Winter and a Calendar

Winter has returned but her frozen cloak has been tossed aside for now. There are primroses in flower in the garden and the days have been mild. The birds have feasted on all the holly berries and now the tree is empty.  My holly picked a few weeks back, sits waiting in a bucket in the greenhouse. All ready to be brought indoors and tucked behind picture frames.

Inside It's beginning to look a little festive.  The piano had a good dusting and I even cleaned the faerie house out too. :)

Nine doors have already been opened in my Advent calendar. Nine! already! :-o and here my mind is still in October....
The Advent calendar is an old one, which I'm recycling because it's so pretty and because the teen hobbit has a chocolate one which is a little uninspiring to look at. Whoops, sorry chocolate companies!  ;) 

In the universe, there are things that are known, and things that are unknown, and in between, there are doors. ~ William Blake
                                       ~*~
It's been busy here, packing up orders, making more cards and trying to snatch time in between to do a little of my own Christmas shopping. On top of that I decided quite late, to do a 2016 Calendar. 
I've been waiting for them to arrive for a while now, wishing them here as time is ticking on of course. Anyway they are finally here!  And now in the shop! 

When opened out the calendar is A3 in size. Plenty of room to write things in the boxes and 13 pictures of my Artwork. One picture a month and an extra picture in the centre fold which can be used as an A4 poster afterwards.

  ~*~

                                                                  

For now I am Winter

One of the beautiful things about Winter is the fiery skies.You can almost smell them smouldering as you breathe out what looks like accompanying smoke into the frosted air. You have to be quick to catch them as they pass so fast and all too soon darkness has descended.  I tried to time it perfectly this evening and went out, but came back in as I realised I had in fact a better view from the window. 

Over on my Facebook page I have been posting something up everyday. A face book advent calendar type thing. You may have seen these, if you haven't here's a sample..Sketches and photo's and such like. I will share here the sketches as the photo's you may have seen before? 

 

This last one 'The journey north' I hope to work on as a painting very soon.

I don't have an advent calendar, but my teenagers do. This year it is a chocolate one. We normally alternate the years with picture/chocolate. Which one do you have? ...

To celebrate the beginning of Winter I had an early birthday present yesterday and went to see Olafur Arnalds perform at St Georges in Bristol. He is coming to the end of his 'For now I am Winter' tour. It was just beautiful and perfect for my beginning of Winter. :) 

I think I will be rummaging in the cupboard to find the Christmas decorations this weekend..

I will leave you with the title track of Olafur Arnalds album.  Have a magical weekend. x