On the Feast of the Holy Family, Part I

All the Christmases roll down toward the two-tongued sea, like a cold and headlong moon bundling down the sky that was our street; and they stop at the rim of the ice-edged, fish-freezing waves, and I plunge my hands in the snow and bring out whatever I can find. 

In goes my hand into that wool-white bell-tongued ball of holidays resting at the rim of the carol-singing sea. . .

-- Dylan Thomas, A Child's Christmas in Wales

When I read this passage to John about the abundance of snow in an idyllic childhood paradise, he asked "Where in Wales did Dylan Thomas grow up?  It snows here, like, one day a year."

Hiraeth, John, hiraeth.  ;)

It did, however, shed perpetual rain upon us like the end times on both Christmas and Boxing Day.  The two days there are no public transport.  We went nearly feral with stir-craziness.  Thank goodness things cleared up enough on Sunday to pack up quick as could be and shuttle off to Bangor.  I took Afon out for an extended walk over the straits to Anglesey and Church Island.

It didn't seem longer or farther than our custom of walking into Colwyn Bay from Old Colwyn, but it's taken me two days to recover.  My muscles are sore and my joints are aching and I've slept and slept almost incessantly since then.

These are all the photos I've developed for now.

#7QT: Windsdays

Tuesday was warm and windy.  I brought Afon to school but got off on the wrong bus stop.  Never mind.  We had a walk with a beautiful view of bay from way up in Llysfaen.

Did you see our Martinmas?  I also finished Roan's mittens!

I feel myself turning toward winter preparations, but I'm not sure what that means.  I don't have any livestock to slaughter or grain to stow away.  But living in Wales where the seasons are felt is stimulating me to be busy before I hibernate.  This must be what animals feel!

What do you do to prepare for the deep of winter, those of you who live in cold climes?

Maybe because we jumped right out of the sauna into the season. Here are the photos from the very, very hot Halloween in Florida:

Each year, we go to the home of long-time friends of ours in town, who are innkeepers.  I only took Roan around to the trunk-or-treating at the church around the corner, and then we came back to hand out candy to trick-or-treaters.

Now skipping forward in true consumer fashion, I'm thinking . . . Christmas presents?  Probably all going to be homemade this year.  But I am the worst worst worst at keeping to a timely schedule.  Should I start now?  I guess I answered my own question.

I think list-making is order.

BUT before Christmas, in the heart of Advent, we will be moving to new accommodation!  This is all good, with a side of inconvenient, but once we are settled at a permanent address, we can apply for my immigration.  Of course, then I'll have to leave the country again. . .

We've actually been made two offers.  The person in charge of house placement interviewed John a few weeks ago and liked him so much that she wanted to give him the choice of a larger and nicer accommodation.  Though this second one is not immediately across from Morrison's (boo!), I'm withholding judgement until we see them both.

Prayers being answered, two months late, but twice as good.  So there you go.

Roan did end up having hand, foot, and mouth disease, but I can tell he's on the mend because he's sleeping much better.  Poor babe!

And those are my quick takes!

Linking up with Kelly for Seven Quick Takes Friday.

Leafscapes

We returned to Wales on the 6th, and I was delighted to find many paper-yellow leaves still clinging to the trees.  It's been pretty warm for November, and that probably has something to do with it.

I don't like to say the exact time and date of travel because of Safety On the Internet 101, and I'm sorry I didn't get to see all the people I had intended to when I was Stateside.  I did come to "work," and I put a lot of time and effort into pictures.  Then family and furniture packing took up the rest of my time.  We might be back for Christmas.  It depends on if I can bring Afon.

Some holiday-makers stayed at the inn down the road this weekend, and we heard firecrackers going off and saw the flash of fireworks on Friday and Saturday.  I'm assuming they were Bonfire Day celebrations, and it was courteous of them to wait 'til the weekend.

I ordered a few bars of beeswax from Amazon, and my hope is to collect some of the autumn leaves on a dry day and make a wax leaf garland out of them.  I don't have a crock pot, but a disposable roasting pan will do just as well.

Mid-October Notes

We're halfway through the month already.  Looking back at my goals and commitments at the first of the month, I wish I could say I was wrong about faltering from my spiritual and fasting goals. Well.  October is my favorite month.  The seasonal foods and celebrations are a constant temptation for me.  Even though it's Ordinary Time, the secular world is gearing up for Hallowtide and harvest, and I'm a glutton for anything flavored with pumpkin.

These pictures were from the Scarecrow Festival and the Florida Pioneer Museum last weekend.  It was a last-minute drop-by, and we stayed for a very short while because I was sure my British baby was boiling away in the sun.  The heat was suppressing.  This weekend was less hot as we browsed the Rattlesnake Festival after Saturday morning confession.

We're returning to Wales in November, and now that I've finished my photographs for September's wedding, I feel a buzzing anxiety to get back to John and Afon, even though when I get there, there won't be much for me to do.  Afon is in school full-time now.  Roan still isn't crawling.  We don't know anyone, really, and extra-curricular activities and community ties are approximately zero.

We're still in the two-bedroom, second-story apartment without minimal household items--the majority of my things are still packed away, and I'm not sure when we will be able to ship them over.  But when I have them, I know I will finally be able to feel like I'm home.  It's not that things, per se, make me happy--but that my things, having something of my own, something to call mine, and a way to personalize my environment, mark my territory so to speak--is what I'm really looking forward to after nearly two years of feeling vagrant.

How is your month turning out?