Smitten

Hello, it's nice to see you.  Thank you for calling in.  The Little Women and I are getting along famously and I shall tell you all about it when I have finished the first book. 

 

I wasn't born in Shropshire, in fact I didn't visit until I was in my twenties, but then I was immediately smitten and I have loved living here for a long time.  That first visit also took place on the first weekend of a December and I saw a lot of views like this one

 

 

 

and this one

Do you see why I was smitten?  When I discovered Blogland I searched for someone who writes about this place I love, but I couldn't find anybody who pressed the right buttons for me, and so one of the things I would like to do here is tell you about places and events you might like to visit, particularly if you are frugally-minded.  Is that OK with you?

 

Tomorrow, Saturday 6th December, there is a Christmas tree festival at Christ Church in Wellington from 10am till 3pm.  I have been for the last few years and delighted in the 30+ small trees made or decorated by local organisations.  They gleam and twinkle and represent their community, sometimes in surprising ways.  Best of all, this event is FREE!  There will be refreshments to buy and a raffle and probably some festive stalls, and if you are able to spare a pound or two to help them, please do so, but it's not compulsory.  They are a hard-up church, but the heating is wonderful and the welcome is equally warm.  As a taster, here is not one tree but a tiny forest of them, made by a local knitting group.  It's so sweet!  (I must declare a vested interest - my stitches are in there.)

 

Have a good weekend, see you soon.

 

Love, Mrs Tiggywinkle

 

A blog, a book, a beginning

Hello.  Thank you for dropping in.  I have thought about writing a blog for a long time and with a Significant Birthday next year, I thought I should take a deep breath and jump in.  Advent is about beginnings and so this feels like a good time to start.

 

I cannot remember a time when I didn't love reading.  As a child, I was never bored because I always had something to do: a book to read.  Thinking about it, it's not just reading that I love, it is also the books themselves, the pleasing weight of a small hardback in my hand, the delight of a colour plate, the smell of old paper, the sense of calm and satisfaction I used to feel on Saturday afternoons when I had arranged my books on my bedroom bookcase in alphabetical order of author's surname.  Yes!  When I was 14 years old my favourite author was Louisa May Allcott.  Little Women, Good Wives, Little Men, Jo's Boys, I acquired my copies at jumbles sales and school fairs and I loved them - perhaps it has something to do with the fact that I am also one of four sisters?   So I decided that to mark said Significant Birthday, I would read these books again, and I have begun today.

 

 

I was very surprised recently when The Mathematician told me that her favourite March sister is Amy.  Amy??  Who on earth likes Amy best?  She gently explained to me that like Amy, she is the youngest sister in the family and she assumed that Meg must surely be my favourite as I am the eldest sister in my family.  I had never thought of that.  I always believed Jo to be everyone's favourite March sister.  And so I am rereading the book from a new perspective.  Please drop in again and I'll let you know how I get on.

 

 

Love, Mrs Tiggywinkle