1 EAGLETON NOTES: A Christmas Catch-up

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Thursday 24 December 2020

A Christmas Catch-up

The shortest day and longest night have come and gone. We can now look forward to more light in the evenings and less getting out of bed when it's still pitch black. We are in the third day of meteorological Winter. It will be the 20 March before Spring is upon us. And yet there is something rather magical about one's increasingly positive outlook on life once the days start getting longer. I appreciate that many of you may not be living in a place where the hours of daylight at this time of year are little more than 6 but, for those of us who are, believe me every extra minute added to daylight counts.

Of course, if you are in the Southern Hemisphere your Spring is over officially and you are entering summer. It's at moments like this that I get very homesick for my New Zealand life. Of course I accept that it's over and I can't realistically travel there again but it is still emotionally very hard at times.  With Covid rampant in so much of the world I wouldn't be travelling anyway. 

In many ways this is all eclipsed by the Covid restrictions but, at the moment, we in the Scottish Outer Islands are, I think, less restricted than anywhere else in the UK and Northern Ireland. That will change on Boxing Day when we will have more restrictions because of the new variant. However our cafes and shops can still open. 

This year I made a Christmas card to send to all my friends and family. In 1969/70 there was a national exhibition at Liverpool's Walker Art Gallery of paintings by amateur painters. I liked one enough to buy it. It's a winter scene and I recently thought that I would use it for my Christmas card. It takes a bit of doing but can you see what the fox is looking at? I think it was that tiny spark of humour which so endeared me to the artist.


Wishing you a 

Happy Christmas.

I hope that the New Year brings 

you good health, contentment,

 and a happy heart.

Graham

38 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thank you, Jules. Your cranberry sauce went down well.

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  2. Have a good day. All I can see is a fox looking at some trees. It can't be new glasses time again.

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    1. Adrian, I've posted the solution this morning.

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  3. I think I spy a pair of ears poking up from behind the rocks (tree roots?). It's a lovely painting. Hope your Christmas is happy and 2021 sees you in good health.

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    1. Hi Fran. You are absolutely correct. Thank you for your good wishes.

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  4. I think I spy a pair of ears poking up from behind the rocks (tree roots?). It's a lovely painting. Hope your Christmas is happy and 2021 sees you in good health.

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  5. Beautiful painting.
    Wishing you the very best Christmas and a happier 2021.
    Mxx

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  6. Thanks for sharing your gentle thoughts over the years. You selfless bloggers have really been a help to me this year and I do wish you the best for 2021. Lesley

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    1. Just to addd, is this the end of the year competition on the lines of 'spot the ball'? L.

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    2. Thank you so much Lesley. I'm so glad that we have been of some help. I do hope that you have a much improved year ahead. If I'd though about it earlier I might well have run a competition. Perhaps I'll be able to come up with something for next year.

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  7. It is a beautiful painting, and makes a beautiful Christmas card! Where in your home have you put it?
    Never having lived like you have, with two homes in very different parts of the world, I can only imagine how hard it must sometimes be when you have those moments of homesickness. I get them for Yorkshire, even though I have never lived there, but really love the area and feel almost as much at home there as here - and "here" means two homes already, my original one and O.K.'s village.
    Merry Christmas, Graham, and all the best for the New Year!

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    1. Thank you, Meike. It is in my living room on the right hand side of the door between that room and the hall. So I see it every time I walk out of the living room. On the other hand I move some of my paintings around occasionally so it could end up somewhere else when the mood takes me for the next move.

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  8. I think I can see the ears.
    Happy Christmas to you and wishing you a safe and healthy New Year x

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    1. Thank you, JayCee. I'm glad that things seem to have temporarily sorted themselves out for you. Good luck and less stress in 2021.

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  9. We have been appreciating the long days and are sorry to know they are shortening again- but such is the cycle of nature. It is your turn to enter that phase. Love the picture... does look,like rabbit ears /. Wishing you Happy Xmas and best wishes from way down under :)

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    1. Thank you very much Fiona. You are correct about the ears.

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  10. Merry Christmas to you, too, Graham.

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  11. Happy Christmas Graham. Yes, I love the fox. He looks extremely naughty. Many thanks for all your blog posts and for also supporting me and my blog throughout the year.

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    1. Thank you Rachel. You are very welcome and I'm glad that you liked the picture "ordinary" though it is.

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  12. The object of the fox's gaze eludes me, but the picture is quite exceptional. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, Graham.

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    1. Thank you, David. Solution posted this morning.

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  13. Happy Christmas Graham🎄
    Wishing you New Year full of good health and much happiness 🎉

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  14. Merry Christmas Graham. Sending you best wishes from cold (13 degrees this morning!) New Mexico. The painting is remarkable and I think I see the ears too.

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    1. Thank you, Jill. I love your irony. 13ºC is a warm summer day for us. For a second I though you might have meant ℉ (I believe the US still uses Fahrenheit)but New Mexico is too far South.

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  15. A very Merry Christmas Graham. You picture makes for a very good Christmas card.

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  16. My eyes must be getting worse, I can neither see ears nor any other prospective Fox lunch. Have a wonderful island Christmas. Cro.

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    1. Thank you, Cro. The solution has been posted this morning.

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  17. Best wishes back to you as well, Graham, for a Merry Christmas and the card is lovely even I too am among those who cannot see what the fox is so intently looking at...and I am wearing glasses too!

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    1. Thank you, Beatrice, the solution was posted a little while ago.

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  18. Morning Graham. Yes it's Summer here and everyone is relaxing, I can't imagine having winter at this time of year but it would be something to experience. Merry Christmas

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    1. Amy, for 10 years I got out of the cold winter Christmas habit too. I'm back to the cold. That's life.

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  19. I can see a hare up ahead. Its ears reveal its location. A lovely picture and it's easy to see why you were drawn to it. I hope you had a good Christmas Day with the echoes of so many Christmases past.

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    1. Thank you, Neil. I've just been reading your posts that I missed over the last few days. I hope all goes well with Ian (and, of course, everyone else too).

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