When the coffee tastes best

Maybe it is from having a father who loved winter. My dad went ice fishing every day in the winter, hunted or went for walks. He saw winter as an adventure.

Or, maybe I remember how happy mom was when dad was out of the house all day!

Especially after he retired.

I love winter!!♥

It provides a peaceful quiet by keeping noisy people inside their homes and off their motorcycles and lawn mowers. It also keeps me inside where I can stay focused on a task rather than in summer when I'm torn between working in the garden or working in my studio.

A couple nights ago it had snowed most of the night and by morning the sky had cleared and a beautiful sunrise took over gradually making it's way to my house.

These treasures of winter would not be so lovely if I didn't have my family, a warm place to live, plenty of food to eat and little to worry about. To delight in simple every day things is much easier if your tummy is full and you are warm and safe. I know this, and I am grateful.

I do not take it for granted, or assume it will always be.

Before the ice is in the pools, Before the skaters go, Or any cheek at nightfall Is tarnished by the snow,

Before the fields have finished,Before the Christmas tree, Wonder upon wonder Will arrive to me!

-Emily Dickinson

I wish you an invigorating winter's walk, a warm and happy home to return to and a cup of hot coffee!

Feeling pretty in a new collar

Nora from http://miabaggali.etsy.com/ made this collar for me. Isn't it pretty?! I love it! These are all the rage in Ireland by the way. Not only are they pretty but the collars keep the neck warm and cozy. Pop over to Nora's shop and check out all her cool stuff.

Thanks Nora!!!!!!!!

Free diamonds

It is so much pleasanter, and wholesomer to be warmed by the sun while you can be, than by artificial fire. I thus warmed myself by the still glowing embers which the summer, like a departed hunter, had left. _Thoreau

Henry had been down by the pond, contemplating about the onslaught of winter while admiring the reflection of the late afternoon sun glimmering on the water's edge. And, over 160 years ago, he wrote these thoughts down on paper without a clue in the world I would be reading them in 2008 with tears in my eyes.

What's with the tears you say?

It touched my heart to vision a man sitting by the side of a pond falling in love with what God had made. I can see that water's edge and the invisioned embers left by the hunter. I'm not sure why this touches me so. Maybe it's like a mother's face, when she sees her newly born child for the first time. It could be too, the importance, the desperate need in these times, to see another person embrace and appreciate life, appreciate God and what's more, to learn from it and become a more gentle, humble and kinder human being for it.

Henry lived in a tiny house. He mostly ate beans and fish, or whatever he could scrounge up. He owned very little so his life and his mind were uncluttered.

Sometimes we can forget the most valuable diamonds in the entire world are the ones found on the water. And, if you are lucky enough to know this, you won't ever have to worry about a thief or some rust destroying this treasure.

Peace.