Merry Christmas to all

Enjoy the day!

Christmas Eve Meditation

Winslow Homer's Sleigh Ride 

Christmas Eve Meditation

There is a hush that comes on Christmas Eve—

Life's hurry and its stress grow far away; 

And something in the silence seems to weave 

A mood akin to sadness, yet we say 

A "Merry Christmas" to the friends we meet, 

And all the while we feel that mystic spell, 

As if the Christ Child came on noiseless feet, 

With something old, yet ever new, to tell 

The eyes grow misty, yet they shed no tear, 

And those that we have lost, somehow seem near.

by Margaret E Bruner (1886-1970)

Happy winter solstice!

At Midwinter—also known as the Winter Solstice—it's time to say goodbye to the old and welcome the new. We bid farewell to the Holly King and welcome the Oak King (that's him in the illustration above). With him we welcome the return of the sun and green (eventually) begins to envelope the earth. After today—the shortest day of the year—the earth begins to wake up from its slumber, then the days start getting longer and warmer ... but before all that it gets snowier here in the Northeast!

At Midsummer—also known as the Summer Solstice—the Holly King slays the Oak King to rule over the winter months. The days become shorter as we say farewell to the sun until the Winter Solstice comes around again on December 21st, when  mother nature shuts down for her winter slumber. This almost doesn't make sense when you consider those warm summer days, but there you have it.

Both solstices are symbolic of an eternal cycle of fertility, growth, death and rebirth. Happy winter solstice, and hooray for longer, brighter days ahead!

What becomes a legend most?

Not enough words... 

Glad you are with your love—somewhere over the rainbow. 

I will miss you.

 E.F.H.  
+
M. H.  
forever

An awfully big adventure

 I think Peter Pan got it right—it's all just a big adventure!

Dahlia madness

It's not too early to plan for next year's garden... is it?? Surely not! I have already ordered a dozen (3 each of 4 different varieties) spectacular magenta and shell pink colored dahlias... all influenced by my neighbor Robin, who has the most enchanting cottage garden ever. This year her fenced-in front yard garden was—among other flowers—a riot of pink and yellow dahlias, and pink cosmos. She grew this one particular dinner plate dahlia called Emory Paul, which I coveted and simply had to have. There's Robin in the photo below, hiding behind one of her glorious, Emory Paul dahlias! The dahlia shown above is called Pretty in Pink. We've got a long way to go until next spring, but I am glad I bought my dahlias before they sold out. Quick—go order some dahlias too!

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Dinner plate dahlia

The end of the affair

Digging up tubers

The juice bar is open!

Happy December! Time to detox from the T-day indulgences with some super healthy juices. Shown here are a fabby-fab mix of fruit and veggies to inject my cells with vitamin goodness. These juices make a great, one-day juice blast. Starting on the far left:

• tomatoey gazpacho

• Carrot, orange and sweet potato juice

• Lemony chicken broth with a dash of turmeric

• Lemony green and lemongrass tea

• Kale lemonade, made with lemon, green apples, kiwi, parsley ginger and avocado

• Blackberry and blueberry with a little coconut milk, splash of pom juice and splash of water

• Red beets, raspberries, fresh cranberries, a bit of freshly grated ginger, a smidge of honey, a splash of pom juice and water.

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Superfoods Blast!

Vitamin C Boost (Chunky Gazpacho)

Clean foods epiphany!