Real Winter

I guess January is serious. It really shouts winter. A friend and I walked along the trail today. We stepped slowly, quietly, and carefully even though skinny, fit runners zipped by us.

Some sweet dogs padded along with their owners. Don't dogs get cold feet?

The sky was amazing. Do you see the Canadian geese on the top?

I've taken so many pictures of this little outbuilding. It speaks to me.

I'm thinking about buying a hyacinth bulb so I can force an early bloom. I just don't think I can wait so long for green stuff. I guess I'll just eat green stuff instead.
I am crocheting! I like it! I'll show you my wacky project soon because I really must grade the stack of papers that is ever present. I'm dreadfully slow and I'm having a hard time sticking with it even though I love reading the essays and I think the students have done a fine job analyzing the stories we read.
One more thing before I get back to my work, Tina at Content at Home wrote a post about home style and it made me think about houses and my favorite features of home. I like story book houses with white sheets and puffy quilts. I like tidy kitchens with teapots purring on the stove. I think flowered sofas and ceramic lamps say "welcome" and neat little racks where brooms and feather dusters hang at the ready thrill me. Jenny has a little book called Cozy in the Woods and the pictures are delightful - animals wearing hand sewn clothes and knitted sweaters, polka dot dishes on simple tables, soup cooking and guests warmed by a fire. Do you agree? Some people are very talented when it comes to cozy. My high school friend Molly had a delightful home. I remember the first time I visited, I was fifteen years old at the time and I had yearnings for a house like the three bears' even then. Her house astounded me. There were fresh white curtains at the windows, knotty pine cupboards with wrought iron pulls and hinges. Everything was in its place and it is always the house I think of when I am reminded of the honor and privilege it is to "prepare a place" for my family just as Jesus promised to prepare a place for us. Don't you like to look at the tidy little nooks featured on your favorite blogs? I do. Everyone loves Jewels blog, Eyes of Wonder. She doesn't blog much anymore, but her little home is still on the web and you can venture there and look and look at the wonderful world she has made as a homemaker. Shiny Red Houses (darling Sara) shows her readers many views of her cheerful red bedecked home. Gigi from Firefly Cottage often invites us into her happy, pretty kitchen and even makes pie for us. I'm sure you've visited Attic24 where Lucy fills her rooms with color and delicate adornments. I've said this before, but blogs are much more satisfying than magazines (I love them, too) because they SPEAK to us. Don't you agree? I love the way so many women have found yet another way to invite others into their homes. We like to share, we like to give people our attention. We love to love.