Wednesday Witterings . . .

 

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It takes an open mind and a steady heart to enjoy and appreciate a Canadian Winter. The wind blows, the snow piles deep, pipes freeze, cars slip and slide and get stuck. It is all too easy to dream of Caribbean Islands with coral beaches, sapphire water and tropical fruits jumping into your hands. In fact there are many Canadians who simply won't tolerate the cold and who escape and fly South each Winter, like the birds, migrating to warmer climes. Snow Birds. I am not one of those. It has never been in my budget to escape. I endure.

I also happen to enjoy it. The winter. Under it's hard and bitter rind, there is much loveliness. The white mystery of snow is a splendid thing; all the landscape being muted to deep silver laced with shadows. Fields and meadows become seas of pearl with scattered dark masts of brier riding the foam. The air smells cool and clean, the smell of snow in the air, a fragrance known only to winter country. On a good day the air is laced with the smell of woodsmoke which emanates from local chimney's. I love it.

 

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I also love the sounds of winter. The ring of skates on the pond, the laughter of children making snowmen, the way the snow crunches beneath the feet when it gets really cold, the way the branches and trunks of the trees groan and snap with the cold, the scrape of the shovel across the porch, the snap, crackle and pop of logs in the fireplace . . . 

January. Could there be a more dramatic month? With sleet and snow, the wild winds that blow gales and sweep the snow off the roof tops making it dance to January's tune. The skies are all pewter and grey, sometimes quite dark and the drifts roll under it.

And then there is the peace after a particularly heavy fall of snow. The air rings with quiet, broken only by the occasional snapping branch. 

I love it all. I think I would miss it were I to live in a country without seasons to enjoy.

 

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Dark comes early. So does dinner. I am usually well done by the time the dark settles in, everything being cleared away. There is more time to read.  The books we somehow never got around to reading in July now come into their own. I confess that in the winter months I love to revisit the classics.  Jane Eyre, Little Women, Pride and Prejudice . . . I have read them many times through the years. And, more often than not, during the depth of winter, snuggled under the weight of a warm throw.

Sometimes I get lazy and watch the films instead. I have my favorite versions of each. I cannot stand to watch Kiera Knightly as Elizabeth Bennet and so I avoid that one. It is something to do with her hair. It looks so unnatural and drives me to distraction.

 

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Now is the time to enjoy the fruits of our summer labors. I probably eat more toast and jam in the winter months than I do any other time of year.  And marmalade.  That bitter yet sweet taste of sunshine.

Little treasures. I had bought myself a Bonne Maman Advent calendar in November thinking about how much I was going to enjoy each little pot of jam, but in truth I only ended up popping open a few of them.  I think I bought it more for the little jars than anything.

In the winter we give ourselves permission to indulge more than a bit in comfort foods. Soups, stews, baked beans, pancakes and bacon, to name but a few. For some reason they taste better at this time of year than they do at any other. Baked apples . . .  can there be anything as delicious as a baked apple sitting in a pool of cream, its flesh having burst through the skin in the most delectable way?? I think not.

 

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I have been trying very hard to pin my mind down on a topic for the talk I am to give later this month. I keep changing my mind. One day it will be one thing, and then the next I have switched my thinking to something else.  This being able to pick your own topic is a very difficult thing. My thinking has danced from one area to another and back again without being able to actually settle. I have a restlessness of thought and am easily distracted. When it does finally come to me, the thoughts will flow, but until then my thoughts are like flotsam on the waves being tossed to and fro.

Today is our Eileen's birthday. She is 48, which is very hard to believe.  I can remember the day she was born as if it were yesterday. I was absolutely thrilled and elated at having a little girl. I think she has plans to go out for lunch or some such with her friends. I have promised to take them, both she and Tim, out for supper at the weekend. They want to go to the Chinese Restaurant in town so that is where I will take them.

When I was a teenager it was not a Chinese Restaurant, but a place called The Shaker Restaurant. Its walls were lined with collected salt and pepper shakers. It was the epitome of cool to be able to go in and sit in a booth  with your friends and buy a coke and share some fries.

I do not know when it turned into a Chinese Restaurant, but it has been one now for many years. Our mother always loved to go there. I don't believe the same people still own it.

We are expecting a mix of rain and snow here today. It is already quite a bit milder than it was yesterday. Usually on Wednesday nights our dad likes to go out for supper, but I am not sure if he is planning on it today. A lot will depend on the road situation. They are still filled with the slush and snow from the weekend. The town did spread grit but it was too cold to melt the snow, so it's been a bit like driving through sand. Thankfully I have not really had to go anywhere. The Doctors on Monday, but my sister drove me. Yes, I know how lucky I am.  Blessed really.

And with that I will leave you with a thought for the day  . . . 

☾ ° ★° * 。  

• ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ • •。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★

*Let me do all the good I can
to all the people that I can
As often as I can
for I will never pass
this way again.
~J Wesley• ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ • •。★★ 。* 

• ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ • •。★★ 。* 

In The English Kitchen today  . . .  Clean Out the Fridge Stir Fry.  Simple. Quick. Easy. Delicious and a great way to use up all those bits and bobs in the crisper drawer.

I hope you have a lovely day today. Be happy. Stay warm and stay safe.  Don't forget!

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⊰✿░G░O░D⊰✿⊰L░O░V░E░S⊰✿⊰░Y░O░U░⊰✿

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And I do too!