Scintillating Sparkles

For the past few weeks

all my spare time has been spent

doing the crafts I love.

My occupations have been full of tiny details

and precision which I really enjoy

but suddenly

I needed a fresh way of seeing -  and the candlelight

and electric light plunged me into a world of sparkles and abstracts!

So I got out my macro lens and had enormous fun playing

with my focus to capture the abstract quality of well-known objects.

These sparkling threads, used for adding a festive touch

to crocheted creations, brought me into a world of scintillating wonder!

This has to be my favourite capture because we just recognize

 what we are seeing

 yet the abstract quality is there too.

And on these mostly grey November days

my world became alive again!

Gold and silver, red and blue

My basket of happiness!

I feel depth and vibrancy and swirling movements.

Don't they make you want to dance?

As November Moves Forward

As the days get shorter

we feel the change all around us

Yesterday, I prepared my window-boxes for winter

and picked the last geraniums.

There are plenty of exciting new projects to prepare

and the colour red comes to mind

with a hint of green and lots of white.

A warm drink with garden herbs

and warm colours that delight the senses.

Table decorations to prepare

gifts for others, festive hangings...

and with these long, long evenings,

an orange candle at the end of the day!

It may rain outside under skies of grey, but a snug atmosphere inside

candlelight and music

a good book

or some yarn and hook for nimble fingers

it all feels just perfect!

What do you like doing in November?

Focussing on the Essential

Doing my marketing last November 1st,

I saw people selling these bags

called "Survival Kits".

Each bag contained a minimum number of simple ingredients

to make a soup: potatoes, carrots, one leek and an onion

with a vegetable broth cube.

I replaced the onion with a few sticks of celery that I had in my fridge.

The soup was simple and economical and tasty.

The next day, I added 3 tablespoons of red lentils and it became even more nourishing.

Each Survival Kit bag cost 5.- Swiss francs

and the money goes to an association which is very active

in feeding hot meals to those who are homeless

or in serious financial difficulties.

This made we think about what was really essential in life.

For me, it would be having enough food to satisfy my hunger

and having a roof over my head.

It is good to remember this when we think we want or need

certain things which are not essential to our well-being or our happiness.

On the contrary, many of these things encumber our minds and our homes.

In the same line of thinking,

I would like to show you a book I bought a while ago:

It's a reprint which was composed by Marguerite Patten

for helping women to prepare nourishing and healthy meals

for their families during times of food scarcity during the war.

The recipes are inventive and original and I really enjoy trying them out.

I am wearing a crocheted poppy today in remembrance of

Armistice Day on November 11th.

Remembering these events

brings us back to the essential.

The Rusty Fence

If I could put just one word on each of my photos

it would describe how I feel when I first look at the image.

Kim talks about doing this in her latest blog posting

One Word Photos

Flamboyant evokes movement and flames and red and orange and yellow.

For me, it's the essence of autumn's colours and moods

and makes me think of log fires burning in the hearth!

The crossroads of the seasons

as beautiful autumn goes out on a flurry of colourful leaves

and allows winter to settle in.

We are often confronted with crossroads in our lives

where decisions are necessary and choices made

changing our direction on this unknown journey of life.

The rusty fence is in my neighbourhood and I find it the perfect base

for autumn shots when the wind blows the leaves against the wire meshing

and creates rusty fence art which often changes every day!

Being entangled in a situation can  be a reality in life.

But when we surrender and let go

life can flow again

Accepting what is before us

and not making it our enemy allows us to move on

and we feel oneness with our surroundings once again

all feelings of separation disappear.

Isn't serenity a wonderful feeling?

This oak leaf seems so serene as it sits within the rusty fence

as if it wants to be in no other place at all.

It's just content to be where it is.

Looking up and beyond the fence,

I'm enthralled by the sunlight filtering through the branches of this tree.

The word which comes to mind is 'enchanting'

as I enjoyed the movements of the leaves and saw their ever-changing patterns.

Looking down

I can see how the sunlight is creating a feeling of aliveness

in the fallen leaves.

I can feel the joy in these happy, vibrant colours

Can you?