Is anyone planning on "wintering"?

[user746016]

I'm taking down some of the decorations but have decided to keep up some fairly lights and candles and some of the decorations that are more wintery than overtly christmassy. It always feels so bare when everything comes down and it makes the house look cheerful in the cold dark months.

I have also planted some indoor bulbs which are doing well so will hopefully provide some glimpses of spring.

Lots of fires, cosy blankets and books to see us through.

Any other nice ideas to keep the winter feeling cheerful rather than bleak?

Also enjoying paper whites and white hyacinth bulbs inside, as well as an early bunch of daffs and some tulips too. Beautiful!

We have Chromecasts so just cast various crackling fire and surround videos on YouTube to the television over the Christmas period, a lot are eleven or twelve hours long or even continuous. The rest of the time I leave the screen on the changing Google photos, I like it to brighten the room.

Tree and decorations are all down and boxed to be taken up to the loft tomorrow, but in the living room we have various tea lights on the mantelpiece and a candelabra which holds five red battery operated candles, that sits on the hearth. We also have a multicoloured lead glass effect Tiffany lamp which always looks cheerful. We have an electric fire with white stones and flame effect which adds to the cosy look.

In our bedroom we have fairy lights around the shelf above our bed, and also around the shelf the television is on (I also leave that on the Chromecast screen to see the photos). There are also various candles about the room.

I have all my winter reading sorted - I've just begun Kate Mosse's Labyrinth trilogy, of which I have all three books, bought secondhand for less than a tenner the lot. Plus various other books I've acquired secondhand from Amazon, Biblio and visits to National Trust and other historic properties. My library provides a steady supply of audiobooks to listen to in the bath or while doing housework. BBC Sounds is also useful for listening material, as is Amazon Music.

I haven't done any knitting or crochet for a while, I've got a stash of yarn to use, so I really should look up some patterns on Ravelry. I also have a sketchbook and set of sketching pencils and pastels so I'm going to try my hand at that, I bought a "How To Draw" book, again second hand on Amazon so got it cheaply.

Were well prepared for the cold nights, with the duvets doubled up to make 16.5 tog warmth, on our lovely new bed. We have thick curtains with insulated blackout linings in the living room and bedroom to keep the cold out.

So, plenty to keep cosy, cheery and occupied over the coming months. Plus we've already booked our Spring holiday to Northumberland, and summer one to Dorset, so we have them to look forward to later in the year. Before that DH and are looking forward to a three night B and B break in Dundee later this month, nothing fancy, just the Travelodge on Strathmore Avenue, but we've stayed there before and it's always been fine, we love the Buffet breakfast. Got the three nights including breakfast for us both, and taking our dog, for £155, which is pretty good going.

Then in April I'm going to a gig by my favourite singer, so I'm looking forward to that. Plus sitting out in the sun in our front garden, must get some bulbs and colourful flower seeds for Spring and summer.

Should also mention that mornings now always begin with a mug of spicy Chai Latte in bed, it's so lovely and warming, and I usually end the evening with a Yorkshire Bedtime Brew, also in bed, in a brightly coloured insulated mug I bought specially for the purpose. I've also recently splashed out on a Bialetti Moka pot - £45, but we've been disappointed with cheaper ones, and this one seems much better. We already have a coffee bean grinder, and an insulated pot for extra hot water, so DH and I can enjoy freshly ground and brewed coffee together. ☕ 😊

I noticed when I took the dog out that the snowdrops are out. So delicate and beautiful. I’m going to split them this year so that there are more next year.
very snowy here now. It looks like Narnia. I’m awake due to menopause but sitting with the fairy lights on under my electric throw. Very toasty

Yes. Plan to keep the lights up but seriously Contemplating leaving the tree up atleast for another month

Yes, we always leave the decorations up until I’ve had enough. Usually mid January. We used to leave them up til February.

Think this may be my favourite thread. Awake due to peri so laying on the sofa under a blanket with coffee and a snowy scene on YouTube. Taking the tree down today, but keeping all the fairy lights dotted around the house, a few wintery decorations, candles and throws. Work can be stressful so keeping home calm and cosy is important.

You Tube have a lot of choice too.

We always have blankets and candles in the living room so that definitely helps. I'll be burning the red and Christmas scented candles until they run out then will swap them for something else.

This is the first year we've also left the fairy lights up in the living room and I really like them. We haven't turned the lamps on since they went up at the start of December (we never use the "big light").

I have just started the Court of Thorns and Roses series so that's five books to keep me occupied for a while.

Yesterday we took DDs out to the park for an hour to get some fresh air and a run around. Other than that we stayed in and read books, built lego and I did a bit of decluttering. DH and I had "cocktail hour" and had a drink at 4pm then started dinner which felt very decadent!

Oh my OP - thanks for starting this thread. Love hearing everyone's ideas for brightening up January.

It has resulted in me buying some fairy lights off Ebay as our xmas ones had ceased to work. Also plan to make some homemade soups - so have gotten a cheap hand blender which I've been to do since October!

Fairy lights will definitely go up in kitchen - and now thinking about a few bulb type plants to brighten the place up too

We've had our Christmas tree down a week now but have left the outside fairy lights and also the fairy lights in the lounge to give it a cosy feel.

Scented candles are all year round anyway. Few more blankets this year. Dd 11 is blanket and pillow obsessed!

I have have some sort of greenery on top of fireplace from September there’s loads in our garden and the forest near us as well as dried pine cones and other bits and bobs, there’s little ivy lights entwined through it. I swap the colour in autumn to golds with dried flowers and leaves that I treated in glycerin a few years ago. They hold the autumn colours really well. I also change the vase arrangements to various twigs and autumn colours from September. We have throws from September too. I love candles and have a few battery operated ones in large vases and storm lamps to keep a cosy feeling. After Christmas I take down the decorations and replace them with other greenery I’ve collected over the years with some fresh forest things.

I suffered terribly with the long winter nights for a few years but learned to lean into it and look at them as a time to recharge and rest. I am not a twinkly lights and snuggling under a blanket person as I do still hate winter and long for the lighter nights and warmer days. I plan my garden and planters, make lists of jobs needing done in spring/summer, read and look forward to flip flop season.

Please can someone explain about the bulbs in pots? I'm a novice gardener. Are these things you plant and wait for them to grow ready to go outside in spring or things where you can see flowers now? Lovely thread btw. I have the Netflix fire on now

I also have classic fm calm on. It's so relaxing and lovely to have something quiet after all the Christmas tunes

We have a beautiful crocheted nativity set that I keep on the living room mantelpiece all year round, simply because I like it. We aren’t remotely religious, but it makes me smile.

We also have a very small fake Christmas tree that I keep decorated all year round. It lives in the kitchen. On gloomy days I whack on its fairy lights and it cheers up the greyness.

I celebrate Imbolc (1st Feb), if you search ‘decorating for Imbolc’ on google images then lots of lovely things come up that celebrate both winter the tiny signs of spring that will soon be here.

I just think of human sacrifice, too much watching of crime dramas 😆

I'm getting rid of 3 weeks of winter by spending them in Goa.

They are indoor planters (mine is my mother in laws old glass punch bowl from the 1950s but you can use anything). You plant up the bulbs and they will flower much sooner since they are inside in the warmth. I like to plant mine in gravel since it looks prettier from the outside of the bowl (because mine is glass) and then I cover the top with moss. Mine are paperwhite narcissus since they also smell lovely. I also have some forced hyacinths. I was a bit late in doing mine this year so I don’t have flowers yet but will do in a couple of weeks.

I’ve decided to make a big squishy draught excluder today using an old curtain.

I put out winter lights in october and take them out in marh/April time.

A few years ago I left the fairy lights that were draped around a very tall house plant - more like a mini tree - close to the bay window. I told myself I’d take them down once the clocks changed at the end of March, but they never did come down. Still working fine, too.

A neighbour once asked why we still had our Christmas tree up in April - I had to explain that it wasn’t!

I take the christmasy bits off my wreath and I would now describe it as a winter wreath.

Reading about the hyacinths makes me sad. I remember my mum always having hyacinths in pots in my dads cupboard where he kept his tools, me and mum would check them regularly to see how they were growing. I still know loads of plants names from mum. But i left home young and as i was a late baby, mum was elderly by the time i had a house and was interested in gardening (which tbf i wasn't bothered about for years), my garden is very plain and flowerless. My mums gardens, back and front were glorious. Id love to learn more but i dont know where to start. Maybe starting with hyacinths would do?

Yes to this. Lots of stews and soups on the menu with added bone broth. Woolen blankets and hot water bottles everywhere. Fleeces and thick socks. My knitting is out and being worked on casually.

I also find myself wanting to declutter at this time of year so I've popped a few things onto FB marketplace.

The fairy lights and Christmas decor will be coming down in the next few days but that's ok with me.

Been listening to jazz FM and classical FM. Not much reading unfortunately, lots of playing with the kids.

We've neglected the garden since the first cold snap and won't be out there until March at the earliest.

@ssd How nice that plants and gardening connect you to your mum. A few hyacinth bulbs now is a great way to start developing that interest and connection further. Meanwhile, a good winter project might be to start planning a more flower-filled garden for you to enjoy this summer. You can access plenty of Gardener’s World to learn more on iPlayer, plus Chelsea Flower Show for beauty and inspiration. Pinterest and Houzz apps also useful. What did she love? What do you love? Gardening really is one of the biggest joys in life - like you, I didn’t understand it and wasn’t interested/ready for it but it really has become a huge source of comfort, creativity and satisfaction for me. Like you, it connects me to loved ones no longer with us. Have fun with it!