Quietness

Yesterday morning saw a glimmer of sunshine here, but instead of our traditional walk, my husband and I spent the morning clearing the garden. Not very festive, but we had our willow tree cut back a few weeks ago, but because of work and the weather, we hadn't been able to get out to tidy up the branches which were smothering the lawn. It was great to spend a few hours in the fresh air, working off that Christmas lunch and restoring some sort of order. 
When the clouds finally came down and the rain started, the light was already fading, so we came in to light the fire. There was a stillness in the house, after yesterday's socialising and festivities. The boys were watching movies and playing computer games, Perry was reading and snoozing, and I was playing around with my water colours and listening to music. I browsed through lots of my old 1940s gardening books to see if I could reproduce the illustrations myself. I couldn't, but I had fun trying. Then I opened my Angie Lewin book, Plants and Places, and spent an hour or so sketching seed heads and cow parsley. I was completely caught up in what I was doing, which doesn't happen very often, and it was absolutely lovely.