Winter Light

Twelfth night means taking down the decorations, and although I have not known why, I have always kept to this custom out of superstition-it being unlucky to leave them up. In the same way I never eat off of two plates, one on top of the other, and don't put umbrellas up indoors. I have tried to get over my fear of the broken mirror as there have been a few of those! My Nan was the one that taught me the few superstitions I can't shake, and it makes me remember her by remembering them. Anyway, waffle aside, I have just found out why I should take down the decorations. It is to release the tree spirits that you were protecting from the cold midwinter when you brought them indoors in December. They will cause mischief if kept in the house ( I already have Cassie for that), and will not be able to release spring from the grip of winter. All found out here. There is also a celebration on Bankside near the Globe theatre where a holly man comes out of the Thames. (He is a version of the green man) He looks most impressive!

Although the decorations have gone and Christmas is over, it is still dark, so light and sparkle are welcome sights.

A beautiful girl with sparkly red lips and a rose in her hair, all the way from sunny South Africa. Thank you Anairam!

Beautiful feather (found on the playground yesterday), shimmering in candle light.
A frog Prince's castle is also his crown, with little lights glimmering around and about.

Lastly, a view of the nursery playground today. It has rained steadily all day and this afternoon was too wet even to go out with our hoods up and ride the bikes. So we have to stay under the terribly leaky old shelter and play with the trains, sand and water painting (these children can't get enough of water!) This morning as I was writing post-it observations my pen was smudging with the rain drops. From this, Grace, Brooklyn and I decided to make rain pictures on more post-its. Simple things can be such fun! The rain is included in this post on light as it shines!