Ahhh...The Cottage Life!

Hours of happy times with friends and family 
Abundant time for relaxation
Prosperity
Plenty of love when you need it the most
Youthful excitement at life's simple pleasures

Nights of restful slumber (you know - don't worry be happy)
Everything you need and most of what you want
Wishing you love and light

Years and years of good health
Enjoyment and mirth
Angels to watch over you
Remembrances of a happy year!

Under clear frosty nights in winter soft ice crystals might form on vegetation or any object that has been chilled below freezing point by radiation cooling. This deposit of ice crystals is known as hoar frost and may sometimes be so thick that it might look like snow. The interlocking ice crystals become attached to branches of trees, leafs, hedgerows and grass blades and are one of the most prominent features of a typical 'winter wonderland' day. However, the fine 'feathers', 'needles' and 'spines' might also be found on any other object that is exposed to supersaturated air below freezing temperature.

I have always loved ice fishing. I thought I would look around and see what I could see on that subject and came up with this video from You tube. It made me laugh! It is a good idea to put on a sweater before you watch this! Canadians are not usually this crazy but obviously some are! The maker of the film and one of the swimmers said "We shot the video at Kukagami Lake.
The people are just your average everyday Northern Canadian."

Watery Wednesday

December 21 2009 is Winter solstice. Today is the longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. Today even the sun stands momentarily still in the sky!

Great God of the Sun,

I welcome Your return.

May You shine brightly upon the Goddess;

May You shine brightly upon the Earth,

scattering seeds and fertilizing the land.

All blessings upon You,

Reborn One of the Sun!

Know that you are Blessed.

The word solstice literally means "sun standing still". At the moment of the winter solstice the path of the sun in the sky  over the last six months has reached it's furthest southern position and now turns northwards! At noon today the sun will stand directly overhead at latitude 23.5 South, Tropic of Capricorn. In the southern hemisphere it will be longest day of the year, but for us in the Northern hemisphere the day will be the shortest. But on  the bright side, the day after the winter solstice marks the beginning of lengthening days leading up to summer solstice!

Since ancient times people have celebrated winter solstice with religious and cultural traditions. The Winter Solstice was important to our ancestors as a marker for the beginning of a new solar year and that spring was going to come again. When Christian priests started to work their way across Europe, spreading the word of their new religion, they found everywhere firmly entrenched celebrations of the solstices and equinoxes. They were smart enough to realize that these festivals, which they saw, often wrongly as being pagan, were too well established and popular to dislodge, so they simply rededicated them to celebrations of the most important Christian events. The Winter Solstice became Christmas, and we now know the Spring Equinox as Easter. The original connection is evident in the name Easter, which comes from Aeostre, the name of a goddess of spring. The differences between the dates of the solstices and equinoxes compared with those of the modern celebrations come from various adjustments in the calendar.

Massive prehistoric monuments such as Ireland's New Grange tomb are aligned to to capture the light at the moment of the winter solstice sunrise. It is perhaps the most famous of the 250 passage tombs in Ireland. It covers an area of one acre, and has an internal passage that is almost 60 feet (19 m) long. The tomb has been dated at about 3,200 BCE; it is one of the oldest structures in the world. At Maeshowe, (Orkneys, Scotland) there is a chambered cairn built on a leveled area with a surrounding bank and ditch. It has been carbon dated at 2750 BCE. Inside the cairn is a stone structure with a long entry tunnel. The structure is aligned so that sunlight can shine along the entry passage into the interior of the megalith, and illuminate the back of the structure. This happens at sunrise at and near the winter solstice.
Germanic peoples of Northern Europe honored the winter solstice with Yule festivities.  In the fourth century, before the Romans became Christian, they were Pagans who, on Dec. 25 during the winter solstice, celebrated the Feast of the Unconquered Suns, or Sol Envictus, to honour the sun's return and the days becoming longer.The Romans also celebrated Saturnalia, a week long feast included the winter solstice. It was called "Alban Arthuan" by the ancient Druids. It is the end of month of the Elder Tree and the start of the month of the Birch. The three days before Yule is a magical time. This is the time of the Serpent Days or transformation...The Elder and Birch stand at the entrance to Annwn or Celtic underworld where all life was formed. Like several other myths they guard the entrance to the underworld. This is the time the Sun God journey's through the underworld to learn the secrets of death and life. And bring out those souls to be reincarnated.
Neopaganism is a group of religions which are attempting re-creations of ancient Pagan religions. Of these, Wicca is the most common; it is loosely based on ancient Celtic beliefs and practices. The winter solstice sabbat is often called Yule. It is a time for introspection, and planning for the future. 

This morning was a little warmer at -12C. It was 6:45 am and I was waiting for the Olympic torch to run through my town, Georgetown. I never had an opportunity to witness this before. I was not going to miss this one.

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That was my skies for today. To see more skies from around the world got to Scenic Sundayhttp://scenicsunday.blogspot.com/!

Watery Wednesday
I spent many days traveling for the last company I worked for. One trip I made several times a year was over to Bellville, Ontario. Bellville is right on Lake Ontario and they have an amazing water front.
Belleville is located at the mouth of the Moira River on the  Bay of Quinte (Part of Lake Ontario) in southeastern Ontario. They have done a lot of work at the water front and there is a great walk way for a couple of miles with lots of parkland and wildlife to see. Sir McKenzie Bowell, Canada's 5th Prime Minister was born here. This town turns out great hockey players too! The Hulls, Bobby, Bret and Dennis were all from Bellville.This is where Avril Lavigne was born and grew up in nearby Napanee and many other talented people both in sports and the arts.

There is such a wonderful feeling when I see a small glimpse of the wildlife right in my back yard. This handsome young buck was feeding off the frozen apples under the tree. It was a very misty day and they seem to feel protected in that kind of weather and will travel out into the  open more. I had to take these through my kitchen window or he would have been spooked. He is a young buck with small antlers, three points, but he was a big-un! He fed for awhile and finally , just before dark set in, wandered back into the bush.

Every time I have seen deer in the back yard it has been a good omen. I wonder what this one will bring?

Scenic Sunday
It is a rainy day, freezing rain to be exact! We get a few days like this every year so I pulled a couple  from the archives of the after effects of a  freezing rain day. I am not going anywhere, have a fire going and a book to read.

For more great posts and  Scenic Sundays!

SkyWatch Friday
We finally were hammered with winter and the snow hasn't stopped for three days. The high winds and extremely low temperatures (-19C) have made the roads treacherous with white outs and drifting snow. Police have been warning people to stay off the roads and many a hapless driver have found themselves in a road side ditch. In the north it has been declared a snow emergency and up 100cm is expected there.

Through all this, it is still impossible to refute the beauty when a storm pauses for a brief moment. The sky opens to a blue only known against against a a snow ridden landscape. For awhile, I was in the Winter Wonderland.

Watery Wednesday
I love this day. Warm and cozy inside while there is a blizzard outside! They haven't even plowed the road yet and it is already 10:00 am! In the last hour there has been over 2 inches of snow for a total of 7 inches. Little Chick-a-dees seem to love this weather and are are fluttering all around sending out their distinctive call, chick-a-dee-dee-dee!

SkyWatch Friday

We had the best November weather wise that we have had for many years. Not to much rain , above seasonal temperatures and most importantly, no snow. Now in December we have had only rain! Huge rainclouds and rain pelting down leaving little mini river-lets.

The sky was very dark this day. Rain had come in droves for s few hours.

Skywatch Friday Blog site has the most beautiful skies from all corners of the world . Go and have a visit!