lazy winter days

[Roadtripping up to see my person's family after we picked up his parent's surprise birthday present - a puppy!]

 [The changing views from our car window - mountains rising high, rolling green fields, others shorn golden yellows and rich oranges from harvest, thick forests with swiftly flowing rivers, orchards bare of fruit - their branches swaying in the wind, tractors rumbling alongside the winding roads, sheep with playful lambs dotting the countryside, cattle grazing, a lone hawk soaring far above, watching the clouds get dark and heavy, driving through the falling rain...]

[A warm puppy asleep on my lap after stopping for the most delicious homebaked pies at a roadside farm stall in a small village - flaky, buttery pastry, filled with yummy goodness, sipping hot coffees and nibbling on little treats taking shelter under an abandoned gas station, rain dripping and dripping down...]

[Everyone has fallen in love with this adorable, playfully naughty, tiny puppy - and he loves his new family!]

[Our lazy days have been filled with taking "Tigger" for walks, sleeping blissfully late, cuddling up, warm in bed, bundled under blankets with books and a sleeping Tigs, becoming obsessed with Star Wars, making dinner for the family, laughing around the breakfast table eating flapjacks with syrup and bacon, listening to "Moonlight Sonata" as the rain quietly falls on an icy winter's evening, eating toffees, driving late at night to go and buy our favourite sweets and then eating them all on the way home, wandering the mall hand-in-hand looking at glittering diamonds, the dreams of the future becoming a tender reality*]

 [Lying together on the grass in the fading sunshine, admiring God's glorious creation and the beautiful sunsets]

 [Dancing in the firelight, swirling and twirling, happiness bursting forth - thank-you Lord!]

Simply wonderful.

Today has been wonderful. I feel secretly guilty for having spent the entire day in bed. Reading, watching the pages fly by, chapters pass, the story progress. Laying my head on my pillow and sinking down deeper into my soft blankets, sleeping whenever the desire seizes me, wisps of dreams coming and go, shadows replacing the sunshine streaming through my open window. Cuddling up next to my person, quietly amazed at him and his love over and over again, drinking foamy hot chocolate, eating ice-cream. A complete break from the endless hours of studying, the stress, the pain, the exhaustion. A peaceful, reviving, simply wonderful day :)