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 🙄

Here’s my list:

Throws, candles and fairy lights
Films and games nights
Reading books
Baking so house smells amazing and there’s lots of tasty things to eat
Mulled wine
Herbal teas
Homemade soups, stews and casseroles etc
Dog walks in pretty places
Marshmallows in garden fire pit
Flasks of soup / hot chocolate to have on winter walks
Trail running and embracing the mud
Ordering seeds and planning veg patch for coming year

The sunsets/rises and the moon are amazing at the moment. I'm either walking or running first thing and really enjoying it.
I'm really enjoying this thread too!

Just read this quote on a lovely blog:
Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.”
― Edith Sitwell

That quote @Crowdfundingforcake is lovely.
Nice idea about the winter journalling too @KurtWilde.

What a gorgeous thread! More ideas:

• earthy and/or uplifting essential oils in the diffuser
• guilt free hibernating (whiling away afternoons or evenings with a good book or boxset)
• hot/cold water therapy
• dry brushing
• wrapping up warm for blow-the-cobweb-away walks
• pudding (preferably, sticky toffee)
• going inward (in whatever way suits…writing, deep chats, intention setting)
• (tentatively) planning out the year ahead
• a truly good pair of boots

We've just had a lovely weekend away at the coast and driving through the Yorkshire moors. It was great to see people surfing on Saturday, as the waves were crashing onto the shore. The sky was such a lovely shade of blue and the sun was shining. A perfect January day. I got up early on Sunday & walked down to the beach alone, with a coffee. I watched the sunrise as the town gradually woke up. It was lovely. 😊

Commenting to save the post. So many nice ideas

Anyone else coming back to this thread? This is the beginning of my least favourite couple of months...going to put some of this into practice this year.

@MichaelAndEagle It's a cheerful thread for the month ahead. It can be so grey and feel like a very long time until the days stretch out again.

Aww, thanks for reviving this thread!!!
I’ll be back :)

Ooh yes.Currently sat in bed with warm fairy lights around the room watching tv.
Decent coffee.Bliss.
What is everyone doing today?

Such an inspiring thread.

I love soup. I have a few go-to recipes but this morning I am going to look through a book of soup recipes and find a new one. Then walk the scenic way to the supermarket rather than the quicker pavement way.

Fairy lights in large houseplants.

Fresh flowers or pots of bulbs.

Lots of outdoor exercise, walking or gardening.

Planning a nice coastal walk this afternoon, and have my gym induction this morning.
This is the year I'm going to get a handle on my fitness which I think is key to good mood.

I've stumbled across this much needed thread and looking forward to seeing out some of the ideas here. Soups and stews, walks on the beach and in the woods, candlelight will do me for starters.

I think I've used my gym membership twice this year so far so want to get back into that. I'm mainly WFH as well so it will get me out of the house.

Thanks for getting this thread going again, in time for the dark of January.
Yesterday I went with DD14 and her mate to Camden Market. There was such a buzz that no one noticed the rain and cold. So much lovely food too. I’m having a morning ‘getting the house straight’ as our cleaner comes at 10 and then MIL arrives for 2 days. Much less fun than buying rockabilly dresses and street food yesterday.

More generally, I’m burning incense, lighting candles, reading books, painting Warhammer figures ( I pretend it’s for my son’ benefit), baking and making stews in my ancient Le Creuset. Bought Emma Bridgewater mugs half price yesterday- foxgloves and sweet pea designs, to remind us of colour to come.

Planning a woodland walk today and hot chocolate with friends.

Clearing the living room, washing the throws and getting more blankets and candles out.

I'm making the living room more cosier by putting more fairy lights up and using them as our main light source. So lovely watching films under twinkling lights.

So determined to try and enjoy January and February this year, rather than just 'get through' them.

I remember this thread from last year, I found it so heartwarming and comforting to know that others struggle through January too.

A bit of a sad December here as a relative died a couple of days ago (so New Year's Eve trip away is cancelled) and my place of work shut for good on 24th so I need to keep busy and positive.

I've booked to visit a Christmas light display this evening then feel the need to take down the tree & decs tomorrow to get straight for the new year. I'll definitely keep some fairy lights around as suggested earlier and already have some hyacinths about to bloom.

I will try to get to as many exercise classes as possible and have earmarked a couple of trips into London for a mooch around the V&A and am about to reread this thread for further inspiration

It is a lovely day up here in NE England. Going out to enjoy some winter sunshine this afternoon.

The sunshine is lovely today

Anyone thinking of joining the gym it maybe a good idea to buy some colour ful kettle bells to use at home.
I started small and have been doing over 100 swings before work.
Much cheaper than the gym and they have improved my fitness.
I got some in tkk max and a mat from Argos.

Yay, someone has resurrected this wonderful thread 🙌

Big thanks to @FoxRedLabbingtons for starting it originally.

I'm again planning to go at Jan & Feb with positivity and optimism. Life is too short to spend the winter feeling sad. I've just read through some of my posts above, and it's brought back wonderful memories of thingscwe did last year.

We too have a lovely, bright sunny day. I'm looking forward to my mum popping round & then I'm going to a friends house for tea & chatter. Just perfect.

I’ve been watching Scandish Home on YouTube and her calm home makes me appreciate winter.

I was genuinely thinking of this thread earlier and how it helped me with my returning to work after Christmas blues.
My favourite candle has since ran out though.

Such a good idea to revive this thread. I am feeling a bit lost this week due to a falling out with my parents. Not helping with the gloom of January arriving. But I have ordered a few new books, have scented candles, heated throw and decent coffee, and am going to plan to get out for a walk somewhere interesting each day with the dog.

Our bath is broken but once the plumber has been I will also make the most of my bath oils, and will bravely experiment with the weird and wonderful.bath bombs my sons bought me for Christmas!

I also want to fit in a bit more ice skating while there are lots of rinks around.

Maybe it won't be such a bad month after all