Let there be light!

November has flown by, barely time to catch my breath. I love this time of year tho, starting with bonfire night, then my birthday. I'm fortunate in having lots of lovely friends, and am still basking in the golden glow of all your birthday wishes. No dirth of prezzies either, this bowl was one of my faves, brought from Kalamata in Greece by Kate, along with a lemon from her garden.

We somehow had to fit in a trip to Wales, to sweep up the leaves and put the garden to bed for the winter. Not that this is a chore, I love being in the garden and find constant inspiration in the changing seasons. Over the past few months, with my broken wrist, the garden was in need of a healthy dose of tlc, so it felt good to be able to give it just that - I'm always amazed at how quickly you can knock things into shape.

When we got here a few days ago it was pitch black and ab-sol-ute-ly freeeeeeeeeeeeezing! So all systems go to get the heating on, Rayburn lit, wood stove burning and some leek and potato soup in the pot for later.

The house is made of stone so always takes a while to heat up, so while we still had the hot glow that comes from being on the outside of two hearty bowls of soup, we decided fill a few hot-water bottles and have an early night.

Woke up to the most gorgeous morning - clear blue sky, pale wintry sun making the frosted plants sparkle like diamonds. I dashed out to look at the garden, then realised I couldn't take any pictures as I'd left the lead for my phone in York and i-cloud only works when it pleases here... arrrgh! So I consoled myself by picking the last few hydrangeas to bring indoors. I love it when they decide it's their last chance to stay alive and put down roots into the jug, so you get the bonus of having new plants too.

I can never manage for very long without being able to take pics, so a mercy dash to Aberystwyth to get a lead was high on my priority list.

Back by coffee time to witness the amazing light being cast around the kitchen by the crystals at the windows. The rainbows they create always cheer me up, but at this time of year when the sun is at a very low angle, they're at their very best, so you can imagine my delight to have my phone up and running again to capture them.

Last night was even colder - we had a delicious supper with our dear friends Toej and Wyck and on the way back the temperature was -2 and falling.  We thought nothing of it that Django wasn't here on our return as both cats often go out hunting at night. We went off to bed, thankful for a lovely evening and that the house was warming up at last.

Another glorious morning - I opened the window and took this shot as I was getting up, then got so excited by the light across the garden that I went straight out in my pyjams to take a few more.

At this point it hadn't occurred to me that I still hadn't seen Django, but on coming in to feed the cats I realised that Arlo was still on his own. I reckoned Django would be back soon as he rarely misses a meal, so wasn't too bothered by his extended absence.

After breakfast I got sidetracked by this wonderful little rose, newly planted this year, that was not only blooming but also had the intention of continuing with many more buds.

Where are you Django?

By coffee time tho I was getting really worried about Django's no-show (altho if you follow this blog, you'll no doubt realise it's not unusual for him to disappear). Our house is about half a mile from the next house, so I rang the neighbours to see if they'd seen him or whether he'd got locked in one of their sheds, as has happened before with Django. No luck. I then searched house and garden along with Arlo, before driving up to our other closest neighbour, only to find out they hadn't seen him either.

Come out, come out, wherever you are

This is no fun now Django, please come back!

I give up, see you at teatime

So it's now 24 hours since we saw him and we've done everything we can to find him. I can't bear to think he might be injured somewhere but know that he'd come home if he could, so this is not likely. We'll just have to wait with everything crossed, hoping he turns up this evening.

Latest news on Django: A couple of hours after I posted this, Django swanned in through the cat flap looking a bit bedraggled, but completely unfazed and looking for his dinner.  No idea where he's been for the past day, but he's now had an extra large meal and is fast asleep in front of the wood stove dreaming of his travels.