For many, this can be a hard time of year to cope with. Many will be suffering with ill health, some may be alone at Christmas, whilst others may have lost loved ones this year, and many will be having financial worries, or even just struggling to cope with life in general. I'm sure we  all pray that these people may be given the strength they need. 

I shall be spending Christmas Day with my youngest daughter and her family. The two not so little ones are 11 and very nearly 10, so a lovely age to bring excitement to the day. I shall be thinking of my eldest daughter and her family who will be at their home in Ibiza. My eldest granddaughter was 22 a couple of weeks ago, so we will be missing them around our Christmas table, but with sunny skies and temperatures still in the high sixties, who can blame them for staying over there. Also, Christmas isn’t really a good time to be travelling, with the inevitable delays and perhaps the possibility of bad weather. 

“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year” ~ Charles Dickens.

I thought I would post a couple of my favourite vintage Christmas images!

All images today courtesy of Pinterest.

So then, I will close again for now, sending you all my very best wishes for a very happy and peaceful Christmas. If you are travelling at this time of the year, or if loved ones are travelling to you, I hope for safe journeys and that the weather will be kind to you.  

Sunday, Sunday....

Hello..... It’s me!  How are you all on this January Sunday?  The celebrations are all over once again, and it’s time to get back to the nitty gritty of life.  Just a short Post today, but I thought I would  drop in at the beginning of 2019, to wish you well for the year ahead. 

Who knows what the year ahead will hold for any of us.  Being now in my 70’s, apart from wishing happiness for my little family, I tend to pray that I will remain in good health. Whenever I’m out on my walks, I never take anything for granted.  I always look around, take in the beauty around me, and be thankful that I can still enjoy those moments. 

I’m sure this new year will bring the usual share of ups and downs. Hopefully, we will have many joyful moments, but the disappointments will be there as well. Sometimes it’s really hard to deal with those disappointments, and we struggle to see the wood for the trees (I think that’s how the saying goes!).  It is at times like that, we have to try to remember what we DO have in our lives, and try to carry on the best way we know how. 

So I’ll leave you again for now, in the hope that this year - no matter how it might have started - will be a good one for all of us. See you again soon ❤️

All images today courtesy of Pinterest.com

Tis the Season ....

As I write these few words, it is a truly awful day out there - dark, with the rain pouring down. I am thankful for the twinkling lights around the house, and the festive Christmas trees, which brighten my day.  Not to mention the Christmas music playing in the background. 

Actually, I have much to be thankful for this festive Season, above all of course, the good health of myself and my family, although I am well aware that things can change in an instant. Even now, I know of three friends who are in hospital at this very moment, having heart surgery. Christmas will be a quiet time for them this year. 

I’m sure most of you are now right in the middle of all your preparations.  Amidst all the hustle and bustle, it is important sometimes to  just ...... breathe!  Everything will get done. It usually does, doesn’t it?!  Some advice here from me to you .... 😊

I know that I am very blessed, and I reflect on those for whom Christmas is a real struggle. People who have lost loved ones, and for many, this time of the year never gets any easier. Families who are struggling financially, but who carry on spending on their credit cards so that their children won’t be disappointed on Christmas morning. People who will be on their own, especially the elderly....

I am an only child, so there has never been any large gathering of the clan at this time of the year!  Is it lovely to be surrounded by lots of siblings and their families,  or can it be quite exhausting?!  Friends of mine tell me that I have a very romantic view of family life!

Having said all that, I truly do love Christmas.  In fact, I think I love all the build up just as much as the day itself. 

I probably won’t be writing again before Christmas, so I wish you ALL, wherever you are, a very happy and magical Christmas Season. 

Me? I have lots of lovely things planned in the next couple of weeks, with my youngest grandchildren, aged ten and almost nine 😊.  Meanwhile, I’m off to Madrid this weekend to celebrate my eldest granddaughter’s 21st Birthday. 🎉.  See what I mean - BLESSED I AM 🙏🏻

All images today courtesy of Pinterest.com

Here’s To Another Year

As I write this, I find it hard to believe that in a week’s time, another birthday will be here.  I often think about my birthday last year, which was a very special one for me.  I’ve put up a new Featured Post, where you can read how I reached that ‘big ‘O’ birthday. Just click on the link at the top of the right hand side bar.  I always think that with each passing year, we appreciate things just that little bit more, and count our blessings just that little bit more. 

 The important thing for all of us to remember is that “age really is just a number” , even more so these days. I think the important thing to do is to surround ourselves with people who uplift us, who make our souls happy and who make life ‘fun’.  It’s not exactly rocket science, is it?,  we also have to look after OURSELVES, and to remember to be gentle with ourselves. We might not always get it right,  but that’s not the end of the world, is it?  

Perhaps it’s better for us not to think about age at all, but to just live in the moment.  Sometimes getting older isn’t quite so easy, but I believe we must embrace it - not look back to what might have been, but to always look for the positives in each day, and, believe me, there are ALWAYS positives. Each year of our life is special and precious. 

So I look forward to this next year with hope and expectation of good things to come.  Despite the weather still being chilly, I decided to go out and make a start on the garden during the Easter weekend.  Here are a few photos, which I hope you will enjoy. 

Hope the week ahead will gradually see warmer weather over here. This Winter seems to be dragging on and on! 

Quotes courtesy of Pinterest.com

Time To Remember All We Have To Be Thankful For ....

So here we are at the beginning of another month, the penultimate month of the year.  When I was young, I used to love Anne of Green Gables, and there is a lovely quote in that book ....”It was November, the month of crimson sunsets, parting birds, deep, sad hymns of the sea, passionate wind-song in the pines”.  To me, it is also the month to remind us to be thankful for the many positive things happening in our lives.  We do not have Thanksgiving here in England, but I really wish we did.  I suppose the nearest thing we have over here is the Harvest Festival, which is, of course, a celebration of the food grown on the land. We have given thanks for successful harvests since Pagan times.  

In fact, although we do not celebrate Thanksgiving over here, it was the early English settlers who first brought the idea of harvest thanksgiving to North America., when the first celebration took place in 1621. 

The November flower is, apparently, the chrysanthemum, which would explain why the Americans love their displays of colourful ‘mums’ at this time of the year.  This past week here in heavenly Devon, the weather has been just perfect for Autumn walks.  I have been out almost every day, savouring the wonderful sights and colours which surround the countryside at the moment. The golden and red leaves still hanging on the trees, and the smell of woodsmoke and bonfires in the air.  We also seem to get wonderful sunsets at this time of the year.  Here are a few photos taken this week ....

Oh!  Did I tell you that I now have four cute little chickens in the garden ?!  They are free range and having great fun exploring and pecking all round the garden!  I never realised that they were such friendly little birds, as they really do seem to enjoy having company and following me around. 

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So on that note, I will say cheerio again for now. Hope to see you again soon, and, as always, thank you so much for taking the time to read my ramblings. 

Misty Summer Morning

A happy Sunday to you all.  It's one of those perfect Summer mornings here in heavenly Devon, with the mist rising across the fields - all is quiet and peaceful, with just the sound of a solitary bird singing on a nearby shrub. 

I love early mornings like this, when I could be the only person in the world, and everything is fresh and new. These moments refresh my soul, and make me forget about the fighting and violence I watched on my TV screen last night. Butterflies are fluttering amongst the roses, and I pause to count my blessings. So many good things to be thankful for.  

It's going to be a good day, and I am very lucky to be living here in the South Hams, the most beautiful part of heavenly Devon, and, yes, I'm proud to be a 'Devon maid', born and bred. 

Life is slower in our little corner of England, and I'm grateful for it. Right now, our little lanes are busy with holidaymakers who come down each year for the wonderful beaches, wild Dartmoor, and wonderful local food. I can think of nothing better, on a warm Summer day, than to sit outside, eating good food, with my obligatory glass of Rosè, looking at the sea. Bliss!  

So dear holidaymaker, it's lovely to have you here, but it will be wonderful to have our beauty spots nice and peaceful again! 

Even my little orchid is loving life at the moment!

Sending sunshine and positive vibes to all my Followers out there. Thank you for taking the time to read my rambling thoughts 😊