To ask what "little things" help get you through the less exciting winter months?

[Ilovepearjuice]

In particular, January and February?

I'm definitely a person affected by the long, dark, cold evenings. Once the festivities and twinkly lights of Christmas and New Year is over, I always go through a very glum period and Jan/Feb seem to drag on forever.

Please may I ask what little things you do to get you through those winter blues? What brings you joy? Trips away, purchases, activities... Anything!

I want to make a list in advance and plan ahead, so that I know I always have something to make me feel good and hopefully others too!

Daffodils! Hundreds of the things! As soon as they start arriving I buy maybe 7 or 8 bunches at a time in the supermarket and fill the house. I love a bunch of daffs being all sunny and yellow all over the place!

I book a couple of massages and facials to get me through January and February.

We have a weekend booked in London in January. We haven’t been into London for almost 2 years. DH and DS are hoping for football tickets, I am planning to go to the Tate. We are hoping to visit the areas that DS’s preferred universities so he can get an idea if he wants to spend 3 years there.
Not an expensive hotel, as we booked it well in advance, so more money for dinner and fun.

@Campervan69

GoodnightGrandma where to? Where is sunny early February? This sounds like a great idea.

Canaries.

I really suffer in the winter too and these things help me.
Winter stews and soups with home made bread
Winter flowers - snowdrops, pansies, aconites, hellebores, early daffodils (February Gold is a good one); I plant bulbs in the garden in autumn for this.
Pots of daffodil and hyacinth bulbs on windowsills - hyacinths get me through winter.
Make the most of sunshine and get out for walks.
Buy a SAD light - an hour of this a day helps me to cope with lack of natural daylight.

3rd weekend in January is traditionally the cheapest to go away to a hotel or somewhere like CP, so we sometimes book a trip then. But yeah, I hate January unless it snows.

Holiday, definitely. I live on the north coast of Scotland and November with livestock up here is just soul-sapping - rain, gales, mud and we lose 2 hours of daylight over 30 days. We try and do 10 days in either Mauritius or the Caribbean at the end of the month, but obviously not last year and not this year either, as neither of us fancies flying long haul at the moment and DH isn't keen on trying anywhere new :(

06:30YellowandGreenToBeSeen me too i hate christmas . I love the solsitce and insist after that spring is commimg! I have bulbs in and outside. And colour!

[quote AcrossthePond55]@Askingforfriend

Misread your question....Truckee, Tahoe, and that area.[/quote]
Ahh, that is a longer trip for us :)

Ooh I absolutely love winter. I was just out for a walk today and the sun was really low and I had forgotten just how beautiful the light is.

Similar to others, really - out every day for fresh air and exercise, leave the fairy lights up, candles lit on the table for breakfast and supper, ask for books for Christmas so you’ve got plenty of great things to read.

You really notice the light coming back in February. The birdsong; the lengthening of the days; a slightly different scent in the air that evokes spring.

Thanks for this! Just gone and put a few sets of fairy lights up😃

Last year I celebrated winter solstice with candles, dinner, red holly berries etc. After Dec 21 the days are getting longer again, so I tried getting into the witchy spirit of the longest night of the year and making it a special night.

Candles and soft lighting.
Magnesium salt baths with candles and lavender oil.
Yoga videos (I like Yoga by Candace)
Soups with ginger and turmeric and garlic.
Vitamin D supplemnents.
Long walks.
Long swim at an indoor pool followed by veggie curry made earlier (did that last weekend and then slept like the dead).
Afternoon tea with a teapot and freshly baked cake on a really stormy grey day.

Having said all that I do find the darkness and length of winter quite depressing and can easily start bingeing on toast and chocolate and doing nothing so these activities are all about trying to fend off the gloom and what I try to do on my good days rather than how I bounce through winter without fail.

Lighting candles in the evening.
Having a really cosy blanket on the sofa and another on the bed.
Long soaks in a hot bath.
Trying out new cocktail recipes (sod dry January.)
Baking
Snuggling up on the sofa to watch a film on a Sunday afternoon
Going on a walk round a National Trust property... cafés are open again for a cup of tea if it gets too cold.
Driving to the coast and eating fish and chips in the car looking out on a grey sea.
Sunday roast at a country pub.
Keeping some fairy lights in the house after Christmas.

I also forgot a winter BBQ. Wrap up really warm, get the BBQ going outside and just cook something simple like some sausages and onions to have in rolls with a thermos of tea. You can also take "hot picnics" on any walks you do in this sort of way e.g. cooked, hot sausages in a food thermos or a flask of soup to have sat on a bench somewhere.

If anyone is looking for fairy/outdoor lights for winter. I’ve just bought both of these and really recommend them. The garden lights in particular are much brighter than I was expecting for the price.

Fairy lights - www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B07YG26625?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title&tag=mumsnetforu03-21
Garden string lights - www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B08JCCBB4T?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title&tag=mumsnetforu03-21

I love January! I didn’t used to, so decided it had to change rather than be miserable about it every year. So, I use it as time to plan the rest of the year, work out what I want and need to do next, even stuff like decorating, days out, sorting photos, decluttering. Mostly though, a bit of self care, so I always do dry January, this year I did it til my birthday in May, some extra exercise, doing my hair and nails, lots of moisturiser, and early nights. Also, a mixture of healthy eating and winter hot food, fire on, good drama or a film, dressing gown and snuggling up. Board games with the dc, and sort of shutting out the blues. I try to make it a really positive time, quality time.

We live in Copenhagen, land of Hygge. Here's my list, leave outside lights on till mid Feb,- everyone does here . Lots of candles, get a good furry throw, have plenty of books and magazines in, nice dim lighting, cook more from scratch, rather than weeks away , we do several 2 or 3 nights away , make a habit of putting some soothing music on plus lighting candles or low light lamps when you get in.create a soothing routine. Nice black teas with cinnamon and spice etc,

In fact I think winter here is nicer than summer, quite a bit of snow , less rain than uk and beautiful lighting everywhere

My birthday.
Snowdrops, primroses and other signs of spring flowers.
Days getting longer. The earth is turning to the light.

As many PP's have said I plan/ book things for Jan.
I have 3 key birthdays in Jan so we make a fuss over these three close relatives. They are spread over the month too which helps.

This year I am going away with friends for a whole weekend (fri to mon)

I like to book comedy tickets in those months too- makes me smile

I also make plans for half term with the kids- it feels like a turning point in the seasons too.

I love all of the suggestions from everyone- I adore being cosy and reading so I'll steal the fairy light idea too.

I love blitzing the house after the decs go away and then having nice candles and spring flowers on the windowsill. Keep fairy lights on all year too !

Ooh, can I also say, playing GeoGuessr helps! It's Google Streetview but with a game challenge. I don't often find the time to play but when I do I pick somewhere hot and sunny and immerse myself in a different country, trying to pinpoint my exact location.

I love the clean sparce time of January. After the busy festical, mess and indulgence of christmas - January always feels like a deep relaxation, clean, clear, soft easy time. I am a pagan so Imbolc is a time for gentle celebration too.
January and February are some of my favourite times of the year.

London Zoo - animals are so active when it's cold!

After 30 years in teaching, we now go on holiday (pandemic allowing) late January. Luckily long haul so we benefit from great weather but escape some dismal weather as we live in the NW.
The Maldives.......here we come!