Interlude

 

It happens to me every year....the day after Christmas I am ready for a party, a celebration, finally just kick off my shoes and relax and let the festivities begin....

Now that the highly charged atmosphere of the last two days has subsided, the cooking, cleaning and wrapping done, I am ready for fun....

When I find myself alone for a bit, I sink into a favourite chair, and just enjoy the transformation our homes and surroundings take on for a few weeks every year.... 

Count my blessings and my many gifts....both tangible and not so....

...a beautiful ex voto with my initials, and a heavenly lavender sachet from a dear friend from afar...

...the soft magic of candle light which seems so different this time of year...

....remembering dear loved ones.....

.....special memories, from a few short months ago, like this ex voto, found at the flea market in Arezzo, with the initial M topped by a small crown....making for a perfect Christmas ornament.

.....savouring the beautiful white Christmas amarylis, which will bloom for weeks after it opens....

 

....getting lost in all the fresh greenery, inside and out, since we are blessed this year with a warm, green Christmas....

....reindeer moss or as it is sometimes called, frosty fern.....

....never enough greenery for me.....

....and at the end of my own little celebration... time out for a sip of port and some torrone, Italian nougat, and a bite of luscious ricotta cookie...

I am happy with my own little winter interlude....

...also the perfect time to thank the visitors to my blog, I appreciate every one of you, and two very special blogging friends, Trish from Trouvais, and Jermaine from French Kissed who have inspired me more than they shall every know...many heartfelt thanks.

N.xoxoxox