Festive things

Hiya again
Do I repeat myself when I say that dawn and sunrise are spectacular here? I don't care. It's true.The community here is vibrant. Almost everywhere I go now I meet someone I know through some other connection. Marvellous!
Last Saturday, I attended a workshop on making festive decorations from entirely natural "ingredients". Our tutor was Pip Weaser, who is a true artist in basket making. Sadly, her entry does not do justice to her fabulous creations -- baskets with a difference, baskets that sport a crown of willow catkins, for example, or that "sprout" fir cones. But I digress ever so slightly.
So we were in this absolutely arctic village hall about twenty minutes south of Oban, picking and choosing from a huge selection of twigs and switches and dried flowers and rushes and reeds and branches smooth and prickly, straight and with any number of kinks in them -- amazing.
And this is what came out -- only two of the following pieces are my creation; all the others were devised, crafted, created by my fellow tutees: several women, one man, a handful of extremely well-behaved children. What a pleasure!
Guess what the above represents?
She is the creator not only of the beautifully egg-shaped Madonna, but also of this leggy Rudolph.
Some participants took a rather less structured approach:The object of the season is, of course, the wreath.
As the above "model" shows, the simple ring shape can easily be "exploded". This reminds me of a cornucopia, a symbol of plenty. The next is a kind of "Catherine wheel":And then there's the more traditional version but again in an original incarnation:And an almost bridal version, not to be displayed out of doors:And another take on the beautifully floral theme -- I could almost begin to love hydrangeas...
Fishy-wishies wriggled in and out of their pond, another lovely wreath:Some of the youngsters created reindeer from several strips of orange willow. Sadly, the reindeer all made their escape before I had time to record them for the general public.
Stars, of course, also came to us ...... in the guise of a comet (above), a wild and woolly star, ...... and a starburst:
And because this is the season of long nights, people light them up in all manner of ways. I have yet to explore the umpteen spectacular (kitsch?) displays of fairy-light-strewn gardens and buildings but here's one of the much-loved trees in town:Yes, the fuzziness is deliberate; the nearly full moon was an extra bonus. :)

Peace -- the world needs it more than ever.
PS: Just because I scarcely mention it, I don't live in ignorance of what's been happening in the world...

A harvest of light...

Hello again
The "far north" has a bad rap among people living further south. Well, if the following images can't redress that imbalance a wee bit...
We've had a couple of glorious days here in Oban and on the West Coast. Freezing cold, though (and I understand road conditions up and down the coast have been rather hairy. As I try to live a car-free life, it has not affected me but some of my friends have had to deal with the aftermath of accidents -- luckily only in the form of delays, detours, missed appointments, meetings and such).
Saturday saw me out and about, casting my "net" for some light-filled images. Here's my catch of the day:

Click on the photos above to see the snow-dusted hills and mountains to the north of Oban.

It was a still day, very peaceful out along the north shore of Oban, with the water lapping lazily about the bladderwrack exposed by the low tide.
Later I cycled up the glen to capture the last rays of the sun. I missed them, but the afterglow was just as stunning, and well in keeping with my mood:
Finally, nature's art:
See you again very soon, I hope.