Feels Like Winter

In my humble opinion, the end of November should really still have an autumn feel to it, because in all honesty our winters are long enough when they span from December to March. This year however, winter came howling in at the end of November and snatched away any hope of a gradual seasonal shift. Yes, it's safe to say there's been nothing remotely gradual about the early arrival of winter this year, and the sudden icy freeze came as a bit of a shock.

Despite the freezing chill, it's been beautiful out there, a real gift to have days (yes, multiple days!) of blue sky and sunshine.

These photos were taken in the middle of last week during the final days of November, and as you can see it looked and felt very, very much like winter. The temperatures stayed on the low side, and waking up to a minus four icy start was bracing.

You've probably gathered by now that I walk a lot in my day-to-day life, and I am not generally put off by the weather. I mean, I much (much, much) prefer walking when it's bright and sunny but getting outside to walk at least once a day is a non negotiable part of my wellness routine, rain or shine. I usually have two walks each morning, the first one is a fast "wake-up walk" at 7am with J, and then the second one I usually take on my own as I head out to do our daily grocery shop.

This second solo walk is much slower, and I love to take my time. I find that walking is a wonderful opportunity to practice mindfulness, and for me personally, my morning stroll is often a time of mental clarity and creativity. It's a time when I absorb my surroundings, often stopping to really look at things in detail....

....it's a wonderful practice, to consciously slow down and spend time appreciating the seasonal details of nature.

Taking daily photographs has become a way of life for me now, after so many years inhabiting Blogland. I just can't imagine going through life in too much of a hurry to stop, appreciate and photograph the things that inspire me.

Frost is such a beautiful thing, a sparkly dusting of winter magic which makes even the dullest plants look enchanting.

On this morning I was actually on route to the supermarket, with a spur of the moment detour around the meadow and along the canal bank. I am so thankful that I have such freedom in my days that allows me to spend time outside....

....I'm someone who needs a regular sun/light fix and I feel my whole soul craving it if I go too long without.

We had our first dusting of snow last week, it wasn't much, just a soft sprinkling that made the landscape look beautiful.

The canal froze over too, always a sure sign that winter is most definitely underway. I took a slow, slip-slidey walk to Coopers café on Friday morning, it's a highlight of my week and I always wake up on Friday's with a happy heart.

It was extra special last week because I had friends visiting, so my stripy Starbright was not alone for long.....

.....awwww, I had the best kind of yarny company! I LOVE the above photo, it's the three of us sat around the table laughing and chatting and eating caramel shortbread and yarning along all day. In case you are curious about my visitors, the sock-in-progress belongs to Christine Winwick Mum, and the delicious granny squares belong to the lovely Emma Varnam. We try and get together every few months if we can (out last meet up was early September), to chat all things yarn and design and blog and creative living. We can quite literally talk all day long without pausing for breath, it's just the best thing having friends who are totally on your wave length.

Our days are so short now as we head through December, but it does mean that I often get to see the most beautiful light in the late afternoons.

It's Saturday morning now, and I'm out walking the hilly streets of my neighbourhood with J and the Peeps. Well, two of the LP at least - the eldest Giant Child lives a very independent life these days. I so appreciate still having our 19 year old and 13 year old come out with us though, and more and more often they are asking to come without an ounce of bribery or coercion needed. It's just before 9am in the above photo....

.....and yes, it was proper cold and frosty still.

We walked along the farm track...

...stopping often to oooo and aaaaah over the beautiful iciness of everything.

It was lovely and still in the woodland, a gentle, chilled quiet as we strolled along and breathed in the cold air.

I love that we get to start our weekend in this way, it makes me SO happy. It might seem a bit odd to walk up hills and through woodland and around a castle on the way to do a grocery shop, but adding on that extra hour of time is worth so much and I love that the Little People are living this kind of life with us.

My flowers for this week came from the market which I'm delighted about - a wonderful lady who is fairly new to the market, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to be a regular customer. She had some mixed bouquets and wreaths for sale, but it was her buckets of floristry blooms that really caught my eye. Buying individual stems is not something I get to do very often because I am usually just buying the standard cheap bunches that the supermarkets sell. But just look at these flowers, aren't they spectacular? The flower lady told me they are a chrysanthemum variety called "fuego" which is Spanish for "fire" and I fell instantly in love with them. She wrapped them so nicely for me in brown paper tied with rafia, and I could not take my eyes off them all the way home.

I only bought two stems as they were quite expensive, but I am so enjoying them on my table. Such beauty right there. Love 'em.

Something else I'm loving right now is the return of the leafy clems, a regular seasonal supermarket purchase which always makes me glad for winter.

The leafage is a bit extra on this batch (more leaf than fruit) but I love the look of them on my table, and the fruits themselves are just sooooo sweet and juicy.

I've been feeling quite tired of late, kind of like my body is naturally wanting to send me into some sort of mild winter hibernation state. I took a nap on Saturday afternoon, it wasn't planned, but I found that I simply could not keep my eyes open. I was on the sofa with the kitty (you can just spot her in the above photo) and what with the cosiness of the blankets, the gentle weight of the cat, and the rhythmic rows of gentle v-stitches on my hook, well, I was tipped over the edge into a deep and restorative power nap. I woke up a bit disorientated but felt so much better for having the extra zzzz's.

All this talk of winter, and we are in December of course, but I just can't quite bring myself to face up to the idea of Christmas just yet. All over social media it seems like Christmas things have been happening for many weeks already, but here in the Attic I'm still weirdly embedded in Autumn. 

I did hang up my one solitary strand of tinsel.....

.....and I've been eating mini mince pies which is about as festive as I can manage this early in the month. The Little People are nagging about the tree, so I guess I will have to rally myself quite soon and get on my hands and knees and into the attic cupboards to perform the annual drag-out of the Christmas Boxes.

How's it with you, are you all decked out or are you taking your time like me? And do you do a real tree or a faux job? We'll have our usual ancient old tree-in-a-box again this year, it must be at least twenty five years old, an old friend. I really should get a move on and let it see the light of day.....

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Comments

[Alison Oudeboon]

Hi Lucy, i just want to say how much I am enjoying making the starbright blanket. At a time when life is not all that easy the colours are making me so happy. Thank you for that!

[Cathy]

The frosty photos are stunning Lucy! We tend to decorate for winter at the beginning of December, but Christmas waits until mid December. Christmas bits and bobs and the tree then go away for the year on 6th January, but winter remains until the end of Feb.

[Beverley]

Lovely frosty pictures of your walks and the view from your window.
Those Chrysanthemums are fantastic. They certainly are like fiery flames.
We have two trees, both artificial, one belongs to our daughter and the other is ours. One has lights and all the decorations the other has just lights and is equally lovely.

[Deb Cox]

thank you so much for sharing your life and loves. sweet posts and i really enjoy the ramblings and the photos. know that you are appreciated so much for all of these. take care dear lady. (-:

[Patricia A]

Summer has hit with a blast this Christmas season. Noticed in previous years, that when the northern hemisphere has a very cold winter, we have a very hot summer.
We have three cats that we inherited from a neighbour that live outside. Yesterday their leftover breakfast food was baked on the plate!
Same again today.
I am sitting inside in lovely cool air conditioned comfort with a ripple blanket on my lap as I work on it.
Decorations haven't gone up, yet. Though I did buy some new solar powered lights for outside and a new garland of gold for the walls from front door to the bedrooms. Last year's was all red.
Have a child's felt Christmas tree from Aldi to hang on the wall as nowhere to put a tree safely. Need to pull that out of the box.

[Alison]

I love your blog posts and all those fantastic photos. Amazing. Thank you so much for sharing.

[CJ]

Not decked out at all. Each year I try and decide what to do about a tree and how to be environmentally friendly. This year I had a genius plan - a festive stepladder! You can see them online, they are lovely. It was all a bit of a sudden whim and in theory the idea seemed cracking. Decorate it for Christmas, then use it for other things all year. Buy a secondhand one. Etc. etc. Before I knew it, I had paid for one on Ebay, and off I went to pick it up. Oh my. It is ENORMOUS. It does not fit into the living room, it's so tall. But as it is also very wide, it doesn't fit anywhere else either, so it is currently propped against the living room wall. It is honestly the stepladder of a giant. It explains why the Ebay picture was taken in the street and from quite a distance :) The Christmas lights will not even run the full length of it I am sure. There have been quite a few Comments from the family, I can tell you. CJ xx

[Renee]

Lucy, get the kids to help with the tree...

[Charlotte M.]

The nice thing about Mums is that they last up to two week in a vase. That makes them worth the price I think. I tend to decorate slowly, now that there are no children at home. I start with twinkly white lights. I slowly fill the spaces of my house with them until there is no need for proper lamps. The tree goes up eventually and the lights live on it alone for a bit. Slowly I pull things out to add to it. It is a small artificial tree, but that is where I am in my life. Start with the twinkly lights.

[Jen]

I can't believe your children are so old now... but then mine are growing up as well, so it figures. I love delving onto your blog. The way you write and the photos are rather hypnotic. It makes me have some mindful time too.

Winter came suddenly here in Suffolk too - the leaves are still on several trees, but the frosts are knocking them off.

Keep well Lucy
Jen
xx

[Chris Hailebaxter]

Hello. I’m new to your blog. I was introduced to you via Winwick Mum’s blog. Your photos are beautiful. I love the colours for your projects. I taught myself to crochet in the 1980s, having knitted since the 1950s. Thanks for your inspiration.

[Cheryl B]

That solitary strand of tinsel is really chic!

[Cynthia Acheson]

Oh, lovely photos of your daily outings! These long nights and short days make me want to just cozy in with my yarny pursuits - so good of you to share your chilly walks. I was so pleased to already receive my Sungold yarn in the mail today - just barely over 2 weeks from the UK to the west coast of Canada , and as a bonus, no duty charges! Christmasing up the house usually waits until after my husbands birthday on the 12th. We bought an artificial tree two years ago, and while it is simple, I do miss my real trees.

[Linda from Boston]

Artificial tree is up. We got it when we were first married 47 years ago. It’s still as beautiful as ever. The new ones on sale don’t compare. People that have visited think it’s real! I’ve started my advent garland on the fireplace mantle. I knitted 8 little socks, hats and mittens (using leftover yarn and stripy sock yarn). They’re about 4” tall. I put a crocheted cord on them and loop it around a knitted red I-cord. For Christmas Day I knitted a Santa hat! It’s so popular I had to make one for each of my two grown sons! Now I can just enjoy the lights and festivities. 🎄

[Sue]

Beautiful photographs of your home town. We got our tree and decorations up at the weekend and made a batch of sausage rolls for the freezer ready for Christmas. We’ve made a start! The tree is artificial, quite a few years old. It’s so cold here and so pleased I have your snuggly blankets Lucy to keep us warm xx

[Kim Krause]

I’ve had my Christmas decorations up since November 1st!!! I love everything about Christmas and want to enjoy the twinkling lights and festive decorations as long as possible 🎄🎄🎅🏻🎅🏻

[Monika]

Dear Lucy, I am glad you got a bit of winter wonderland even if it came suddenly, and some sun to go with it! Here in Ontario, Canada, the snow has arrived in towns around us but not in Kingston yet - we are sheltered by big Lake Ontario.
Our tree is not yet up - it's a hand-me-down artificial from a friend and it's probably older than yours. It's awaiting my daughter's return from uni next week - she is about 3 years older than yours - we always decorate the tree together.
I always look out for the pics of your kitty - we lost our dear Marilla in November at age 19 1/2 - we miss her very much.
Happy December days!

[Sandra]

I love the cold and frosty winter weather. Always better than those grey and gloomy days. And snuggling up with kitty is the best to do this time of year.

[Charlotte]

Hello Lucy, It is weird, isn't it, the way the weather almost flipped from late summer to winter in one blast. Or that's how it seems to me. Your lovely frosty pictures have reminded me that there have been some glorious days amidst all the rain we have had. The Severn at Bewdley looks set to burst its banks AGAIN, and most of my local walks resemble liquid chocolate. The Christmas market at Ludlow yesterday was lovely, and sort of sparked a bit of 'Christmassyness' in me. Because the friends I went with were coming back to dinner, I had already done the loft crawl for decorations, and even put up my two mini Christmas trees, with their little white LED lights, so it's beginning to look like Christmas.
You are probably not only tired from the sudden grip of winter and hibernation instincts, but also still reacting to your ghastly October. You are doing really well if you manage to get yourself out for a walk every day, I have been struggling a bit! Cx

[Peggy R]

I still don’t have any decorations up. Ugh. I started planning a kitchen Reno in November and I hope to be finished this weekend. Fingers crossed. The tree will be up by Monday either way. I enjoy the twinkle lights and the joy of the season. Have a wonderful day Lucy .

P.S Could you tell me how you wash your blankets? Do you dry them or lay them out flat?

[Mrs Jane Halvey]

Hi Lucy, beautiful photographs. We have a real tree and I like you can't get into Christmas decorations until mid December. I do however keep them up until 12th night.
I am enjoying the sunny days through the window at the moment having had minor surgery on my foot and I am not allowed out yet.
Jane

[Lottie]

Hello Lucy, I am feeling Hibernation Mode activate as well, so it must be blanket making season. This year I’m using the Cosy Stripe colours to make a Neat Ripple for my son. I’ll always be grateful for your blog and for your inspiration to creativity.

[Jenni Kelly]

I'm easing slowly into Christmas. This week is the first anniversary of losing my mum. She loved Christmas so much so it's a bittersweet time right now. But the Yuletide blankets are going on my sofas today and I'm changing cushion covers to Christmas ones. We have a new kitten, so I'm expecting a few problems once the tree is up!

[ChrisG]

I treated myself to breakfast in bed and my Earl grey tea and then your blog post to start my Wednesday! Gorgeous photos and I was right there in the stillness of the woods and the early morning light, thank you. It’s v foggy here in Surrey so quite a deadened, mysterious start to the day and the air just hanging cold & dank. Maybe I will find some bright flower to bring home later, although I do have a gorgeous row of random mini-balls of yarn from the Advent calendar my friend and I have done for each other - each day a little splash of something unexpected 💜I’m very tempted by the Sungold blanket to start the year with cheer even though I have socks and a blanket in (slow) progress ☺️

[Simon]

Christmas is done waaaay too early by waaaay too many people! Our artificial tree comes out the loft during the week before the day itself and is taken down about a week after New Year. I think I've got most of the presents bought (there's a couple of things left to get) and the only thing I have to decide on really is whether or not to make Christmas cards this year. It's an annual decision and I usually do but... who knows!?