Christmas Colour - Five Minute Friday

A Christmas Robin, sitting in our vegetable patch

As I prepare to dress my house for Christmas I look forward to the coloured lights twinkling in my home. I never ever tire of the beauty of these little lights.  In fact I keep fairy lights strung up in my library all year long, bringing glimpses of light, to the spines of my books.  I love the colour of Christmas.  It brings warmth, and joy.

Outside branches hang bare, but if you look closely the garden is alive with colour.  Robins their red breasts puffed out, nibble on birdseed, and sit quietly on spade handles.  Robins are definitely one of my favourite birds, and I can while away moments, just watching them playing outside my kitchen window.  

Green sprouts push through in our vegetable patches.  Trucks of carrots, leeks and parsley freshly picked ready for cooking swing from gardeners arms. Holly Berries punch red through frozen snow.  Silver frost lighting up paths, and twigs as it glistens in the moonlight.  Fir trees shimmer in the dawn's early light and evergreens are laden with fircones.  

The bright colours of the decorations hanging on the tree.  The rich greens of the pine, spruce, holly, ecalyptus, and laurel that deck my halls.  The rich red of cranberry sauce.  The scarlet of the holly berries.  The milky white of the mistletoe.  The golden star on top of my tree.  The deep browns of a glazed turkey, and little cocktail sausages.  The golden crispy roast potatoes.  The silver of my reindeer that sit atop the mantle.  The vibrant orange of the tangerines, my favourite Christmas fruit.  The pink of roast ham, studded with little black cloves, and glazed with honey.  The sparkle of the snow, as it crunches under my feet.  The ruby of the glasses of wine, or the glittery pale gold of a drop of bubbly.  Jewel like cranberries provide a pop of colour to sticky sausages.  The glow of the embers in the fireplace, and the flickering light of candles in bell jars, that provide a pretty glow to the room.

Even carols are full of colour to me, as the reasonance of voices singing in harmony lift our souls in unison.

Even Baby Jesus was surrounded by colour - Gold, Frankinsene and Muir.  

Christmas colour comes not just from the wonders of the decorations, or the food.  It comes from being surrounded by family and friends.  People who colour our lives.  It comes from laughter, and sharing.  Giving and receiving.  Singing and storytelling.  

Christmas Colour - I love it in all its forms, and shapes - I antipicate it with great excitement every year.

What are your favourite Christmas Colours?

This Friday I am linking up with The Gyspy Mama, and Five Minute Friday - head over there and share your Five minutes.

That's it for now.

Nics

Salt and Sparkle = Life Remarkable

Salt and Sparkle = Life Remarkable

  

Life can get pretty humdrum. And, it is not even a case of us letting it become that way; it sorta just slips up on us without point or notice.  We get swept away in the suds of a pile of laundry, or a rack of dirty dishes, and before we know it our lives seem flat. Routine. Colourless. They have lost their flavour and shine. And we wonder, will we ever get them back?

In essence when life gets like that all it really needs is a touch of seasoning - a little salt, and a pinch of sparkle to bring back colour, depth and joy.  It never fails to amaze me how the smallest amount of seasoning can change our perspectives from grey to Technicolor. The tiniest tweaks often have the greatest effect.  A little bit of seasoning, a little bit of shine … and things don't look so bad.  

And, the wonderful thing is that all life is extraordinary – whether we are all feelin’ it or not.  Life is full of surprises, and wonders that if we stop for a moment and let them, will literally take our breath away.   These moments for me are the 'salt and sparkle', the flavour, the seasoning, and the colour - the moments that we carry as memories.

With Spring dancing in front of our eyes; the world a light with new life and colour - I don't think could there be a better time to introduce you to Salt and Sparkle?

I hope my thoughts in words, pictures and recipes noted in this brand new blog will bring both salt and sparkle to your life.

There’s nothing quite like the smell of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies to bring a hint of sparkle to anyone’s day, so in this my first ever blog post, I feel it is only fitting that I share my favourite cookie recipe with you.  A recipe that yields perfect cookies every time – crunchy and chewy, and oh so chocolately all at once - Hope you enjoy them.

What a great day Saltandsparkle  has become a reality, no longer a dream!  I am excited and I hope you are too.  So let me welcome you here, to my new blog, thank you for stopping by, and tell you that, I really can't wait to get to know you.

That’s it for today, looking forward to hearing from you ... 

Nics

Salt and Sparkle = Life Remarkable