Full Circle

A whole year has passed since the children and I moved into our little house in the woods.  One entire year; 12 months; 52 weeks; 365 days, and we have loved every moment of it.  This unassuming house has become our safe haven and our cosy home.  We are extremely lucky to live here and this is where we want to stay.  We now know what the different seasons look like.  We have seen each day come and go, rain and sun, wind and frost.  The house is open and fresh in the summer and seems to expand its small rooms and lift the ceiling.  In the winter it hunkers down, wrapping itself around us, keeping us warm and snugly.  And the garden has been a joy to bring back to life.  Even now it keeps giving me little surprises in the form of a plant that has self seeded in an unexpected location.  Its bright colours shine out from a patch of weeds or a clump of grass letting me know it is there and not to be forgotten.  I dig them up and place them in a more suitable spot, where they can grow to their full glory and not fight with weeds.  Life at its best is sweet and simple.

October came and with it, Autumn.  We have had more rain in the last week than we had all summer.  It has turned cold and damp.  The mornings are dark and I have given in and put the heating on again.  It won't be long before I am digging out my full length, fluffy dressing gown!  Last night Pea and I went line dancing.  I had been practising hard all week so I was in a better frame of mind to enjoy as much of the dancing as I could.  We did rather a lot of new dances, some really good and some not so.  If I like the music, it gives me a good incentive to crack the dance.  If not, I don't worry if I can't do it.  As Pea and I drove down long winding lanes, the moon hung over the mountains and gave us a fabulous view all the way.  It was almost completely full with just a slight shadow to the left side, but it was so big and bright, it was hard to keep my eyes on the road!  We threw ourselves into dancing for three hours and then it was time to go home.  Honestly, I have never known time go so quickly.  I couldn't believe it was ten o'clock and I really did not want to go home.  However, Pea had spent a whole tiring day at school and was ready for her bed, so we bade goodnight to our friends and set off for home.
The sky was so dark the moon had been blotted out and no stars shone to accompany our journey.  All at once there was a massive flash of lightening that lit up the entire countryside.  It was so sudden it took us both by surprise.  It was a bit spooky driving down silent, dark lanes at that time of night, with a huge storm hovering over us.  We waited but heard no thunder.  A little while later, another flash, but still no thunder.  The thick black cloud that hung over us looked solid and threatening so we were relieved to turn into our driveway.  H1 and I took the dogs into the garden for a sniff round and Pea went to bed.  As usual after dancing, I was really hungry, so I stood in the empty kitchen and ate a pork pie and a bag of cheese and onion crisps.  Not the best thing to go to bed on, but there you go.  I got ready for bed and turned the lights out, waiting for the storm to hit.  Sometime during the night, I was woken by rain pounding on the roof, but the storm didn't materialise.  Such a disappointment after all that!

Hard to believe that only a few days ago, the sky looked like this when Pea and I took the dogs for a walk.  It was definitely chilly with a persistent breeze, but the sun always makes me feel brighter and fresher.  Some of the leaves that had fallen to the ground were still dry and crisp then and made a lovely sound when we walked over them. Even Middle Aged Labrador loved the noise they made when she walked through them.

We walked by a field full of multicoloured sheep, who wanted to come and say hello to us, but were far too scared.  They all started walking up the field to get as far away from us as possible.

In other places the rain had formed huge puddles too deep and wide to walk through with only walking boots on.  So we scrambled up a grass and bracken covered wall and forged our way through along the top of the wall.  We jumped down again when we had passed the puddles.  Brambles kept snagging at our clothes and we had to be careful where we were treading in case there were any mice or birds hiding out in there.  All was well though and we carried on with our walk.

As we were nearing home the sun went in and the light began to fade.  It felt a lot cooler without the cheerfulness of the sun and so we were glad to arrive home.  I put the kettle on and made us a cup of tea, then I noticed Puppy looking a bit pathetic and shivering in the door way.  I went out to the car and rummaged in a bag of clothes I had meant to take to the charity shop, weeks ago.  I found a jumper and then looked for something for MAL.  She would feel left out if she didn't have a new cardy to wear too.  I took them in and we slipped a fleece on MAL, who predictably loved it.  We noticed a startling resemblance to the Jedi Obe Wan, which made us all laugh. MAL didn't care a hoot as she was snugly and warm.  H1 had to battle with Puppy a bit, but finally we pinned him down, put his cardy on and did up the buttons.  He fought with it a bit and tried to get it off, but suddenly the warmth permeated his brain and he gave in to the feeling.

Despite chewing some of the toggles off, he does love his new jumper and drags it about in an attempt to get someone to put it on him.

Life at its best is sweet and simple, even for a dog.

Have a lovely day and thank you for reading.xxx