Within the Vine

A Victorian winter is nipping at our toes
Cold nights follow brisk sunny days
Thick woollen scarves and boots replace flimsy beach wraps and sandals
Ski wear is aired off ready for a different kind of skiing
We await the news of snow in the mountains

Fired up, the stoves and central heating
Oh how I miss my log fire
However I am comforted by all God provides

* Watching school homecoming

* Puddle jumping in bright welly boots

* Butterfly and Bumble-bee brollies

* Wind playing tricks with them

* A patchwork sandwich, keeping me cosy as I quilt it

* Life group togetherness

* Questions to challenge

* Conversations to encourage

* Little man dribbles and cuddles

* Bright blue eyes and gurgling laugh

* Huge sandstone blocks donated and transported to our garden

* Flu vaccines

* Doctors and nurses to give them

* Prayers for those who don’t have or fear such things

* Polio and whooping-cough vaccines so no child need struggle with pain,
and weakness of living with impact of such dreadful diseases

* Fog thick enough to ground planes, but

* Waking with my head in the clouds – ethereal, mysterious

* Bright sunshine against a thunderous sky

* Thick curtains to draw early

* Draughts throughout the house, pursued and stopped

* Books to read, old and new

* Splendid imagination of authors

* Word weaving tales to fire my own

* The journey into fiction and back to reality

* The wind

* Moaning through the wires

* Emptying tree branches of stubborn autumn glory

* Whisking fallen leaves into a dance

* Slanting rain and sleet against the windows

* I wrap warm against the night and step out

* I sit sheltered and take in the wonders

* As the tanks fill and cascades run

* Night creatures stir nearby; I am reminded to provide for these

* My own breath against the cold night air

* I leave a light burning to welcome the weary home

Words and Pictures © Denise Stanford 2010

~ by Denise Within the Vine on 31/05/2010.

Posted in Encouragement, Gratitude Journal, Reflections, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving Journal