Cheers...

The Bloomsgrove Bunch has been busy with seasonal merriment...

...cooking & baking

...family skating

...wishing

  ...waiting

 ...anticipating

...fun

  ...frolic

 ...and good cheer!

Season's Greetings to you and yours!

St. Nicholas...

St. Nicholas, origin unknown

We'll be visiting St. Nicholas this evening

alongside friends and colleagues.

Seeing the littlest ones with St. Nick always grows

my heart by at least two sizes.

Things that go "pop"...

1895 Engraving via bananastrudel @ etsy

...pine cones.

Remember this when you have them as decor in your office and you are trying to have serious teachable moments with distractable adolescents.

Wrapping...

Box and Shadow, Philip Guson 1978

...wrapping, wrapping, wrapping.

Viewpoint...

Upon discovering a significant difference in perspective from one of my wee people, I often will ask them, "What colour is the sky in your world?".

I was downloading some images from my daughter's tech toys and discovered this one:


Landscape, #2 age 11, 2011

I think her world is a happy one.

Helping Hands...

A bit of fragrance always clings

 to the hand that gives roses. Chinese proverb

Discovery...

Glitter (strike when the iron is hot), Darlene Cole 2006

Allowing oneself to wander every once in a while

can lead to important self-discovery.

"All that is gold does not glitter;

not all those that wander are lost."

JRR Tolkien

Not Snow...

...but beautiful this morning nonetheless.

Snow!

January Fields, H Stooshinoff  via Paintbox

Morning smile...

via Etsy

Blue Christmas... (not the Elvis kind)

Design for a Christmas Card: Blue and Purple Tree
L.L. FitzGerald 1924

Strength...

The Sword, Alfred-Pierre Agache 1896

Vintage sparkle...

Mercury glass garland via Etsy

...sparks desire.

I think this wants to come to my house for Christmas.

Random thoughts...

Sometimes my mind wanders - no bounces - from one thought to another with no apparent relevance to anything that I am actually meant to be doing.
Yesterday, being the 1st of December, I recalled (perhaps incorrectly) that Hans Christian Andersen published his first fairy tales on that date in 1835... that led to thoughts of the moral underpinnings of fairy tales and, simultaneously, the caricature-like physical traits of HC himself...

Which led to recollecting Arthur Rackham's illustrations for many, many tales and fables (love his illustrations)...

Then a thought leap to seasonal moral tales such as Dickens' A Christmas Carol and, though much lesser known, The Chimes...

And finally, thoughts of this season of giving and the responsibility that we all have to improve the human condition, offer hope and extend empathy. I wonder if Hans Christian Andersen imagined that his life's work would impact the thoughts of those so many generations away from his time?