Ideas to make deep midwinter lovely ( or at least bearable)

[FoxRedLabbingtons]

I loved the ‘make autumn lovelier’ thread. But is there any hope for deep winter loveliness?

There was frost on my office windows this morning ( should’ve left a heater on over Christmas), dog walks are ankle deep in mud, all the chocolate is gone and it’s dark all day.

It’s lean picking for loveliness but here are my ideas:

I went to the church epiphany carol service this evening. A peaceful, candlelit hour. 2nd February is Candlemas- early pancake day!
Swimming with a quick jacuzzi dip once a week.
Actually lighting my posh candle. It’ll look it’s best on a grey afternoon.
Comfort food. DH is making boeuf a la daube this weekend.
Facing down the weather and enjoying beach walks and snowdrop rambles.
Spending my Christmas money on L’Occitaine bath foam.
Wintry books- Ghost stories. And comfort TV- maybe a bit of Scandi noir and This Farming Life.
Living vicariously through my best friend in Perth, who has been complaining all month about the terrible heat 🙄

Agree with bulbs and flowers. The Christmas decorations come down on Hogmanay here (also DH's birthday) and we usually go out for a good lunch after. New Year's Day I bring the hyacinths and paperwhites in, and a couple of bunches of daffodils.

A walk if it's not pouring or blowing a gale - there's still a surprising amount to see in a winter countryside. We've seen deer quite close up twice this week.

I love very clear skies in winter and take photos of tree silhouettes against a clear evening sky. The moon has been beautiful the last couple of nights - the barest eyelash curve, but so clear you could see the whole moon in shadow.

Cooking lovely (and time consuming) food, like a beef rendang or chicken cacciatore from scratch.

Crocheting a new blanket. Attic24 has a new CAL starting (might even be today).

Writing some lovely things to do in my brand new diary. Making lists - we're in the process of moving and there are many, many lovely lists to be made.

Our new house is near a cathedral city and I'm hoping we're moved in time to attend the Candlemas service, also looking forward to music in the cathedral.

Our wedding anniversary is Burns night so haggis and whisky usually appear in our anniversary supper.

Such a lovely thread! Thank you!
My Januaries are normally spent sorting out the house. Repairs, insurances, contracts etc. it’s also the month I renew parts of my wardrobe, because, sales! (I just bought a pair, I have a dog, wellies are essential, been struggling with a garden centre crappy pair for years).

It’s also the month I start my challenges for the year. Reading, with cups of tea and the dog, candle light, fairy lights…for me it’s a challenge to just sit. I do RED January, 30 min of exercise every day. Stop eating cake, that’s another challenge…

if we can’t make it in February, I’ve half a mind to brave the Highlands of Scotland . Has anyone been in February? Is it just too grey for a holiday or full of midwinter wonder?

We went to Skye February 2020 and it was bloody gorgeous. View from our front door.

'Maybe try Nigel Slater’s Christmas Chronicles too?'

Love Nigel Slater, loathe Christmas, so will give it a miss but thanks! actually I got his 'A Cook's Book' for my birthday in December and that's very comforting too

Loving this thread, thanks OP, so many great suggestions.
I’ve been inspired by articles about Norwegians and the winter mindset and the work of Kari Leibowtiz and have signed up for this event to find out more: continuingstudies.stanford.edu/wintertime-mindsets-webinar
Another wonderful book on the seasons is Light Rain Sometimes Falls by Lev Parikian.

I have been to the highlands in February

Once it poured - fascinating for the first day, but we didn't stay the full week

And once it snowed - all roads closed so trapped in accommodation . We followed a snow plough down the A9 when finally released

It's risky but can be glorious

If you get the weather, the Highlands in winter are beautiful, but the days are very short (in the middle of winter daylight is only really 9 - 3. If you can do a last minute trip you could wait for a good forecast and go

I do most of my photography in winter too, such beauty in stark trees against vivid sunrise, frost on the ground and mist hanging low over the horizon. Autumn and winter are my favourite seasons, so I spend as much time out on the moors or in the woods as I can. We're in Yorkshire, Haworth is just up the road from me so there's much natural beauty to be had! I love the dark mornings and evenings. I get up earlier in the colder months - it's an excuse to sit in the quiet kitchen, still pitch outside. I have my coffee, blanket draped around my shoulders and just the dogs and fairy lights for company before the DC get up and I remember I'm not in a Beontë novel

I generally start picking up my spring bulbs, mainly hyacinth and snowdrops, the last week in January, so they're in place and beginning to bloom in time for Imbolc.

@PennineWayinSlingbacks

if we can’t make it in February, I’ve half a mind to brave the Highlands of Scotland . Has anyone been in February? Is it just too grey for a holiday or full of midwinter wonder?

We went to Skye February 2020 and it was bloody gorgeous. View from our front door.

^ This

Cheap couple of months now for UK holidays. Find water, landscapes and big sky's. Go birdwatching and watch huge flocks of waders fly in at night to roost. Feel part of something bigger.

Lovely thread .@FoxRedLabbingtons have you any other wintry/ghost stories you could recommend ?

Such a lovely thread!

Some great suggestions - I will make the most of the part-baked baguettes before the Low Carb Bootcamp starts on the 17th

A few things that I haven’t seen listed yet:

Drink hot water with a slice of fresh ginger - it apparently boosts circulation. Can add a cinnamon stick and 1-2 cloves for extra wintry spice

Sheepskin insoles in wellies/ winter boots

Take a strong Vitamin D supplement every day (I take 5,000 IU)

Take the weather forecast with a pinch of salt and be prepared to go out for a short walk whenever you see some blue sky

Magnitude, we try and get to Somerset at some point every couple of winters to see the starling murmurations at Ham Walls. We go every afternoon of our stay and some mornings too and it is such an amazing experience. We used to live near Loch Leven and the arrival of the geese every year was a much anticipated event. I really miss not seeing the huge V's of geese flying overhead.

Once had a spectacularly clear night for the height of the geminid meteor shower and DH and I walked down to the loch at about 3am - it remains one of the standout memories of my life, sparkling frost, amazing stars and two or three meteors a minute across the sky.

Sorry, magnited

I have put the Christmas tree lights along the top of the kitchen cupboards and they look very twinkly and pretty. I think I will leave them up there permanently.

Our cleaner is coming for a double session today to deep clean, so the house will feel extra lovely and fresh tonight. Leaving me free to faff about lighting candles and folding throws.

Going for a Shellac manicure later and think I will choose a deep navy blue as it's deep Midwinter.

I'm drinking soup every day, and eating a lot of satsumas to boost my vitamin C.

My new favourite thing is to go on YouTube and find a lovely, cosy scene showing a crackling fireplace etc and have that on the TV screen.

I absolutely love the Bottle Green Spiced Berries cordial. You drink it hot and is absolutely delicious. It's what I've always assumed medieval hippocras tasted like.

So many lovely ideas 🥰
Ive had a good clear out so rooms are feeling much fresher, and I know what I have got now! I have one more cupboard of doom to clear!
Nice hot bubble baths when the DC go to bed, with a good book.
I've bought some new lounge wear so I can sit around feeling cosy but if I need to answer the door I don't look like I've only just got up!
Got a little house project on the go, always find that come the summer decorating is the last thing on my mind so like to get it all done in the colder months stops me from feeling bored having a little project to think about!!

I love these threads, the autumn one was great too. I've had the Wintering book on my Wishlist for ages so glad to hear it's good.

Completely agree with the PP who pointed out if you hate winter/January you're just wasting a chunk of your life, I realised this a few years ago and have actively tried to find the best in the season ever since. Last year was tough as I was selling my house in the middle of lockdown but this year feels brighter in so many ways.

What a gorgeous thread.

Mine are:
Frosty walks and runs. Get outside when it sparkles and spend at least an hour on the move.

Time of reflection. Buy a good notebook and use it as a journal to plan the year, work out problems that are bothering you, set goals and milestones for stages of their development.

Twitching! Buy some bird feeders, fat balls, seeds and peanuts. Hang in trees or near your kitchen window. Put some food out every day and watch. So far this week I have seen parakeets, magpies, jays, crows, blue tits, coal tits, great tits, robins, woodpeckers, sparrows, bramblings, thrushes and starlings.

Plant bulbs. I have an amaryllis ready to pot.

Put something in order - old photos or your wardrobe, linen cupboard or filing cabinet. Clear out and layout the remainder in an appealing, accessible way.

Mend something. I have a basket of socks to darn and a cabinet I want to repaint.

It's been said, but fairy lights! I have them year-round in my bedroom, living room, kitchen, office and up the stair-rail. Am looking for some new little plant ones too.
Treat yourself to nice new boots. I saved up for some Dubarrys; expensive but they're Gore-Tex, so waterproof and great for the mud. Or UGG do some nice leather ones, and they have a great outlet for bargains.
Really look at the weather, even when it's 'just' grey. I recently went to a marshy part of the UK for a break and the landscape was (when you took time to look and appreciate it/think about it differently) amazing; so many shades of silvery-grey, earth and water and sky merging, a wonderful eeriness.

I have never heard of Imbolc before. I love it!
I've long felt that Jan and Feb are seen as months to get through without any charm of their own and also wanted to change my feelings about them, as a PP said too - I don't want to be wishing away 2 months every year!
I think this is why I get annoyed with the early Christmas stuff now, I personally would prefer it to stay as a late Dec festival and as the start of a period of winter festivals so I think I do need to be more pagan!
I also have left fairy lights up, which I did until spring last year too.

@MichaelAndEagle we (pagans) have 8 festivals in the wheel of the year, here's a bit more reading if you're interested..

www.history.co.uk/articles/the-wheel-of-the-year-the-calendar-of-pagan-festivals-explained

I love the idea of Lovely deep midwinter too!

I have had a terrible year but this January feels hopeful and I feel recovered, or at least nearly. I have a safe cosy home and now I need to work out a nice soothing routine for myself- it feels exciting and life affirming.

Lovely, this is hygge in action.
We have a drinks tray with the Aldi lit up gin bottle, tealights in silver holders and a honey & vanilla candle.
The pine greenery I had as door wreaths and window hangings got a bit tatty so I ditched the holly and ivy and put the pine in vases in the kitchen
Low lights in the sitting room
Velvet throws and cushions on sofa and bed
I baked some cinnamon and ginger cookies
Doing roasty veggies with everything
Putting out nuts for squirrels foxes and birds etc that come to the garden
Bought some men's socks from Peacocks that have reindeer on them, plus two fine knit jumpers for more warmth, less bulk
Making an effort with cleaning and decluttering

Really interesting thanks!

This is a great thread, no least because it reminded me about some part baked baguettes in the cupboard, one of which I've just had with done soup.
I agree about fairy lights- I have some up all year in most rooms. Instant cosy.

@Crowdfundingforcake I love Attic24! I came on here to say reading her blogs are so uplifting and I love her photos and all the joy in the simple things (I don’t even crochet, I just love her blog!)

I really like having things to look forward to so I like seeing what’s on at the theatre in the coming months and booking some shows and same with holidays.

Day to day, winter walks and making the effort to go somewhere different really helps me in winter months.