We had another light snowfall yesterday, and although last night’s frost means today everything is still crunchy underfoot it already seems to be melting a little in the low winter mid-day sun. So my camera and I went out to the back garden to see what we could see, taking a series of photographs of my snowmelt winter garden 🙂
Tag: Fandangos One Word Challenge
Stumped
It’s amazing what can be washed up by the sea in winter – no idea where it originated but this poor tree stump appeared to be out of its depth and was probably going to remain stranded on the shore once the tide went out 🙂
Belt-and-Braces Approach
This basic latch adorning one of the pedestrian gates at a local railway level crossing certainly seems to be taking a decidedly belt-and-braces overkill approach to remaining fixed in place 🙂
Frayed Around the Edges
When it comes to my regular blogging interactions I think I’m possibly going to lie low for the next few weeks…
One way or another 2020 has not proved to be a great year for most people, and as we see the end in sight I for one am feeling more than a little frazzled and frayed around the edges. Coronavirus fatigue is frustratingly real – I’m still following all local and national restrictions as required but to be honest I’m starting to feel resentful when I see so many others around me bending the rules, or in some cases blatantly breaking them.
And added to the usual stresses of working in retail over the Christmas period during a pandemic (including working longer hours all through December), the large UK company I work for is no longer doing so well financially in these Covid times and we found out last week that I and all of my work colleagues are now facing the painful prospect of potentially being made wholesale redundant early in the new year.
So overall it’s proving to be a really difficult time for all of us at work just now, but in the meantime we still maintain the polite professionalism of helpful sales advisors and continue to give good customer service to everyone. Still smiling while social distancing, while breathing through a stuffy face-mask all day, while sanitising our hands after every transaction and keeping our cash points constantly decontaminated.
Right now I feel like I’m running on fumes, and it’s all taking its toll on me far too much. I’m tired of all of it, so its probably best if I just take some time out…
Stranger than Fiction
I used to be a voracious reader but nowadays, not so much.
It’s strange, but I don’t really know when or why my appetite for my beloved paperbacks diminished so dramatically over the decades, but somewhere along the line the ability to focus, to concentrate, to lose myself so completely in the fantasy of fiction the way I used to has all but evaporated.
I still have my go-to favourite books I dip into now and again, but I just don’t read them quite like I did before – I’ve somehow lost the love, become detached from delving into my dreamlands so readily, and as time passes I’m finding it bothers me more and more.
I miss it, that comforting characterful world inside my head I carry with me wherever I go, whatever crap reality throws at me. Perhaps I should just find a way to pick up a paperback again and revive that passion once more, breathe the kiss of life back into the wonderful world of words on the page, ripe for turning…
Feeding the Birds
A modicum of normality in this miserable pandemic – little ones always love going out for a walk to feed the birds, and the birds always love being fed 🙂
Gravy… Mmmm…
I really love a good gravy… A proper reduced meat-juice-infused nicely thickened sauce seasoned with finely chopped onions, garlic, and black pepper… Mmmmm… 🙂
November Berries
November berries from an unidentified plant growing in my garden – if anyone can tell me what it is, that would be great – I’ve noticed in passing there are a few similar small bushes growing with wild abandon in other people’s gardens nearby, but I’m wondering if it’s actually meant to be there or is one of those sneaky interlopers, an invasive aberration I should perhaps be getting rid of… 🙂
My Wish for the World for 2021
Politics needs a paradigm shift:
Wish the world could be given this gift –
Stop the lies and the hate,
Stick to civil debate,
Let compassion and love heal the rift…
Prolific Pink Roses
Here we are in November in the North of Scotland and still some of my garden roses are blooming – the yellow and red ones seem to be over, but the palest pink flowers are still prolific! 🙂
