red sled
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on her sled
~
~
from the window
I watch her
she is one red mitten, lost
on the path, smitten
by the four-footed track
of a wild rabbit
hurrying home
or the toe of a red
shoe, peeks from under
the hem of a white
crinoline, a cardinal launches
from one tree, snow-laden
to another
~
~
Copyright. 2015 Jane Tims
sounds in my space
How would you describe the space where you spend most of your time? Is it cold or warm? Spacious or cramped? Colorful or monochromatic?
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What does your space sound like? Is it noisy or quiet? Do you play music in the background, or do you prefer the white noise of everyday life?
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In my home, where I spend most of my time, the sounds are so familiar, I hardly hear them anymore. As I sit here, if I listen carefully, I can hear:
- the ticking of the clock
- the hum of the computer
- the purring of the refrigerator
- a car passing by on the road outside
- chickadees at the feeder just beyond the window
- the rumble of the well water pump in the basement
- two branches in our big maple, rubbing together in the slightest wind
- the creaking of floor boards – the house is almost 35 years old and the living room floorboards squeak
- our cat Zoë, galloping from room to room upstairs – how can 7 pounds of cat sound like a herd of elephants?
- the sound of our string of livestock bells, a remnant of Christmas not yet put away, as someone opens the outside door
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What sounds do you hear, in the space where you are?
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Copyright 2015 Jane Tims
in winters past
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Cold here. Last week we reached a low of -25 (degrees Centigrade). As I watched the weather statistics I saw that the record for coldest weather for the day had been in 1973. The date whisked me back to my first winter in university. I barely recall those days, but I do remember hurrying back and forth across campus from class to class and the brown scarf I knit that year to keep my face from freezing.
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To remember other cold weather, I just look at the winter garland of children’s socks and mitts strung across our chimney.
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The red socks and little blue mittens hanging there were knit by my grandmother almost sixty years ago. We would have worn them on many bitter days spent in the cold Alberta winter. I remember my Mom wrapping our heads with multiple wool scarves, held in place by safety pins (long before the days of fleece and high performance fibres).
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The green glove on the line warps me forward in time to the 1980’s when my son was in elementary school and the three-fingered Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were all the rage. I knit three-fingered gloves for him for three winters, as fast as they were lost. The single green glove on the chimney line is the only one that has survived.
–
When the days and nights are cold, I still knit. Today, I knit socks to keep me warm both during the knitting and the wearing.
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Cold weather? Bring it on! I have knitting needles and a skein of yarn!
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Copyright 2015 Jane Tims
small green world
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As I gradually put away my Christmas decorations, I am a little sad about disassembling the vignettes I created – a group of carolers skating on a mirror pond, a serene stable scene, a lighted Christmas village.
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To see me through the rest of winter I have created another small world in a glass cloche, a moss and lichen garden under glass. I picked the moss before the first December snow and it has done well for a month. The moss leaves are bright and there is new growth on some of the lichen tips. The terrarium even has its own little climate and ‘weather’ – days when the glass is clear and dry, and days when the glass is foggy and you can see a faint mist among the mosses.
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I love the ‘green-ness’ of this miniature world. Green mosses, sheltered by the green leaves of my Lipstick Vine (Aeschynanthus lobbianus) and guarded by my green, four-clawed Chinese dragon. Green candles.
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While the world outside is cold and white, I have this tiny green world to remind me – spring is only weeks away.
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Copyright 2015 Jane Tims
goodbye to the snow
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We have had a thick layer of snow for the last few days. But today, Christmas Eve, the rain is coming. The snow will disappear.
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No matter. Green or white, Christmas is Christmas. I can hardly wait.
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Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays.
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Copyright 2014 Jane Tims
snow across the landscape
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end of day
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new-feathered, the valley
a black and white wing
stretches from horizon
the beat encloses
clouds and winter sky
field under snow, the back
of a settling dove
a lone skier presses
towards shelter, and
amber streak of sky
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Copyright 2014 Jane Tims
new layer of snow
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Snow is gradually building on every horizontal surface. I love the contrast between umber bark and bright snow. If this layer of snow will only stay, the temperatures will seem warmer and the walking less slippery. And the movements of small creatures in our woods will be less ephemeral, better understood.
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tracks in the snow
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Copyright 2014 Jane Tims
Elf on the Shelf
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My Elf on the Shelf has been with me since the 1960s. For many years, she stayed in a back corner in a bag with the other stuffed folk. Then, last year, I learned about the new popularity of the Elf on the Shelf.
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Now, she has a place of honour among my Christmas decorations .. or should I say places? Each day, she pops up in a new place, to make her own commentary on the Christmas season!
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Elf on the Shelf reading her Christmas books …
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Elf on the Shelf is shy but she tries to sing with the other carolers …
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Elf on the Shelf dreams of a white Christmas …
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Copyright 2014 Jane Tims
the worry in weather
On Tuesday afternoon, Mr. Snowman waited on our back deck for the Nor’easter to begin …
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We are coming to the end of the rains associated with this week’s storm, a Nor’easter that brought snow, ice pellets, sleet and a lot of rain. In our area, we had about 45 mm of rain, but some parts of the province had over 100 mm.
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Many people in New Brunswick are coping with flooded basements as a result of all the rain. After our flooded basement experience in 2010, I spent the last couple of days in worry – hoping our drainage issues are fixed and making endless trips to the basement to make sure we had no water on the floor.
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Today I am grateful – we had no problems with flooding. Our space is safe and we are warm and dry.
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Last night, on the back deck in the dark, after all the rain, Mr. Snowman lay on his back. The rain took most of the snow but he is still smiling. He knows more snow will come!
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Copyright 2014 Jane Tims
green flame
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In the afternoon, on a sunny day, the light from the stained glass window in our stairwell finds a place on the wall of our living room. For a few moments, blues, reds and greens create a gorgeous splash of colour. Yesterday afternoon, the spotlight settled behind the curtained door to the library. And a green flame shimmered among the folds of fabric, a reminder of the greenery slumbering out in the yard, beneath the snow.
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Copyright 2014 Jane Tims
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