Sadly, due to the new GPSR regulations, I can no longer post items to Northern Ireland and the EU. Any orders from either destination will be cancelled with my deepest apologies. I am very sorry and am working to find solutions.
First things first - I am now on Instagram. Yes, I am very behind the times in joining. I would never say that I am first in line with anything - but this time I seem to be roughly 1 billionth in line. I am hoping that Instagram will give my work a little more exposure out there on the internet. I have certainly found a host of new artists and creatives on there and seeing their beautiful work makes me smile. So, if you would like to keep up to date with my latest art on Instagram then you can find me here.
This November had me worried. Fresh, green sprigs and leaves, flowers, catkins and bulbs bursting from the damp ground. This was not usual. (I was going to say 'normal' but in this day and age it seems that 'normal' has taken a break and gone on holiday to warm, foreign climes.) We should not have been seeing this kind of action from Mother Nature until well into the New Year. It was warm and bright and frost free. Thinking back 20 years, in November I was standing in the garden in a heavy sweater, coat, scarf and gloves, bundled up against the cold. This year I was wearing a t-shirt.
Well, fast forward a month to the end of December and severe frosts and snow. Last year my part of the Scottish Borders had very little snow. I was sad. I dearly love when it snows. This year we have had several weeks of on and off snow showers with a inch or so lying regularly. Into January, frosts of -11 °C happened twice in one week. Winter had arrived!
Last night (21st Jan 2021) - roughly three inches of snow fell. Was it forecast for us? No! Was it a lovely surprise for me? Yes! Was it a lovely surprise for other people in the area? Possibly not. But I was out first thing this morning and off for a walk to enjoy the snow encrusted landscape. The garden birds were flying manically around the bird table and a buzzard flew overhead looking for its next meal. Under the snow I heard the scrabbling of an unknown rodent. While it looks like the world has been draped in a white sheet, underneath it life goes on.
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If there is one thing 2020 taught us it is that we have to take a little joy when it presents itself. There is no saying when it will disappear. It is now 3.45 in the afternoon of the 21st. The snow on the other side of the valley had melted in the lower fields. The sun is heading towards the horizon and there are tuffets of green grass showing among the snow in the field opposite the house. Sleet is forecast for overnight and possibly rain. By morning the snow may be gone. However, the wind is icy cold. Maybe the forecasters will be wrong again and I will wake tomorrow to another perfect winter wonderland veiled in white. These days nothing is guaranteed.