This year has gone by so quickly that I find it hard to believe 2012 is just around the corner! Given that next year is going to be a big one for me (I turn 40, am getting married and hope to move house) I suspect it will also whizz past – which is all the more reason to start the year with a month of slowing down and paying attention.
Regular blog readers will know that I have previously participated in the wonderful ‘river of stones’ project and I am going to do so again in January 2012. You can find out more about writing small stones over at Kaspa and Fiona’s lovely blog, so why not take a deep breath, slow down, look around you, notice something in detail and join me in writing it down each day?
My January 2012 small stones will appear below 
1 January 2012
Raindrops dance on a concrete slab, slapping the newly-shined surface in glistening circles
2 January 2012
Morning sun bathes sand in gentle amber. The shore is a slab of caramel, frosted in foam and dusted with the footprints of gulls.
3 January 2012
There’s a silver sheen on the old slate tiles as they bounce back stark, white light.
4 January 2012
Red berries caught in the glow of an orange street lamp, a patch of warmth in the slippery, wet street.
5 January 2012
Wind gusts round an old, ragged wall. The sound of a curtain slapping in the breeze, then an engine, and then thunder.
6 January 2012
Hunkered down in soft sheets with the weight of a quilt above, the bed becomes a boat and we float, lightly into the night.
7 January 2012
Winter jasmine throws yellow stars through tangled, twisted stems.
8 January 2012
Trees outlined against a chalk white sky. Their limbs reach out to shelter those beneath. Nature’s cathedrals.
9 January 2012
As I clean I feel the textures of our home, arrange our treasures, clear our spaces, and give thanks.
10 January 2012
Ater a day of grey an amber glow lights up the valley, lining bricks and branches with golden thread.
11 January 2012
Morning clouds flushed with pink, like rose petals resting on the horizon.
12 January 2012
The rain lingers in dips and hollows. Shining silver spots on a battered country road.
13 January 2012
Soft clay rolls out between my fingers. Bright colours blend and are shaped into beads with patterns like moonscapes or wild flowers.
14 January 2012
The moon shines over frosted fields even as the pale sun rises. Layers of blue, yellow and white behind the stark outline of the trees.
15 January 2012
A scattering of shoes across a busy road. One Timberland boot stands proud, a purple heel teeters, and a child’s shoe sits quiet. Fragments of a family.
16 January 2012
Tea steams in a handmade mug. Pale, biscuit-coloured liquid warms my throat as my hand strokes the rough china surface and I taste the tang of leaves.
17 January 2012
I lay still beneath my blanket and close my eyes. Cars whoosh by, people chatter, footsteps ring out, but I smile, let the sound wash over me, and rest.
18 January 2012
Sauce bubbles and steams as its colour deepens. A fragrant mist rises, scent of Italy on a sunny day.
19 January 2012
Dramatic sky unfolds, rolls over the hillside. White, grey, black roiling.
20 January 2012
A sudden shower hits, drenching the earth and playing percussion on the window. I stop, and listen.
21 January 2012
White plastic furled around scaffolding, sways, slaps and ripples like an impatient canvas ready to set sail.
22 January 2012
A candle lit in winter hearth pulls you in to its circle of light, encouraging cozy contemplation and a rest.
23 January 2012
Pine scent in the oil burner, draws me in to a mossy forest, knee-deep in ferns.
24 January 2012
Rather than lose myself in the blanked-out sky I look down, and focus on the shiny green of leaves, newly-washed by rain.
25 January 2012
Fingers bash away at keys, forming words, moving, deleting. I press ‘send’ and a weight is lifted.
26 January 2012
The old stone church sits solid on a hill. The wind whistles round its walls but the stones convey their stories in silence.
27 January 2012
Hot water supports as it cleanses, relaxes as it heals. A blessing denied to many.
28 January 2012
I reach down to ruffle my godsons hair as he curls up in my lap, a ball of trust and giggles.
29 January 2012
A man in a smart grey jumper carries a bunch of bright pink roses, carefully selected to say what?
30 January 2012
Layers of paint build a picture of our home, of our lives, shortly to be on sale.
31 January 2012
A month of moments, all precious, noted, appreciated, preserved.
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This is a beautiful collection of stones, Claire. Delighted to have found your blog and look forward to reading the stones to come.
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Wow, these are great. 15 Jan really created an evocative image as I read it.
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