An Early Christmas Gift ...

I promise to love you forever ~

every single day

of forever ♥

~Stephanie Mayer~

Thankful {things I love} Thursday ...

The little sprinkling of snow we had soon disappeared.

It did however, bring lots of birds and squirrels to Sparrow Garden.
I love sitting by the window watching as they all find a feeder, knowing that they will be well taken care of at our home.
I noticed that the Sparrows were finding shelter under our deck
crawling through the lattice.
We have feeders filled with an assortment of seeds,
suet baskets
peanuts
coconut halves filled with suet and raisins
orange halves

and then of course
we have our "resident" squirrels
who have a peek in the kitchen window
waiting for their peanut butter sandwich :-)

Later in the day we had some shopping to pick up.

We took a drive along familiar country roads.

I had my camera (of course)

and these sweet horses are becoming a regular to take photos of.

I think this one even recognized us :-)

When snow falls

nature listens

~Antoinette Vankleeff~

One Word A Week Wednesday ...

48/52

Essential

***

We read books

to find out

who we are.

What other people,

real or imaginary,

do and think and feel

is an essential

guide to our

understanding

of what we ourselves

are and may become

~Ursula K LeGuin~

Flakes of feathered snow ...

Only Ernie & I were awake when we spotted the first flakes of feathered snow early this morning. Sitting by the kitchen window with a hot cup of tea, we watched as the tiniest of flakes danced about.
I know Ernie was as excited as I was to see the flakes fall even if they didn't last very long.


This is Ernie last year
doing his "happy dance"
in the snow :-)
When he first arrived in December of last year, we had no snow here . He arrived from Quebec where they had many feet of the fluffy white stuff ... I think he missed it :-)
When he spoke

what tender words he used!

So softly, that like

flakes of feathered snow

they melted

as they fell

~John Dryden~

One Word A Week Wednesday ...

47/52

Talk

***

You must not blame me

if I do talk

to the clouds

~Henry David Thoreau~

Our walks ...

Our morning walk started out with mild temps and sunshine, but that didn't last long.

I soon found myself raising up the collar on my jacket and stepping up the pace :-)

I find this time of year particularly beautiful ...
everything is paring down - leaves are blowing off of trees, blooms are off the flowers ... you see the pureness of everything ... the true beauty is there.
And then, walking with Ernie, I see the joy he has every morning anticipating our walk. He absolutely loves it ♥ As the wind was blowing around us, he raised his face to embrace it...
We met up with a lady and her 2 year old Lab and I was like a Mum who is hearing praises of her child - grinning from ear to ear. Ernie is very calm and tolerant of even the most boisterous of pups and as this young Lab bolted around him, he stood only slightly turning his head and then as she got closer, nuzzled her and gave her a little lick :-)
"Every day we have with them is a gift" she said as we said goodbye and continued on our walk ... how true her words are!

Dogs are our link to paradise.
They don't know evil
or jealousy or discontent.
To sit with a dog
on a hillside
on a glorious afternoon

is to be back in Eden,

where doing nothing

was not boring ~

it was peace

~Milan Kundera~

Hope you are having a peaceful Tuesday ♥
~ deb & ernie~

A little Sparrow told me ...

So that's what I've done :-)
Paper white bulbs have been planted in a milk glass dish by the sunniest window ...

Garage sales are over but Church bazaars have begin! I didn't plan on expanding my Dept 56 Snow baby collection, but when I spotted one for 75 cents at a recent bazaar I couldn't resist bringing him home!

And the ever-expanding Dickens collection is too large to fit on just one table ...
My favourite vignettes are skating scenes ~ both my children learned to skate shortly after learning to walk :-) The Mum bundling up her little one before going on the ice ...

This vignette reminds me of all the early morning hockey practices when Alex was a little boy... through the years he went from playing Defence to Goalie ~ it was always a family affair - we are a family that loves HOCKEY!

You've Got Mail ♥

Mr. Postman bringing letters, parcels, Christmas cards, catalogues & magazines :-)

I'm always on the look out for anything with a black lab and this year I spotted this little black lab having a drink at the water fountain. What I found especially sweet was that we have a similar fountain at the park where Ernie and I walk everyday. And the icing on the cake was that it had a red cardinal looking down.

It comes every year

and will go on forever.

And along with Christmas

belong the keepsakes and customs.

Those humble, everyday things a mother clings to, and ponders,

like Mary in the secret places of her heart

~Marjorie Holmes~