Merry Christmas everyone!

No sprout about it – a witty Christmas card from my friend and council co-worker Sue, sold by Morrisons in aid of Clic Sargent, Young Lives v Cancer (https://www.younglivesvscancer.org.uk/)

It’s rather a sorry year for Christmas cards – with the UK postal workers’ strike I am still expecting to receive quite a few more greetings long after the festive period ends…

But as usual I have chosen my favourites from those that have arrived and include the charities’ website addresses where the cards were sold for their benefit…

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Merry Christmas everyone!

This is my favourite from the cards I sent out this Christmas – I don’t know why I tend to choose a hare image every time! It’s Winter Garden – Hare – by Deva Evans for the RSPB https://www.rspb.org.uk

After another depressing year living with Covid let’s try to take some cheer from the Christmas cards we have received…

Again the cards seem a bit subdued, but maybe that’s just my mood. Anyway, here are some of the designs that caught my eye. As usual, click on the image to go to the source, especially if it’s a charity.

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Merry Christmas everyone!

Moonlit Owl by Kirsty R Walker for the Alzheimer’s Society

After a relentlessly dismal 2020 it’s time to sit back and admire all the Christmas cards we have received.

Last Christmas I was expecting an imminent hip replacement for my husband but the Covid pandemic put paid to his operation date in March, at the last minute. He has been in agony and shuffling with a Zimmer frame for months but finally had the hip replacement last week – and he came home to me on Christmas Eve a much more cheerful man! So we hope “things can only get better” as long as we can avoid the dreaded virus.

Is it just me or did Christmas cards seem a bit subdued this year? Anyway, here are just some of the designs that caught my eye. As usual, click on the image to go to the source if it’s a charity.

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Merry Christmas everyone!

One of the cards I sent out this year, from the RSPB – Moon Gazing Hare by Judith Yates – I’m not sure why hares have become Christmas symbols…

After a hectic 2019 at work – and a year dogged by my husband’s ill health, from meningitis to his imminent hip replacement (we hope), it’s time to sit back and admire all the Christmas cards we have received. Here are just a few of the designs that caught my eye. As usual, click on the image to go to the source – mostly charities.

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Merry Christmas everyone!

Top Hat Snowman (and robin) Christmas card for St Benedict’s Hospice and Centre for Specialist Palliative Care in Sunderland – click on the image to go to the charity’s website

After a hectic few weeks writing Christmas cards and letters and buying gifts, it’s time to sit back and admire all the cards we have received this year. Here are just a few of the designs that caught my eye. As usual, click on the image to go to the source – mostly charities.

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Merry Christmas everyone!

This was one of the RSPB Christmas cards I sent out this year – it’s Twilight’s Keeper by Dawn Maciocia. Click on the image to go to the RSPB website…

After a hectic few weeks in my new job at County Hall and spending all my spare time writing Christmas cards and letters, it’s time to sit back and admire all the cards we have received this year. Here are just a few of the charity-card designs that caught my eye. As usual, click on the image to go to the source.

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Black cats for Halloween

Halloween cat by Alina Kurbiel

It will soon be Halloween. At this time of year in the past I have looked for images of Jack o’ lantern and Will o’ the wisp, owls, cauldrons and skulls. This time I decided to choose some images of black cats, believed by some to be witches’ “familiar spirits” or animal guides. Click on each image to find out more about the source.

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Merry Christmas everyone!

This was the main card I sent out to people this year, although thinking about it I’m not sure what makes it Christmassy – Moongazing Hares by Dawn Maciocia for the RSPB rspb.org.uk

As usual I wish you a Merry Christmas with some of my favourite designs from the cards I have received this year. They are all charity cards so click on the images to go to the charity websites.

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Merry Christmas everyone!

Art for Susan Hill’s story Can it be True? by Valerie Greeley and used on a card by Oxfam

As usual I wish you a Merry Christmas with some of my favourite card designs from those I have received this year. Click on the images to go either to the artist or the charity’s website.

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Happy New Year – and St David’s Day

Signs of Spring – crocuses in Bute Park, Cardiff, at the end of February, 2015

I wasn’t planning on posting today, until the husband asked “Why is February so short?” Had I never asked that myself? Anyway, I had to find out in a hurry, as the days were running out and today was going to be March 1, marked as our St David’s Day here in Wales.

The history of calendars is ever so complicated, so I don’t think for a minute that what I am about to say is “correct”, but it’s my interpretation of what I found online, including Wikipedia and various question-and-answer forums.

The main point

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