Saturday

It was around about this time last year that Steve Middleton began contributing to this blog and what an amazing contribution he's made with his various observations and intriguing images. So, a big THANKS STEVE and happy one year blog anniversary! I have to admit that sometimes I approach the blog and have absolutely no idea what to write. The minutia of life, which is something we all experience just doesn't seem to be enough to inspire extensive explanation and yet this  is mostly the measure of our day ~ our routines, the things we must undertake in order to survive. I always think that it's other people who have exciting lives; I certainly don't. But I ask myself do I really crave excitement and what is it that I might consider exciting? As I sit here writing this, dust on my computer table, the uneven stack of paper on the left side and my 2011 diary on the right side, scrawled notes, a reminder to myself that I need to purchase a new one for 2012, I know that it will be the everyday that will dominate next year. Sometimes for me the most exciting experience is feeling healthy and content. However, as I think about it all, it's also those things that remain constant and predictable that are important. Like this time last year I have begun to harvest beetroot growing in my vegetable patch. Today or tomorrow I'll make Borscht and I'll have that tell tale bright red dye from its flesh on my fingers whilst making the soup. The magpies, born in early August only visit occasionally to eat the bread that I leave most days. Next year they will most probably visit with their new babies. It's 8 sleeps until Christmas day and then not long after that a new year to ponder.