The beauty of winter...

"The beauty of winter is that it makes you appreciate spring."
-L.M. Montgomery
Sara Stanley in The Story Girl

Read more quotes by L.M. Montgomery.

Image credit:
Photograph by World of Anne Shirley.

Purchase and read The Story Girl and The Golden Road:



Created May 28, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

A Prince Edward Island Christmas: Nowadays and Long Ago

A Prince Edward Island Christmas: Nowadays and Long Ago is a book that was written by Deirdre Kessler featuring photos by Wayne Barrett and Anne MacKay. It was published by Nimbus Publishing in 2003.

Years ago, my husband and I traveled to Prince Edward Island for our honeymoon, and we stayed at the Elmwood Heritage Inn in Charlottetown. When we left for Summerside, we were given this book as a gift by the owners of the Elmwood. Once in a while, I like to flip through the book and remember my visit to the Island. I still haven't made it back to PEI, and I'd love to visit again during the winter.

The book is divided into four main sections: (1) The Setting, which describes the island in the winter and at Christmas, (2) Good Things to Eat, which features traditional Island recipes, (3) From the Past, which shares Island customs and traditions, including Lebanese, Acadian, and Mi’kmaq influences, and has a section on L.M. Montgomery and Christmas, and (4) Entertainments, which includes information on concerts and gift giving.

The back cover describes the book as follows:

"Perhaps because islands are naturally protected from the mainstream of life, the traditions that enriched the lives of the first arrivals endure. On Prince Edward Island, family, community and economic life still reflect traditional customs and values, especially during the most celebrated holiday - Christmas. Behind the glamour of Christmas lights, the search for the perfect Christmas tree, Christmas concerts and home-made gifts, skating on outdoor rinks and sticky-raisin fruitcakes create the age-old feeling of joy and expectation.

In this charming reflection of then and now, award-winning author Deirdre Kessler and acclaimed photographers Wayne Barrett and Anne MacKay team up to create a lasting reminder of old-fashioned Christmas."


Image credit:
Photograph of A Prince Edward Island Christmas: Nowadays and Long Ago book cover by World of Anne Shirley.

Created May 6, 2024. Last updated June 5, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

And then came March

"And then came March, with its mad, galloping winds..."
-L.M. Montgomery
Pat of Silver Bush

Read more quotes by L.M. Montgomery.

Image credit:
Photograph by World of Anne Shirley.

Purchase and read the Pat of Silver Bush series:

Created March 1, 2024. Last updated April 19, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

a diamond winter day in February

"It was a diamond winter day in February—clear, cold, hard, brilliant."
-L.M. Montgomery
The Golden Road

Read more quotes by L.M. Montgomery.

Image credit:
Photograph by World of Anne Shirley.

Purchase and read The Story Girl and The Golden Road:



Created February 1, 2024. Last updated April 19, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

the January winds whined

"After Christmas the snow went away and the January winds whined over cold, hard-frozen pastures and through grey, cold trees."
-L.M. Montgomery
Pat of Silver Bush

Read more quotes by L.M. Montgomery.

Image credit:
Photograph by World of Anne Shirley.

Purchase and read the Pat of Silver Bush series:



Created January 18, 2024. Last updated April 19, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

January so far has been a month of cold gray days

"January 28th.

January so far has been a month of cold gray days, with an occasional storm whirling across the harbor and filling Spook's Lane with drifts. But last night we had a silver thaw and today the sun shone."
-L.M. Montgomery
Anne Shirley in Anne of Windy Poplars

Read more quotes by L.M. Montgomery.

Image credit:
Photograph by World of Anne Shirley.

Purchase and read Anne of Windy Poplars and the Anne of Green Gables series:



Created January 28, 2023. Last updated April 19, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

The Winter Wind by L.M. Montgomery

In January 1904, L.M. Montgomery published the poem "The Winter Wind" in The Farm Journal, a journal devoted to the farm, orchard, garden, poultry and household economy. The journal's motto was "Practical not Fancy Farming."

Here is a digitized image of the poem scanned from microfilm available at Archive.org:


Here is the full text of the poem:

THE WINTER WIND
BY L. M. MONTGOMERY

I am the gladdest of winds that blow
Though I come from the realms of ice and snow.

I waken the notes of the pine tree lyres
When the sunset kindles its crimson fires.

I dance over meadows and valleys white
In the sparkling frost of a winter night.

I croon a song that is low and sweet
When the dawn creeps out on her silver feet.

I nip and pinch with a right good will
The children’s cheeks on the coasting hill.

I sting to action the hearts of those
I meet on my way from the Northland snows.

Laughter rings when I whistle by,
For a right good, rollicking wind am I.


Reference:
Montgomery, L.M. (1904, January). The Winter Wind. The Farm Journal. 28(1): 1. Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/sim_farm-journal_1904-01_28_1/mode/2up

Created November 12, 2022.
© worldofanneshirley.com

I hate this war...

"'I hate this war,' said Rilla bitterly, as she gazed out into the maple grove that was a chill glory of pink and gold in the winter sunset."
-L.M. Montgomery
Rilla of Ingleside

Read more quotes by L.M. Montgomery.

Image credit:
Photograph by World of Anne Shirley.

Purchase and read Rilla of Ingleside and the Anne of Green Gables series:



Created March 11, 2022. Last updated April 19, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

Christmas with Anne and Other Holiday Stories

Christmas with Anne and Other Holiday Stories is a collection of 16 stories by L.M. Montgomery that were gathered and rediscovered by Rea Wilmshurst and published in 1995. Two stories are Christmas chapters from the Anne of Green Gables series, and the other 14 stories are Christmas and New Year stories written by L.M.Montgomery for magazines. The titles of the stories contained in this volume and their original publication dates are listed below:

Matthew Insists on Puffed Sleeves (from Anne of Green Gables, 1908)
Christmas at Red Butte (1909)
The End of the Young Family Feud (1907)
Aunt Cyrilla's Christmas Basket (1903?)
The Osborne's Christmas (1903)
The Unforgotten One (1906)
Clorinda's Gifts (1906)
Katherine Brooke Comes to Green Gables (from Anne of Windy Poplars, 1934)
A Christmas Mistake (1899)
A Christmas Surprise at Enderly Road (1905)
The Falsoms' Christmas Dinner (1906)
A Christmas Inspiration (1901?)
The Josephs' Christmas (1902)
Uncle Richard's New Year Dinner (1910)
Ida's New Year Cake (1905)
Bertie's New Year (1905)

Purchase and read Christmas with Anne and Other Holiday Stories:



Created December 27, 2002. Last updated April 26, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com