Rainy days

Rain rain... wonderful, magical rain.  And thus, rainy days have brought in the sweet lights.  Candles, tea lights and fairy lights are spreading tiny magical lights everywhere in the little white cottage...

...While shadows scurry away to the music of guitars playing on my cd player...     

And how do you spell joy?  And how can one make time stand still?  Make life forever be?  Days are so short, nights so cozy.  And when it rains, time pauses.  It is like a dying fire during one can stop whatever she's doing and just stand by a window for hours, watching the performance, an endless curtain of tears falling from heaven.  I so love rainy days...

...the kind of rain that becomes pleasurable to watch because it makes of your house a haven. The rooms in which one moves become a world apart from the wet streets, and the sodden garden. 

A rain like melting pearls...

a rain so beautiful it makes your home feels extra beautiful

There are also a hundred things I try chasing away on a rainy day too... melancholy sets in sometimes, and rain finds me thinking about gloomy things, and I can't even let myself think about anything anyway because that's when the birds make the loudest of ruckus outside and the crows' shouts are heard coming from the woods louder than ever and somewhere in my mind it's always raining a slow and endless drizzle.  Who can understand me?

Do you like rain?  Were you born, or married on a rainy day?  There's a French proverb that says "He who marries on a rainy day will be happy for the rest of his life."  It must be true, or part true.  The Fisherman and I were married on a rainy August day and we've been happily together for two worlds and a life and a half.  There's another proverb I'm remembering now, this one from the Bible, which says "A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike."  I certainly don't intent to be this kind of a rain ever... never.  And I never will ;)

I hope you are enjoying your day, wherever you are!  Rain, snow, or cold.

LINKING TO:


THE DEDICATED HOUSE
METAMORPHOSIS MONDAY 
AMAZE ME MONDAY
THE SCOOP 
TUESDAYS AT OUR HOME
INSPIRE ME TUESDAYS
INSPIRE ME MONDAY 
TWEAK IT TUESDAY

Roses in December and something more...

On the first day of December the other day, I went to my wintry-looking garden and collected the last roses that were still blooming in my Ellie rose bush...

I decided to cut long stems this time—something I wouldn't normally do in the summer time when all my roses are in their prime, and mainly because I always feel I'm doing something terribly wrong to Nature by cutting so much.  But now that bushes are ready to go dormant, I allowed me this pleasure without the least of regrets or nasty feelings of guilt...  

This was such a special bouquet being this late in the year for roses, and I love it so much, I didn't know exactly where to place it to do those roses honor.   Here, or here or there... 

I finally decided I should keep it here... under the gaze of my new bullhead—my favorite boho treasure lately...

 I love him so much!  He's my new love these days...

He looks perfectly bohemian in my boho room!

And perfect as a jewelry holder too!

I thought he would appreciate some dried roses embellishing his head... sorry bull! ;)

Then the other day I added a few more bouquets in that little table under him

and created a little altar of sorts...

Head over heels in love with him!

It's been raining for days around here... wonderful, magical rainy days that have allowed me to cocoon inside my cozy nest and spend my days dreaming away... sitting in my rain-kissed front porch in my pjs and a steaming cup of coffee, watching the rain... 

...watching the birds in our backyard in all their shenanigans and thinking I need to add some more feeders to attract some more variety of birds.  This little Northern Flicker here had the hardest of time trying to figure out where the food was on this feeder... the poor thing.  He was so cute!  

Birds bring so much joy to my days...

My very favorite thing about winter...

The amount of birds I get to see in my garden...

Can you count how many birds are on this tree?  They resemble Christmas tree baubles against the muted wintry background of the landscape...

Wishing you simple beauty and inner peace.

 Hope you're all doing wonderful, wherever you are...

ps:  Thank you for all the comments left on my previous post...

I so enjoyed reading them all!

Tales for a quiet Saturday...

Lately, I've been dreaming with a large, antique portrait for our little white cottage... large, something extra large that I can just place on the floor, and still make an impact. 

Isn't this pretty!

Just before Thanksgiving Day I found that kind of a painting I'm dreaming of at our local Goodwill. Two very solemn looking women, probably sisters, dressed in solemn clothes. One was sitting, the other standing by, both dressed in mid-century long dark puffy dresses in a dark background. I felt in love with it immediately, but because I was with my mom and dad and husband at that time, felt it wasn't the right moment to buy, and left. I kept thinking and dreaming with that portray, thought. I had been enchanted by it, and had to know more about it.

A few days later I went back to the store knowing a forehand I wasn't going to find that portrait there any longer... but, still wanted to ask about it anyway.  The girl at the cash register then told me a most curious and strange of story ever about that portrait... 

"It was haunted" she said, truly believing it was so. When I mentioned how lovely I thought it was, she could hardly believe what I'd said.  She was so glad to see it go the very next day they put it out—she said. And went on to explaining how they all thought the portrait had been burned in some fire of sorts, because of how weird to the touch it felt, but that somehow it had survived.  And she "could not stand how those creepy eyes followed her around the store whenever she passed by".... so glad it was gone so fast, and so on... 

Yes, the portrait was creepy.  Beautifully creepy I should say, and maybe that's why I hesitated buying it on the first place?  But I regret it now.  In value only it's probably more than the 19.99 it sold for. Lesson learned... when you see something you like at a thrift store don't hesitate a minute buying it, or else you'll never see it again. I so wish I had gotten that portrait!  Who were those ladies, and who painted them I will never know. 

Was it a post-mortem painting maybe?  Can you imagine?  Now, that would had been truly creepy... if you don't know it, photographing of deceased loved ones were a normal part of American and European culture in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.  On this photograph below, must probably the woman on the right was dead.

Last spring I found another interesting painting at one of our local thrift stores.  Now, don't ask me why I found this painting worth of bringing into our little white cottage, but I did.  Eeek!  ;))

Creepy?  Cute?  Well, it is big, and I like big art pieces, I love the wooden carved frame and muted colors and at that time I thought it went perfect with the gypsy boho decor in my gypsy room.  

And thus, that's where it remained until that morning I came into the room and saw that big yellow eye shut.  Of course, horses have to sleep too, right?  ;):) I know I know, I'm sure it must had been some sorts of an optical illusion or something, but you can say that he ended up in the shed pretty quickly after that.  Hehehe... I still find him funky, and awesomely bohemian and might have to bring him in again.  Will just have to let him sleep longer before I come in into the room... ;)

By the way, I love reading your comments on the previous post, and any post as a matter of fact... love to hear about your feelings, what you think, and the way you do things in your little world and such. What a treasure you all are to me!  Thank you for letting me know that is OK to come here as often as I want... no rules, no blogging etiquette nothing, just be myself... feel free to comment on what you think about my horse painting.... give it away?  Tacky?  Cute?  Keep it?  Draw a number and see who wins it?  I was thinking maybe I could put him somewhere in my magical garden, or hide him in the woods for some creepy tales?   

Hope you're doing well, wherever you are

See you soon!

Welcome Dicember

Oh hi there friend!  Yes yes, hi there to you too, pretty-pretty!  Although you always opt to remain so quiet, I know you come here often... why I've seen you fluttering around our woods!  A bird in red.  A little butterfly in yellow wings.  And sometimes, I think I see a flickering flame, swirls of fog, a ghostly outline against the deep forest that lurk behind my eyes when I’m drifting off to sleep.  You, of course?  Wouldn't it be nice if we could all live closer and from time to time have a meeting of the minds and share a tall peach iced tea?

I'm so enjoying this little life on mine... everything I see, hear, feel, taste.  And what's one to do if it isn't to let this life shine, and share it with you here!  I mean who would have thought just a few years ago when we lived up North that I'd be picking up roses from my very own garden on a first day of December? 

This is so amazing to me.  And my heart rejoices in these things—the remarkable changes in seasons, my little world wrapped in an extended, magical autumnal season, the garden gently going dormant, chilly mornings and nights, and yet this delicious sunshine and warmth and the world always coming alive and warm every day at mid-day... 

I cannot lie.  It took a lot of me this period of adaptation when we moved to the south a few years ago.  Things were not easy.  For a very long time I felt depressed and couldn't figured out what was the purpose of us moving south or why we were here.  Then one day suddenly I knew.  It was time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings...   

Two nights ago it was the sound of rain, and winds murmuring; the gentle falling of leaves, rain smoothing fields and caressing the darkening woods outside, while inside white sheets and comfy pillows and the pure softness of my bed... I listened to it all by turns, then laid myself to sleep.   Later, that following morning we woke up to the mists.  It always happens after a rainy night.  You wake up under the spell of a dark gray haze. You go to the window and watch it slowly moving throughout the land in gray swirls.  Then, the sun would come up and shadows moved away.  Your vision is cleared and you're left with the wintry view of a magical landscape. 

Bountiful, shimmering light move above everything, and the landscape, vivid with raindrops seems brighter and greener.  As the day progresses so does the sun becomes stronger and the garden brighter, and everywhere you look you'll see the sparkles of autumn, and the miracles left behind by rain... brighter colors, and a suppler, livelier land where wet, fallen leaves have been giving a new life; a flame of brighter colors, and deeper hues.  The Knockout roses look redder than usual and with a deeper hue.

I love this place... all of it.  Inside and outside. Autumn clouds, vague and obscure; the evening, lonely and chill. The quieted woods awake with mystery, and wonder...  And roses to thrill my soul.

I ask myself sometimes if perhaps I come here more than I should.  Is it alright to post this often, or is that considered a bad blogging etiquette?  Who sets rules?  And would you still come by if I write 'bout silly stories and creepy tales, or would I see you go if I do?  I'll tell you one thing... I would not be the owner of a blog if that means I will have to write about the same thing post after post after post.  Say, for example about home decorating, or having a new tea set to show you on every post... phew!  But that's just me—sappy silly girl that I am, who gets bored really easily with things.

Anyway, I don't see where this is going so I'll end up by telling you a little story.... about something that usually happens around here, when the land falls quiet in the twilight of the evening and the little white cottage prepares to relax in sweet sleep. 

That's when I hear the woods beyond the gardens awakening in thousand voices.  The whole world out there seems to rise up from the dead then, and I can’t help but wonder if the witch who lives in my forest may be out there under the poignant light of winter harvesting plants from their natural and wild habitat to use as food, and medicinal purposes. 

Do you have a story of your own to share?  I love, love to hear you telling me what's going on in your little world when you leave a comment, or how your garden is doing, or what your dreams are.  It just make me happy! ;)

 Have a magical day, wherever you are!