It feels appropriate to acknowledge that this day and night combine  the Snow Full Moon and the festival  known as Imbolc, which in the northern hemisphere marks the  point of mid winter, halfway between the Winter Solstice and the Spring (vernal) Equinox.

The sun emerges through the clouds on this cool Winter Solstice morning, appearing fragile but present. Until I awoke today I had no clear intention regarding how I might mark this space of stillness, before the wheel of the season shifts and  turns back towards longer days.

Who would have thought that a wet windy afternoon spent cosy indoors, writing Christmas cards would have felt so significant?

Sun rising  this morning, over a light covering of snow. The past few days have brought a change in wind direction and the first raw nip of approaching Winter. Customers have come into our shop and most of us have  commented, nodding sagely, that snow is coming, exactly as is expected at this time of year.

I have always loved Autumn and her glorious colours as the season softens the brightness of the sun, and shifts down into a more introspective time of the year.

Following a hot dry Summer, it seems to me that Autumn has crept in quietly - gently settling into and over the landscape.

I went out today with the intention of foraging water mint which grows wild beside the burn.