The last days of 2018....and surprised by Grace and Woodpeckers

Some random pictures from the last days of 2018. 

My Christmas tree...

coconut kisses and little Maltese almond cookies....

the base of my red onion, chestnut and lemon thyme tart tatin for the Christmas Day table...

 silver shimmering mud...

 black headed gulls....

and a sweet intrepid cyclist exploring the estuary banks in Plymstock....

hide and seek.

Sunrise

from my bedroom window...

bird table visitor...

he is never far away.

Birthdays

 - spectacular star pandoro  cake made by my clever niece... 

another sunrise

to bless my baking....

and more intrepid cycling.

 Walking up the hill on the last day of the year.... 

and my first sighting of a female chaffinch perched on the edge of the bird bath.

 My bird visitors have been getting me through these dark days.

Today - another first.

 This morning I get up from the kitchen table, where I'm writing emails, to fill the kettle at the sink and my heart jumps in my chest when I catch sight of the black and red markings of a woodpecker creeping up the post of the bird table. He is so big compared to the little birds who usually visit. I watch in wonder as he swings over to the ring of fat balls and starts to peck at one with his sharp pecking beak. I dare not move.

 As suddenly as he came, he swoops away and I don't take my eyes off him as he lands on the trunk of the huge European Ash tree by the stream.  I grab my camera and zoom in. I can hear him peck pecking even though the closed window.

I feel as if I've witnessed a kind of miracle...to have been there at the very moment he flew in when I was distracted and thinking about something else... just for those seconds .. to see such a creature, such beauty, so briefly. Such an unexpected gift.

Later I finish taking down the Christmas decorations.... unhooking the  little tinted glass angels from the artificial white tree of lights...putting them back in the box for next year...no, for the end of this year. 

The idea of a whole year ahead is too big a mouthful to swallow. So for now I'm taking small bites out of each  day...just pecking holes in the hours...making lists in my new Bullet Journal...letting myself follow the  tangents as they lead me off piste...so I find myself washing my sheepskin rug in the bath, finding the perfect place for my lovely 'plenty and grace' terracotta plaque...finding the nails and the hammer.

And being willing to be surprised by Grace.....and woodpeckers.