An Extended Season, Giving Extended Beauty

Winter in Aberdeenshire is simply stunning.

These photos were taken in December of last year.

The Mither Tap, as seen from Pittodrie Estate, is stunning at any time of the year, but the low winter sun adds to the already beautiful scene.

This was taken at lunchtime on December 14th, so you can see that the sun doesn't rise too highly in our sky during the winter months.

*      *      *

Niseach loves the snow. 

But when you throw a snowball and she excitedly runs for this ball, only for it to disappear, she appears somewhat perplexed at its disappearance.

*      *      *

This week, just as many were expecting Spring to, well, spring, our winter was extended. This past week has seen the weather pattern named The Beast from the East arrive in the UK. England ground to a halt - little pets - while here in the North, we simply savoured the beauty once again.

I took these photos yesterday from our front door. No, I wasn't venturing any further right then, though I thoroughly enjoyed a walk later in the day.

It was so peaceful and serene after the snow shower .....

...until Niseach arrived on the scene.

'Peaceful and serene' are not words that readily come to mind where Niseach is concerned.

*      *      *

Robins are always a delight, and we scattered seed here in our window basket to encourage this lovely fella to come visit often. He did, and we loved to see him every time.

(btw, the 'artwork' on the window panes is not grime or dirt, nor is it due to a lack of cleaning. This window sill is Niseach's favourite afternoon seat, and so the artwork is solely her doing. I knew y'all wanted to know that.)

*      *      *

The following two photos were taken today, March 2nd.

I guess the extended winter reminds us that there are times in our lives when we expect certain seasons of our lives to pass, but God has different plans.

Maybe we expected to be out of Winter and into Spring already, but God has extended our Winter season for another while.

He will move us into another season in His time. His timing is always perfect. And there is always beauty to be found just where He has placed us.

At times like these, all we can do is 

'wait on the Lord, be of good courage (Psalm 27:14), 

'be still and know that I am God (Psalm 46:10), and

'rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him' (Psalm 37:7)

The next season will come. Meanwhile, it is our delight to love Him, trust Him, rejoice in Him, and rest .... 

"Come unto Me all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

One day, all our earthly seasons will have passed, and if we are in Christ, we will be called Home to our eternal rest. There will be no spiritual winters in our eternal Home!

Guest Post ... from Niseach

I'm going to give you a glimpse into a couple of days in my life this past week ....

I woke up on Thursday morning to this.

And I thought Christmas had come early this year.

I could hardly believe it, because this white stuff had been on the ground a wee while back, but Calum was telling me that winter was pretty much gone, and now that the days are getting longer, we will soon be able to spend pretty much all day outside playing football.

Well, I love playing in the snow, except for one thing: it goes into clumps on my fur and when I try to take the clumps off, I hurt myself. The amazing thing is that when I come inside, and mammy wraps a towel around me, these clumps of snow all go and I'm just a wee bit wet.

I can't wait until mum begins homeschooling me and I'll get to learn why all this stuff happens.

Once I've been dried off a wee bit, I curl up in my corner for a snooze. Mammy always makes sure I'm cozy, and I don't push the blanket off me because I know she likes me to look cozy.

(Calum is teaching me how to make Mum feel good when she wraps us up and gives us loads to eat. Calum is a real pro at this making-Mum-feel-good stuff.)

He's also a real pro at going outside for a kick-about without me. 

When he does that, I jump up onto the window sill and put on my cutest, poutiest face.

And I wait for him to pity me enough to let me out to play ball with him.

I wait, and wait ...

And then I realise that he prefers playing football without me.

I'd almost fall out with him except for this ....

He takes me to the top of the world ...

I mean the actual top of the world ...

Or maybe it was another world altogether. Wherever it was, it was the best walk I've ever had.

Hope y'all enjoyed that wee insight into my life here in Aberdeenshire. Mum and Calum are always talking about how beautiful it all is. I'm sure it is, but I'm just happy being with them. 

Such Beauty

I took a wee wander round about here the other day, and can't resist showing you some photos from my wee walk.

I love love love the sight of bales. It's probably my favourite scene in all the world.

Well, except for the sun setting on the Atlantic. And except for my kids' faces. And maybe even except for dogs.

But apart from that, fields of round bales are my favourite scene.

It was around three o'clock, so the sun was beginning to lower in the sky. That always makes for gorgeously soft hues (though this photo is dressed up too :) ).

It was so peaceful. So totally and utterly mind-renewingly peaceful.

Everywhere I looked made my heart sing. At times like these, I forget I'm Scottish. A Highlander. Reformed. Presbyterian. A Niseach, for crying out loud ... and the Charismatic part of my soul gains the upper hand.

Except silently, so I guess I remain truly Scottish, and truly Presbyterian. No shouting, no dancing, no hands in the air. But in my soul.... they're all happening.

Such total and utter beauty, and I sing:

When through the woods and forest glades I wander

And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees;

When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur

And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze:

And then the jaw-dropping beauty of the creation is overtaken with thoughts of the Creator.

And when I think that God, His Son not sparing,

Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;

That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing,

He bled and died to take away my sin:

When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation

And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart!

Then I shall bow in humble adoration,

And there proclaim, my God, how great Thou art!

And how can I not sing aloud:

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee:

How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee:

How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

...because He truly is great. Great above measure.

A New Morning Walk

Those of you with good memories and who used to read the blog when we lived in treeless-looking-onto-the-Atlantic Ness may remember a post from way back showing photos of my early morning walk. The post can be seen here, but I'll post a photo from that post - just one - to give you some idea of the contrast between the beauty that surrounded me then and the beauty that surrounds me now.

What do you see? Well, there's a whole lot of sky; a whole lot of flat land; and not a tree in sight. 

But that was then, and this is now:

See how different my surrounding countryside is! Amazingly fertile farmland in the distance, some very green grass on which cows were grazing last week, and trees.

If you join me on my walk, you'll see there are lots and lots of trees.

Here I am heading down the hillside, and facing East. To a great extent, the direction matters not, because the sky is hidden by trees. The surrounding countryside is hidden by trees.

Have I mentioned trees? Yes, I've now walked East, North, and am now heading West. As I said ... the direction matters little: we have trees.

But just as I begin to think there is nothing left in the world but trees. Just as I begin to feel I need to breathe, I get a glimpse of the stunningly open farmland beyond the forest.

And I feel like I can breathe. And I am aware of  a spontaneous smile on my face.

And sky! Blue, open, spacious, wide sky. 

I could almost dance! 

I look behind me at the trees, 

and look again to the north-west. I savour every open mile to which my eyes can stretch. I drink it in because I know that very soon,

instead of open spaces, instead of farmed fields, and hints of distant mountains ...

instead of the glorious patchwork of growth, of planting, and of harvest ...

I will soon be walking under an umbrella of trees.

The sun is hidden, the views have gone,

and all I have is greenery and shadows.

If anything shows how much of a Niseach I am at heart, it's my reaction to all the trees that surround us here. Now, don't get me wrong - I love trees ... when they're at a distance. But I can't get my head around why people choose to live in houses surrounded by beautiful countryside which is hidden from view by trees!

I'm quite sure when the good ol' folks planted all these trees long, long ago, they did not mean for us all to spend our lives hidden away, out of sight of the beauty. I'm sure they'd tell us, if they could, to cut them down. Loads of them ... just chop them down, folks!

You see, I'm from Lewis - specifically from Ness, and we don't really do trees there. We like to look out our windows and see. Far. 

Remember when I used to look out our windows and see the crofts, the machair, and then the Atlantic all the way to the horizon. I was used to space.

And much as I love - and I really do love - the scenery around here, I have decided that if and when we end up building a home out here, my first criteria will be that our plot is not surrounded by trees. 

And just before we leave this post, and head back to our daily work, just one more glimpse at another scene I captured on that morning walk all that time ago:

How's that for eye-candy, eh?