Wintering - this side of Christmas

[Nonplusultra]

I really love Autumn and the first half of winter, and all the preparations for Christmas, even though it’s stressful too. This half of the winter feels a bit harder though - I’m not quite ready for spring flowers and often the coldest spell is still to come. January can be a bit of a moany month too.

Anyone got any little rituals, or tips or tricks for enjoying this last month and a half of winter?

Hibernate.

Book a holiday somewhere hot and sunny

Cook curry. Full the house with Asian cooking scents.
Enjoy the simple days
Sort out your digital photographs

I keep some fairy lights up in the house. It makes the dark evenings a bit more bearable.

Following- I really struggle in January /February/March. I live for April onwards!

At the moment, going to yoga and Pilates, and trying to read each day are my main coping mechanisms.

Lighting a fire in the evening and having a glass of champagne. It's literally the only thing that gets me through January.

As stated on another thread, keep fairy lights up and candles in the main areas of your home, fake plants work well to cheer up areas where real ones struggle (they'll need dusting though).
Look into hygge or something - I'm sure it's not just for Christmas.

I like to hibernate in January, cook nice food, enjoy candles, cozy fires and generally take more time and care of myself. I also try and get out for long walks when weather permits, I find being outside and getting as much daylight as possible really helps with mood and sleep.

I like the word hibernate.

I think I’ll try and get out in the garden a bit and sort out some of the small jobs I never get round to in the warmer months when the weeds keep me too busy. Might try and befriend the local crows too.

I've started clearing a drawer/cupboard every couple of days. I'm finding it quite therapeutic and "forward looking", hopefully by spring my house will be tidy and organised before I abandon it for the garden. Apart from that, trying to think of something pleasant when I get home from work to cheer up the evening (candles, blanket on the sofa after a shower etc.)

Lots of bulbs in pots and fresh flowers - we have hellebores, hazel (lovely catkins) and forsythia in the garden so I cut those and also get bunches of daffodils from the supermarket. Lots of candles, cosy jumpers and books - pretend you're Swedish and lean into the hygge thing.

And trying to get outside when it's dry. It was sunny here so we went to the beach today and although we only lasted half an hour because the smallest one was cold it was lovely.

In Scandinavia, they keep the festive lights up in the windows for ages - makes such a difference when all there is to see outside is darkness! Now we’re living back in the UK the decs are down but I ‘dress’ the windowsills (just a bit of greenery from the garden put in vases and I got bought daffs from the shops) and have a few nice candles/ battery operated candles. You could definitely Pinterest some ideas and go all out though! Also, focusing on beautifying the windowsills means less time looking at the rest of the shit tip house 🫣

I agree with people who suggested fairy lights, it definitely helps!
I also like having friends over for dinner or just a glass of wine, going out for long walks when the weather is reasonable, cooking comfort food, visiting other towns and villages in the area - feels like a mini holiday.

What a nice thread! I hate this bit of winter too. At the moment I've still got a lot of Christmas lights up and am wondering what to do to stop feeling glum. I'm taking inspiration about getting outside if possible.

I want to start a really good book but I'm struggling to latch onto anything

Lights and candles. Nature walks when it's dry. I love cuddling up with my hot water bottle, weighted blanket and a bedtime tea in the evening. I also like to keep busy, and start clearing things out, a pre-spring clean.

Log fire in the evening and blankets to snuggle under. Started clearing the attic when we put the Christmas decorations back up there and am planning to bring down two boxes of 'stuff' every other day and go through it for either bin or charity shop. Enough books up there to open a bookshop, I reckon. Should mean that by Spring, the attic will be neat and much emptier than it is now. Winter cleaning, rather than spring cleaning.

@Mmmkaay I like the suggestion to declutter. I tend to do a bit of that around this time of year - a drawer here and a shelf there. I like the idea of letting that be a gentle winter ritual (trying to resist the big energy changes that never go well for me)

@crochetmonkey74 I’m trying to get back into reading too. SM has destroyed my concentration so I’m trying to limit that.

I might dabble with crochet or spinning or something and see if I can get into that.

I have some led candles on 6hr timers that I love this time of year - tempted to get lots more. I love watching them turn themselves on one by one.

I’m really missing my cat who passed away this year. She knew how to manage winter well and helpfully weighed me down.

@EnglishSpringerSpanielMum I haven’t been up to the attic yet but I have a feeling there’ll be enough up there to keep me busy until March 😬

Brushing the dog by the fire. Nice food. Cups of tea. Books. Arrange to meet friends.

Be more hygge: candles, blankets, read lovely books, snuggle! And book things to look forward to!

We did get a couple of new recipe books for Christmas, so we are trying out some new recipes. I also have lots of candles.

For those who are struggling to get back into reading, try books of short stories. Ghost stories are good for this time of year!

I've started listening to turn of the century/victorian ghost stories on this youtube channel. Excellent for that cosy feeling at night https://youtube.com/@BitesizedAudio?si=s9vJsmhobN8g7efc

Hot chocolate and fairy lights. New book .

Even though I am on the other side of the world and our temperature today is 42 degrees, I love reading this thread. I still practice a lot of what you might do in the UK, without the hot water bottle. It’s too hot to do anything outside for most of the day, so I potter inside decluttering, reading, slowing down to reserve energy.

Lovely thread!