Happy New Year To all my friends, family and followers. I am sitting here in my 1848 house, experiencing winter a la Jane Austen (though warmer as we have new storm windows and radiators that she did not have). It is winter full bore with my hearth and heart warm, head filled with possibilities and hopes for the next year. This is the richest part of the New Year as a new childhood rife with ideas and what could happen, stretches out in front of me--filled with promise and opportunities ready to explored and harvested. This is the time to hunker down and think big thoughts, sleep the deep ermine sleep and plan for novelty, for change, for hope, and for the time we have to live.

May your New Year be filled with hope, love and surrounded by the wonders that friends, family and faith can bring you. Peace to you and yours.