Autumn Cottage Diarist

I Guess It's All Official, Then?

Tombs of the Giants of Aldworth, Aldworth church, Berkshire, UK

 <Brag Alert>

As so many of you have followed my progress (slog? ;-)) along my academic journey in studying the Rhetoric and Ritual of Death, I am happy to be able to now officially share with you the contents of a little white envelope that I received on Friday last, in which it said that "I am pleased to inform you that at the recent meeting of the Faculty Examination Board, it was recorded that you had satisfied the requirements for the following award: MA in Religion with Distinction".

I can quite genuinely say that you could have knocked me down with a feather when I read that, a TOTALLY unexpected, but very, very pleasing outcome for me. It seems to have all been worth it, after all!

It has been a long, and sometimes bumpy journey for me, but it has also been life changing - both in the knowledge I have gained, but also - and perhaps more importantly - in the people I have met  and will now always know, along the way. I have learned so much from them, as well as from the books I have read.

After my own opportunity to learn and be enriched, I can heartily recommend others who may have an interest in the subject to take a look at the truly unique course which I followed at the University of Winchester, which is available both by personal attendance, and online - so 'do-able' from wherever in the world you may be! For those closer to home, why not go along to the Second 'Death Day' at the University next May (2011) - you may be amazed at what you see and hear there. And if you are interested in the topic without necessarily wanting to take it further academically (yet), you can always join our Facebook group!

Now, in the next year, it is time to take my learning back out into the world and do something useful with it. At this fallow time of the year, when we can withdraw and contemplate - that is exactly what I am doing - thinking, mulling over, deciding how best to use this new knowledge. Lots to decide. For the moment, an amendment to my business cards, to add a couple of letters, seems to be at least permissible - and I have this to look forward to in November next year!

</Brag Alert>

 

Hampshire Winter Wonderland

     Beautiful and beloved Winchester Cathedral

We are being given Christmas card days this December...the coldest since records began, apparently - but it has given me an opportunity to capture images which seem to hold the essence of the season. As before, I won't stay chatting - but you may like to see what the Christmas Market around Winchester Cathedral was like last Saturday - so pretty! Forgive the camera wobble in places - not easy to photograph at night in amongst the crowds!

Craft booths against the South wall of the Cathedral

A nun from the Orthodox Convent of St. Elizabeth in Minsk - beautiful carved wood figures on this stall - and if you look closely, see the intricate embroidery on her underskirt...

Oompah, Oompah - carols with the brass band!

All kinds of wreaths and garlands

Beautiful garlands made of berries - inspirational!

Hand-carved Green Men - a little too expensive for me this year.

More booths and bustle

A haven of peace just on the other side of the Cathedral wall from all the crowds...behind the HIgh Altar - a magical place at night.

My own personal place of perfect peace..the icons behind the altar. A solitary (I think Russian) woman knelt absorbed in prayer here...while her children played (quietly) with light wands beside her - a surreal but rather charming scene to witness.

Fairylit  path to the Cathedral and market

An inviting pub on the Cathedral green

Timber-framed shops and fairylights. Christmas is coming!!

 

Christmas Decorating at Autumn Cottage

18th Century fireplace in the small sitting room - Scandinavian nisse cavorting on the mantelpiece

Busy, busy - it's that time of the year - so I'm just sharing pictures and not a lot of words today, of the decorations as they go up here at the cottage. Greetings of the season to all of you - I'm feeling festive already!

Red glass tealight holders beneath my favorite picture

Ceramic pyramid with box sprigs..(and oh, how I would love to fill the whole house with pyramids in the style of Old Williamsburg!)

Poinsettias = instant Christmas!

Green Man in his Yule finery

Sugar Frosted Countryside

This is the delicate result of two days freezing fog ...just a dusting of frost left on the garden at midday - but the trees catching the fog at higher levels and, at -2C, freezing into layers of delicate crystals.

In the herb garden, a couple of milder days over the weekend allowed one of the ponds to thaw slightly - enough to capture the footprints of the pheasants which have obviously taken a stroll over the surface, before freezing again.
Taking a drive cross-country to Hungerford this afternoon, the effect was multiplied by many thousands of times - and enhanced by every field and hedgerow similarly embellished - sparking against the still, mysterious fog which continues to hang in the air. Truly beautiful - but unfortunately only in my mind's eye now -  I forgot to take my camera - so here is a little more of the winter wonderland at the bottom of the garden here at Autumn Cottage.

Advent, Trees and Memories

I always think that these early weeks of Advent are the best part of the Christmas period...time to think, and to remember, and to savour, before the inevitable speeding up of 'things to do' before the arrival of Christmas day itself. Every year I get out these five little lightbulbs, intending to put them on display - to Do Something' with them...and each year I put them away again, feeling that I have nowhere special or safe enough to show them. They are not family heirlooms - they are junk shop acquisitions, made in the 1930's-40's, hand-painted, bought fifteen or so years ago.
But like family memories, they are special because they speak of one of my own passions, to rescue, restore and enjoy things that would otherwise have been discarded. As lightbulbs, they were long ago defunct - but as tree ornaments, don't you think they would be cute? For that is how I have decided to display them - wrapping brass wire around those screw fittings, and hanging them on a special, small tree dedicated to vintage and antique finds and possessions from my own history.

The three little items above fall into that category -  they are from my own past; cake top ornaments, made of painted plaster, which used to adorn the Christmas cake at home for as far back as I remember - so at least to the early 1950's. (Made by my mother, of course, none of this 'shop bought stuff' would have been allowed into the house). Like the lightbulbs, they will also get fine wires attached, to hang on one of several mini trees dressed in a single theme that will be plasced around the house.

So - as it is the time for gathering memories of Christmases past - what do *you* remember about your own Christmas tree times - ones with which you had joyful adventures obtaining and trimming - even those with which you experienced disasters! Tell me some of your stories of those trees - and the people around them - that are special to you in your memories....