Keeping Warm

A beautiful start to the weekend with pale, clear sky and streaming sunlight. But cold. Oh so very cold. Well below freezing.

After a super quick (and freeezing) hop into town to buy a magazine and drink coffee, I came home and settled myself in for the day. My main priority was to Keep Warm.

Today the tightly closed buds of my narcissus "Bridal Crown" began to unfurl in the warmth of the room. So beautiful.

My attempt to Keep Warm this morning found me in the kitchen. I practically wrapped myself around the oven to absorb the heat into my body. In fact I loved being in the warm kitchen so much that I double-baked. Oaty apricot cookies followed by buns. Warmth and good smells.

I took time out from my heat seeking activities to help Little Lady with a craft/sewing project. Totally her idea, she just needed me to provide the supplies and assist a little with the design.

There was some colouring fun too. Little Lady plus two visiting friends (our house is never dull or quiet at weekends), then later on Little B joining in.

I love that this table gets used for so much daily activity. Cutting, stitching, gluing, colouring, eating, crocheting, designing, working, playing, climbing (oh that naughty Little B!), reading, drinking.

Late morning and I found myself unexpectedly alone for a weeny while. J and Little B were out together, Little Man was at a friend's house, Little Lady (with her two friends) were playing upstairs.

I made coffee and settled myself into the Big Chair to lose myself in the pages of Country Living magazine. It promised Fresh Spring Style, how delicious!

Three blankets and three cushions made up my Chair Nest. Got to be warm and cosy and comfy when I read my favourite magazine.

I lit the fire at lunch time. I made a second nest of blankets and cushions for myself on the floor right next to the hearth.

My lunch was yummy. I made a bowl of tomato cous cous and tossed in some oven roasted garlic and rosemary veggies left over from last nights dinner. Carrot and pepper strips, chunks of red onion and courgette, whole cherry tomatoes. Mmmmmmmmmm.

After lunch I iced the buns. I made my usual glacé icing (icing sugar mixed with water) and added in a teaspoon of cocoa powder. Sweet little chocolate shapes, chocolate crispie balls and mini candy coated chocolate drops to decorate. Finished off with a light sprinkling of edible glitter.

The snow started at lunch time and continued steadily all afternoon. I watched it fall, gazing out of the windows upstairs and down. It looked incredibly cold out there.

But I was warm and toasty-snug next to the fire working on my ripple blanket. The weight of the blanket across my legs combined with the incredible warmth of the cashmere felt heavenly.

Some time after lunch Little B came home with J. He's starting with a cold and is all snotty and out of sorts. He came to sit next to me by the fire. Actually, he tried to pull my crochet away and sit right on top of me, but I gently persuaded him to get his own cushion and a book and sit beside me instead. I rippled away and made all sorts of Big Vehicle noises to keep him happy as he page turned.

3pm and I decided that it was a good time to partake in a tea and cake break.

Little B was happy to oblige. A chocolate iced bun is just the thing when one's feeling just a smidge under the weather.

Outside it continued to be snowy. I kept looking out of the window at our street and thinking how glad I was to be indoors. How glad I was to feel warm. Yes, warmth was Good.

The Little People don't seem to feel the cold like we do, do they? They were out in the street playing in the snow, rolling and sliding around in it, digging in it, scraping it up, throwing it around. Brrrrrr.

Early evening, dark outside. Little B is tucked up asleep and I can hear the excited shouts of half a dozen children still larking about in the snow outside. I peek out the window. They are rolling a huuuuuge snowball down the street, the beginnings of a Street Snowman. I potter around upstairs, folding clean laundry, straightening the covers on my bed. Already looking forward to bedtime.

Back downstairs, making a cup of tea. Open the back door and a stream of light falls into the back yard. I'm surprised to see just how much snow has already fallen.

I think tomorrow's post is going to be predictably full of white. The sledges are already waiting by the door. No getting out of it. I'm going to be feeling the cold tomorrow.

Night night x

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Claudia]

Wrap up well, Lucy!!
It's snowing in london, too...but it'll be over by the morning, as usual. My native town in Italy is paralised under 1m of snow and -10deg, I so much Not miss it!!
Have a good night, and a fabulous snowy day tomorrow...

[Thomasina Tittlemouse]

What a wonderful evocative picture of warmth and colour and cosiness inside and cold outside. I love your cosy colourful crochet surrounded corner for curling up in - we all need one of those when it's as cold as this. And a blanket to crochet that grows warmer by the row is great anti-freeze! I love your button jug - I fell in love with that when I saw it in a gardening catalogue and it just had to be ordered along with a few ( ahem, quite a few dahlias)! Enjoy the rest of your weekend and keep cosy!

[JennyPH]

I can't wait to see your Little Lady's owl! My Little Lady is 12 years old and has always been crafty. She just made herself and a friend owl charms out of polymer clay. I guess owls are "the thing" nowadays. Stay warm! Love your pictures.

[Deco Cat]

Sounds like a blissfully relaxing day!

[Emma/The Log Cabin]

What a lovely post, I do enjoy reading your blog. In fact, it's because of you that my home is so cosy, your blog taught me how to crochet. Thank you Lucy! xxx

[Helen]

We're just the opposite at the moment, so hot it is difficult to cool down. However there are some lovely dark grey clouds scooting over, oh I hope that means a cooling rain, rather than rain that just makes you all hot and sticky!

My girls have been full of a snotty, coughy cold, Little Miss B seems to have shaken it but it lingers on in poor Little Miss T. How many boxes of tissues have we been through this week? Too many to count!

xXx Helen

[Vicki]

And why you freeze, we swelter. It's 9.26am Sunday morning and it's already 27c in Melbourne heading for a top of 33c today. Enjoy as we watch in wonder from afar. Vicki.

[Rachel]

I don't know if I love the chair nest or the floor nest the most!!!
I think the chair nest wins by a smidge!!!
this whole post is soooo cosy!!
I know what you mean about tables that see so much craft love, we have a large silky oak table, that after years of activities being performed on it, has a layer of glitter, and the odd bits of paint that no amount of scrubbing has been able to remove!!
And I kind of like it that way- it's a tangible visual reminder of the fun had through the years, and the fun continuing to be had by my youngest, who loves craft, and always wants to help with my crochet!!!!
Hope you have a lovely cosy weekend

[Sonja]

Oh, what a beautiful blanket you are working on!!!
I have used your ripple pattern several times:) At the moment I'm doing a *wool eater* blanket:)

[Gillian]

What a lovely evocative post, a colourful photo essay of your day. I really enjoyed it, thank you.

[Trish]

A very similar day here. My boys have already been out with the sledges just in case it's gone by morning. I have been making Granny squares with leftover hat/glove wool for a matching scarf. No doubt the sledges will be out again tomorrow if the snow is still there. So will the crochet ;oD

[vildkatten]

We had -36,6 degrees today, no weather no be outside in so we're getting a wild and frustrated boy after a couple of days with only too cold weather to be allowed snowtime with daddy.

[Kay G.]

Dear Lucy,
That is THE MOST adorable night light ever. I love it. In Georgia, it was 70 degrees today, short sleeve weather, and everyone is rushing about preparing for their Super Bowl parties tomorrow. Kind of fun really, caught up in the excitement of folks just getting together...

[Lesley]

Night night, sleep tight, don't let the bunk beds fight! (as my 3 year old says every night). Lovely description of your day. Hope the sledging is fun, x

[Heather]

Keep warm and carry on xxxx

[Kay G.]

Oh, and did you see that I am in the same magazine as you? My photo I mean, in the new issue of "In Crochet" magazine... I am one of those pictured with SIBOL, I am the third one in the third row...

[WendyBee]

Oh, it's so true! I mind the cold so much more now than I did even 5 yrs ago. Don't resent my saying this, but I miss my babies being so tiny and snuggle-able. (They're all teens now, and my arms feel so empty!) What a lovely, cozy time you and Little B had by the fire. Your children will have such happy memories to take with them wherever life takes them!

[Silvia]

What a beautiful post Lucy ... I like how you describe your everyday life, with simplicity and love! I like the images you choose to represent it. Thank you for sharing.

[Heather]

Lucy! I want to come sledging with you tomorrow! Well, I want to trudge in my snowboots up to the park and take some snowy photos. Text me! xxxx

[Jacquie]

Hi Lucy, snap !! I've been keeping warm today , enjoying my crochet and country living mag which the postman popped into my hand along with fresh stylecraft suppilies this morning....that's the sort of post I like.
Just been out to photograph the back garden in my slippers after seeing your last but one pic.It was so wonderfully silent except for my crunchy footsteps. I expect I'll be sledging tomorrow too :0)
Jacquie x

[Angela]

Your descriptions are so lovely. It's like a mini-vacation every time I read one of your posts.

[Allie Cat]

Sounds like a fab kinda day! It is just wet in Cornwall :-( but on a plus side I got dropped of at my LYS for a little retail therapy! And after getting some scrummy super extra large "Sirdar, Bohemia scarf yarn" and a 20mm hook I now have a Crochet infinity scarf! Also wipped up a hat for my Ickle Boy with "Sirdar Indie" yarn and a more modest 12mm hook. Feeling HAPPY! If you havnt come across the Sirdar yarns I mentioned then look them up, the colour range is Divine! xxx

[Adaliza]

You look as though you're staying warm and cosy. Enjoy your sleigh ride! My knees have been kept lovely and warm this evening, as I make my round the border of my Gypsy Rose blanket. Flora Puddleduck's house has been moved up to just outside the back door, to keep her a bit warmer (and it's not so far to walk to let her out)! Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

[Rose]

We've been hearing about how cold it is in the UK and Europe. Stay warm Lucy.

[magsmcc]

Well, Lucy, I have been following the news of English snow all day in dismay. Not a drop here in the frozen North. Lamentable! One small boy and I are quite distraught. Maybe tomorrow! I just wanted to say how encouraged I am that you are still working on the ripple- not finished quite yet, I mean. There are three of us now, hooking away on Wednesday nights in the library where we work, and one of the Monday girls is taking lessons from our resident guru too! We read your site every week for inspiration and then hook on in the staff room at break time. I am by far the slowest of the little group. So thank you for the thought that even in Attic 24 can delight take its time!