Of gifts and thoughts

Today the sun is shining, the snow has finally disappeared. After a few days of horrendous roads full of layers of packed ice and snow it is a pleasure to be able to travel. We managed to get to our friends and family for Christmas Day all be it at 3rd gear or less. We enjoyed ourselves very much and came home yesterday morning.
Today we decided to go into the park and see how the creatures were doing after all the bad weather. This picture is almost spring like isn't it?
Mr Mog with his bag of goodies for the birds and squirrels. No snow as you can see.
Indeed here you can see all the new buds sprouting.
But as you can see the park still had lots of snow.
Some paths were too dangerous to go on.
We received some lovely thoughtful presents.
This set from DD, she loves sheep and thought we might like these. Can you see the black sheep tea cosy?
The following gifts were from Mr Mog.
2 new books to journal in, the rainbow one very apt as you will see:)
The box on top was from our friend's mother where we go for Christmas. She is currently in New Zealand with her son and his family. Apparently it is the hottest Christmas they have had there.
Her daughter, gave us the lovely chest of drawers you see beneath the box. M always picks gorgeous gifts for us. The picture is a little shaky but isn't it gorgeous?
Mr Mog gave me these batts from Laal Bear's shop. They are called moon nights and have glittery silver strands in the middle. I will really love spinning this up. It comprises merino, trilobal nylon, alpaca silk.
Then the piece de resistance. Just look what he asked our friend Sue to create for me. Can you read the quote? Live your life in full colour. Very apt as I love colour very much:)
I hope you all had a peaceful joyous time with family and friends.

In praise of creative friends

This post is all about friends and their creativity specifically one friend:)
As many of you know i have the most fantastically creative Calligrapher friend Pixie Sue.
Despite being registered blind Sue creates the most inspiring work. We went to visit her today and just look what she made for us:)
The pictures don't show the subtle glitter on the canvas. It radiates an aura of well being and yes calm:)Sue is the most incredible artist, I love her canvases and her books.
I feel so honoured to own this piece. Thank you Sue.

We had a gorgeous drive over to Sues, misty and a little wet for part of the journey but coming back over Bowes Moor and the A66 the skies were stunning. such rich fire colours across the horizon and when the dragons breath started to form it was magical. I love that period at dusk, the twilight when you see things differently. Shapes form and disappear if you gaze at the hillsides. Not if you are the one driving I hasten to add.
So all in all a delightful day with very good company:)

Of visits to pixies

We went to visit a pixie, not in the woods but still a magical trip for all that:)
This pixie had cats, 4 of them although we only managed to photograph 3 because 1 was very shy.

She is a very sunny pixie as is her friend. As you can see Mr Mog was very pleased to see her once more:)
She loves the colour purple as you can tell by her clothes and by the door of her studio.
Her cats made us very welcome, this one spent most of the evening cuddled up to Mr Mog and purring. The ginger and the white ones also took their turn with us both.
Don't you love the way her tongue is peeping out? Do you think she has found something to eat?
Pixies are always glad to see friends.
I love meeting up with the pixie ,she is so creative and inspiring . Although partially sighted she does the most fabulous calligraphy work as well as being a bookbinder. Not easy skills even if you had perfect sight, let alone limited visibility. I've commissioned a piece of work from her but must admit that after visiting the studio I could have come home with loads more. I'll show you what I've ordered when it arrives.
This little one is called Sugar and was the sweetest little cat who thrived on cuddles. She is a grand old lady now but still sprightly when a cuddle is in the offing. We stayed overnight with Pixie and could have stayed longer. It is 3 years since we last met at camp but it seemed like only yesterday. We do speak on the phone but it is so much better when you can meet up with like minded friends. Conversation just picks up from where you last were.
The journey there was a delight. We travelled across the Yorkshire Dales. There were lots of animals to see and Diana if you are listening I have a post full of barns to put up , probably tomorrow:) The lambs were all sizes, they varied from almost full grown on the lower slopes to a few days old as we climbed higher.
There were also lots of different cattle, here you see belted galloways. We also saw a herd of Jersey cattle but there was nowhere to stop so no pictures I'm afraid. I love Jersey cattle, so beautiful and such rich milk and cream.
Lush growth of grass and trees and strange flowers.
We were never far from water on the journey and here you see a typical Dales stream running over pebbles.
Hope you enjoyed your visit to the pixie and yoiur trip through the Dales.