In the bleak mid winter, frosty wind made moan
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone
Another earworm for you this week, as I work my way through favourite Christmas carols! Although today is anything but bleak, with the sun finally appearing to reassure me that it hasn’t abandoned us after all. 😃 And with this clearer weather our temperatures are set to drop well below zero for several days, so the earth certainly will be hard as iron.
After a brief walk out into the woods this morning, I came back with a bucketful of greenery to distribute around the house.
It was lovely in the woods.
I wished I could reach that big ball of mistletoe at the top of this fir tree… can you see it? 😉
So this is my ‘vase’ for today, as I join Cathy at Rambling in the Garden for her Monday meme.
I was so pleased I could find a few berries to decorate it with: Pyracantha from the garden and Euonymus from the hedges.
And the silvery seedhead is perhaps the last of the Queen Ann’s Lace.
Have a lovely week and stay nice and warm if you are in a cold climate like me! ❄️☀️
Words and Herbs 
That is a very creative arrangement. I really like the tiny ornaments on the small vase of greens. Perfect for a small area or a nightstand.
Thank you. The little vase is great as a table decoration…. just leftover odds and ends stuck in a vase with some tiny baubles. 😉
Simplicity and elegance. Love the multi-colored adornments you chose. Have a happy week!
Thanks Susie! 😃
Your woods look blissful. Love your arrangement, the berries are so colourful. Enjoy that precious sun, we are due some tomorrow 🤞
There was no warmth in today’s sun, but it still did me good to see it! 😃
So pretty! Enjoy your holidays. Definitely bleak and grey here – but at least it’s not precipitaing on us.
Thank you. I should love a white Christmas, but I somehow think it will not happen – again!
Pretty Christmas decorations, Cathy. I love the smell of fresh evergreens brought into the house. Hope your holiday week is splendid! Stay warm and cosy. 🙂
Thanks Eliza. 😃
So beautiful! Merry Christmas you you and yous!
Thanks Aletta! And to you!
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How wonderful to have woods nearby to walk in! I’m sure those fresh greens smell great, as well as looking beautiful on the table. Best wishes for a happy Christmas, Cathy!
Thanks Kris. Have a wonderful Christmas!
Oh this is lovely Cathy – and isn’t that euonymus pretty?! Shame about the mistletoe… I very belatedly made a wreath for our front door yesterday, this year without any holly berries as they had all gone!
And we have hardly any berries left either. I was hoping some mistletoe might be in a tree that came down in the autumn, but no such luck!
Wonderful and classic holiday arrangement. I love fir, spruce and hemlock cuttings for the holidays – and the trees (I have a tiny tabletop Frasier Fir) Your woods are fantastic, something I miss – too far south. I enjoyed seeing the woods, what type of fir is the overstory? I don’t know that carol..reject the bleak. The solstice is upon us. Happy Holidays!
Thanks Amy! The greenery I used for decorations is Spruce, and the photo of the tree with the mistletoe is Pine.
Cool.. what kind of pines??I am a tree fan?
They are what we call Scots Pine – Pinus sylvestris.
Thank you, there are a lot of those in the Eastern US, north of here, planted as screening plants and called Scotch Pines. Sometimes cut for Christmas trees, not too pretty that way to me!
but what is that delightful evergreen foliage? It looks like a fir to me, but could it be spruce? Is that big fir a dominant species there?
The foliage is spruce, and the tree pictured is pine. They grow all over the place in this part of Bavaria – planted for the lumber industry but not doing well after several drought years.
Oh, I should have guessed that. The needles seem to be stout, and not so ‘two-ranked’ (on either side of the stem).
Cathy, this is such a lovely arrangement, and the little one with the baubles so cute. Happy Christmas.
Thank you Noelle. And to you. 😃
So beautiful! Maybe you could send the drone up with secateurs…how are you getting on with it? Been meaning to ask for ages 😉
Haha! I haven’t dared send the drone up in the woods yet. (See the telephone line in that photo too?!) In fact I haven’t practised much at all… I am not technically minded and do not have a laptop any more, only an ipad, so getting my head around editing, saving and storing videos is a bit of a nightmare. Günter has bought himself one too, for flying over our woods to check for damaged trees. (He didn’t want to risk crashing mine!) So he will help me work things out. Do you need to register yours in France? They changed the regulations here last spring. By the way, watched your latest video last night on YouTube and loved it. Really atmospheric. 😃 👍
Once you get the hang of it you’ll love it, it changes your perspective, truly magical. Should be no problem to edit on the ipad. I‘m not a computer geek and have managed fine😁
A beautiful wreath Cathy. How fortunate you are to have to have all that greenery on your doorstep 😄
I suppose we take it for granted, having so much woodland around us. I do love walking in the woods in the winter though.
It is such a nice idea to be able to wander out into the woods from your door. I am slightly jealous (East Anglia is not known for it’s forests and woods!! 🤣 ). I’ll live vicariously through your post. Happy Christmas, Cathy!
There is, however, nothing quite like an English forest! Our woods are mostly evergreens here, with their own charm admittedly. Happy Christmas Allison!