Monday 1 December 2014

What, December Already ?



Advent again? Really?

I swear they disappear one week in every four for us oldies. Perhaps they think we’re slow and couldn’t keep up if they made us do a full month. No matter how hard I look I cannot see into what black hole of forgetfulness the last twelve months fell. It’s discrimination. I never signed up for being short-changed. I want my money back!

It’s the season of dismal grey clouds again, with only the occasional - probably accidental - chink of sunlight raking the tops of the hills with thin fingers of light. So I’m back in my winter fleece with upturned collar, the dog lead necklace being a permanent accessory.


O Dirty December
Yet Christmas Remember.

This month keep they body and head from cold. Let thy Kitchen be thy Apothecary, warm clothing thy Nurse, merry company thy Keepers, and good hospitality thine Exercise.

so says
Neve’s Almanac of 1633
and so say I.


40 comments:

  1. I cannot believe that we are almost done with 2014, either. Love your post, especially that picture ! :-)

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  2. From where I sit, your year has been a treasure box of today, yesterdays, and pure thought. We walk time's halls as friends. A full life indeed. Thank you for sharing the portrait. And the almanac.

    Fond ALOHA from Honolulu
    ComfortSpiral
    =^..^=

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  3. Same here. 'tis the season of never-ending darkness. meh

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  4. Neve's Almanac nailed it.
    And I love, love, love your wintry scene.

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  5. I'm with you 100% on being short-changed. I was thinking today, and this just goes to show how low I've sunk, that I begin to understand why people retire to Florida. I will resist that, nonetheless.

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  6. Beautiful you. Thanks for sharing this portrait of you and of your thoughts.

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  7. I love your almanac quote and your wonderful photo, complete in winter garb. The red leash is a nice touch! Your hills look lovely indeed. But like you, I have no idea where the past year has vanished. Every day is full and yet how did they happen and where did they fly? It's dark here early now and despite the "falling back" of the clock an hour, dark in the morning, too. And not even solstice. Ah, winter -- not official but certainly with all the trappings.

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  8. While you lament about a year passing so fast I ponder about all my years. I see many new moms these days and wonder how I became aged so very fast?
    Yet I look forward to another tree lit and carols to sing and I would not leave the cold behind to head south for more than a week.
    I love your countryside.

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  9. Variety in seasons and climate make for stronger people.

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  10. You're right -- the weeks and months are speeding by. I don't mind so much this time of year. I do regret the loss of 25% (or more) of the time between May and October. But I could happily lose half of the Dark And Cold Time.
    Your second picture gives me the impression of seeing the cloud shadows move across the land. It's a pleasant illusion, and a very pretty picture.
    Your first picture seems to me to be revealing of your personality -- those wide, bright eyes, especially. You are beautiful.

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  11. It's so dark these days. I take hope in Advent. We walk towards the light, figuratively and physically. Just 21 days until our northern hemisphere begins its slow tilt towards the sun.
    Loved seeing your photo - an active, strong, beautiful woman.

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  12. There's a few things that tide me over this darkest time of the year: our Christmas Market, doing stuff and meeting friends. Oh, and the wonderful Christmas cookies our friend Rolf makes. Rolf learned the trade of baker when he was young, but for health reasons had to stop work many years ago. He still is the best cook and baker I know (better even than my mother, and that's saying something!).
    Less than 3 weeks until solstice!
    Your landscape is still very green and doesn't look all dead. Happy walking with your dog and winter fleece!

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  13. Good choice ... red accessories are vital in December . It helps one to find them in the pervading gloom .
    Still , by the time we've all rushed around stockpiling food , nibbles ( not to be confused with food ) , drink , holly wreaths , decorative candles , sellotape and batteries , it'll be January again .

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  14. Hi Friko - lovely photo shot and glad Millie's lead is round your neck .. she must be scampering around in your Shropshire fields ... there's something lovely about winter and gloomy days - but I am glad there's warmth to come back to.

    Neve's Almanac certainly says it true ... and you quite rightly confirm it ... at least we're not snowed in and I certainly hope I haven't spoken too soon! Cheers and enjoy those trudges out and around Valley's End .. Hilary

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  15. Friko I LOVE that picture of you. I think that's the first picture of you that I've seen on here! Have a wonderful day :)

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  16. Looking at the photo of green fields I can't say that it's 'dirty December', Friko!
    Yes, the clouds and little sunshine but green grass and some leaved tree in a distance...
    Happy Advent!

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  17. Friko, it's grand to see these photographs of you and of the countryside in which you can take those wintry walks with Millie. I am glad to have taken photos of you when we met up last year, and yes, it does not seem possible to me that over a year has passed since that lunching, chatting and walking took place. I will turn that time-keeping illusion around a bit and wish that we will soon have the opportunity to meet again.

    December is a rather charged month. Darker and colder for our hemisphere, yet a time of many events, plans, preparations. Or for some of us a determination to keep it a relaxed month.

    Neve's 1633 description of December seems so very wise.

    I want to put on my warm coat and suitable footgear and join you for a walk in that beautiful landscape. The colors are calling to me. xo

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  18. i was reading the other day that there was a place that had less than 8 hours of sun the whole last month....crazy huh? the older i get the faster the months seem to go by....

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  19. The light in that photograph was superb. I agree on time flying...it was my husband's birthday recently and we could not believe where the intervening year had gone...

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  20. is that a picture of you? you look awesome!!

    i can;t agree with you about december, though. i LOVE snow and longjohn season!

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  21. Excellent photography! Keep warm and well is the best gift of Christmas.

    We are having rain, real decent rain, for the first time in over a year.

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  22. I loved seeing a photo of you. We rarely, (or have we ever?) had that treat. Winter…blah…I'm not ready for it at all. Tonight, after dark, my husband and I did go out and walk the dog. It was cold. I had to put the hood on my jacket over my head, yet I found that it was also invigorating to make that quick turn around the block in the cold with my man by my side.

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  23. I've been on the verge of complaining about our summer being so slow to arrive. Thanks for making me thankful it is summer and not winter I am waiting for. I love the gentle light on your countryside. And your photo,

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  24. If December comes this fast cannot spring be close behind?

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  25. I know, right? The days, weeks, months go by so fast. the little demons must come while we sleep and steal away days.

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  26. It goes more quickly every year.

    I love that saying from the almanac.

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  27. Love seeing a picture of you!!! Where did this year go, indeed! It seems to have gone by so quickly. Another one is waiting in the wings...also with wings. I must pay attention as it flies by. ;)

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  28. I was thinking this as I got on my bicycle to ride home from the office yesterday. Swathed as I was in base layers, fleecy cycling jerseys and with cones of paper in my shoes (because paper is a brilliant insulator and I get cold toes otherwise), it surprised me how readily we accept a new season. It seems a very short time ago that going out without a coat seemed the norm and any notion of frost or bitter cold was inconceivable. Long Summer days were where we found ourselves and somehow Winter became a distant possibility I was hardly able to bring to mind, so alien did it seem. And yet, here it is. And now, long Summer days, picnics in fields and light evenings have taken on a similarly surreal aspect as the cast-iron cold creeps into extremities and darkness is complete by tea time. I know it's all part of the Great Scheme of things and glib exhortations to enjoy "crisp winter mornings" abound. But I for one don't like it! Give me any season but Winter.

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  29. I"m only a few days home from my trip, and am totally (as we say) discombobulated. I decided that the problem is having our Thanksgiving weekend overlap with the first Sunday in Advent. Now that's come and gone without a notice, it's only three weeks until Christmas, and I had best get cracking if I'm going to enjoy the season at all. There's not a decoration around, I've no cards purchased, etc., ad OMG. But I've just read your post, and lighted a candle to put a bit of scent in the air. Tonight, I'll dig out some bits of frivolity and pour a glass of wine to toast the season. I'm with you on how things are, but I'm going to try my best to slow things down a bit.

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  30. Lovely countryside! I have that same dog lead accessory.

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  31. Blessings for Advent from Dalamory

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  32. Take me back, oh time in thy flight. Make me a child again, just for tonight. ~Laura Ingalls Wilder

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  33. Even in the greyness, those rolling fields are beautiful. And, yes, I know what you mean about the quick passage of time, even as I roust out the Christmas decorations, muttering all the while 'But I Just put these away...'

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  34. Hallo Friko,
    o dirty december - das können wir im Rheinland genauso sagen. Beim Wetter tut sich extrem wenig. Die zähe Wolkendecke will nicht aufreissen, aber umgekehrt regnet es nicht. Es ist nicht so richtig kalt, aber auch nicht mild. Noch drückt dies nicht auf meine Stimmung.

    Gruß Dieter

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  35. I've been remiss in blog visits but spent a delightful while yesterday reading your lamp stories. You are a natural born storyteller - reading here is better than a good book.

    My Mama used to say that time flew but I scoffed, being a child for whom time had no meaning. Sadly I've come to know all too well what she meant. Time doesn't merely run, it gallops!

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  36. Hope you have a warm (as can be) and wonderful Christmas season. I posted my Christmas story today if you have a few minutes and are looking for some holiday reading.

    =)

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  37. I love the quotation at the end, thanks for that!

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  38. Love the quotation! From now on, any sunshine is invitation to stretch out outdoors. Except, we might forget how to move our big and small muscles if we wait for sunshine...

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  39. That landscape photo is so gorgeous! I want my December to look like that.

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