The plague flag has been flying from the gate of the croft for the last 10 days and we’ve been confined to the house by the weather and self-imposed quarantine. The winter solstice supper was cancelled along with the Christmas Eve lunch with friends. The croft kitchen has been eerily quiet, just the bubbling of nourishing soups accompanied by sneezing and hacking coughs. So there has not been a great deal of festive spirit around.
After another sleepless night, I wearily dragged my aching bones from under the duvet and made my way to the kitchen to make the morning tea. As I waited for the kettle to boil, I sleepily looked out of the window and there it was – an enormously full moon suspended just above the waves. The ripples of the waves were etched with silver and the face of Caillech was partially obscured in diaphanous wisps of cerulean cloud. I was mesmerised by the moonlight and, although I usually do not need to be reminded, remembered that our planet is beautiful and that I am fortunate to be able to lookout of my window and be inspired by the landscape.
May your Christmas, New Year and Mid-winter celebrations be filled with magic.
Thanks for another lovely post – hope you’re both soon well and have a lovely 2016.
Thank you – all we need is a little sunshine and life will seem so much better. As for 2016 we’re looking forward to another glorious summer in the garden.
Merry Christmas.
And get well soon!
Thank you. I’ve been reading your posts on your trip to Norway with great pleasure. My father told me about seeing the northern lights and thought it was one of the great experiences of his life, he was right. Experiencing the “merry dancers” can only be described as awesome.
Hope you all feel better soon. Beautiful moon and reflection on what really matters. Happy Christmas 🎅
Thank you – sometimes it takes just the smallest thing to remind us about what is really important.
Although I have been socked in by rain and accompanying clouds, the muddle cleared a bit last evening to show a fine full moon.
HEAL and enjoy what is left of the holiday. At least you do not have a flock to tend…Best to you all in 2016! Irish laced with vanilla and maple syrup is a fine tonic too. 😉
Thank you – it has finally stopped raining here and we’ve even had a few hours of sunshine. All I need is a respite in the weather so that I can get out and about. So until then it’s the traditional remedy of honey, hot lemon andd ginger and the occasional wee dram, although your therapeutic cocktails sounds good!
Happy Christmas, sorry you are feeling poorly, get well soon x💐
Thank you. Everyone is being so kind – I thought I should explain that my absence was not due to Christmas humbug just the other type of Christmas bug. So to anyone who has the dreaded Christmas cold, my heartfelt sympathies and may you recover soon.
Happy Christmas Christine, and get well wishes to you both! We went for a walk on Christmas Eve and were able to watch the full moon rising above the woods as the sun set behind us. Magical.
Thank you cathy, I hope that you are enjoying a glorious European Christmas complete with snow (but not too much). The short winter days have their own type of magical beauty, but it is so transient that you have to enjoy every minute.
No snow in Germany yet… it would be lovely to have a bit, but after such a long mild autumn we are all wondering if winter might not come at all!
Happy New Year. There is still plenty of winter to come yet! According to my sister all the snow and sunshine is in western Canada.
Oh I can picture it all – the red crosses on the door to keep people away, two ghostly figures staggering occasionally from bed to kitchen and bathroom, paths sometomes crossing, all very melodramatic…. 😉 Seriously though, I am SO sorry you have both been stricken with the lurgy and hope that the nourishing soups will do the trick so that you can soon both be back to full strength and pulling crackers like the rest of us. What a wonderful sight the moon must have been (and the feelings it stirred will have confirmed there was life in the aching body still) – even better than watching the moon disappear like a sunset over the horizon as we did here at my Mum’s yesterday morning. Our best wishes to you both
You have an over-active imagination or have imbibed too much Christmas spirit! I have been taking my civic responsibilities seriously – we all know the consequences of introducing novel viruses into small island communities! So quarantine has been imposed. Although I suspect this particular virus came from a trip to Stornoway (isle of Lewis – our big island neighbour). 😉
I hope that you are enjoying a Scottish island Christmas and that you get some respite between the gales.
Our best wishes to you both and looking forward to some more sparring exchanges next year.
Sparring? Whatever do you mean…? 😉
Bit like a naughty little girl poking a sleeping dragon with a small stick! happy New Year.
We hope you are both feeling better now. If it’s any consolation I am suffering from a similar lurgy courtesy of the grandchildren. The picture of the moon is very beautiful.
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year Liz. I do hope that you are feeling beeter. Alas we’re still in quarantine and I’m thinking about calling the vet.
Absolutely wonderful. Our best wishes to you both & Happy New Year for 2016. If it’s any comfort we all have the coughing lurgy here too!
Lovely picture! I hope that you managed the bad weather and that you soon can enjoy the sun again. Happy New Year to you!
New Year greetings. I’m looking forward to seeing more of your wonderful photographs throughout the year.
A beautiful shot, amd I do hope the plague has subsided somewhat by now. Belated good wishes for Christmas and not quite so belated ones for a good 2016. Preferably a plague-free one.
Thank you Kate – now out of quarantine, but reclusive due to a combination of the weather and paperwork! Definitely I love hate relationship with Janus.
Tax return time? Agh… Maybe we should all try negotiating with HMRC, like Google.
Tax returns, agricultural censuses, wildlife monitoring reports, you name it and I’ve filled in the forms! As for HMRC, they’ve obviously been too busy “negotiating” with Google to answer the phone.
Agh!
Hope you are both recovered now. Happy new year!
Hello Elizabeth, I’ve been reading your posta nd thinking of you and Ian.
Belated Happy New Year to you both, and really sorry to hear you’ve both been unwell …and Hacked off. Been out of action here, so just catching up. It seems many have experienced/are experiencing really trying weather this winter – at least you’ve seen a bit of sun. Heard today on Radio 4 that a nearby village Egylwyswrw is closing in on the Island of Isla’s record of 89 consecutive days of rain every day. (is Isla close to you?) Eg. is up to 81 days – I’m glad that you’ve at least seen a little bit of sunshine/moonlight, and hope that you’re now back to fighting/gardening fitness for when the weather does improve,
best wishes
Julian
Thank you Julian. I suspect the weather in your part of the world has been somewhat Hebridean. Islay is to the south – part of the Inner Hebrides, very beautiful but very different and rumoured to have a few good whisky distilleries! Loooking forward to the sping when or if it arrives.