Surviving Winter: 11 Ways I Bring More Joy and Warmth into Cold Days
Wednesday morning I woke up and checked the temperature. Negative 19 degrees Fahrenheit with a wind chill of negative thirty-two. It was our second day in a row of bitter cold.
The fourth day in two weeks that Fiona stayed home because it was too cold for her to walk with Matthias to work.
I try to make a point to savor every season, though my natural inclination is to mourn the loss of my garden when fall and then winter rolls around. Winter has its charms, but it’s not my favorite. The colder, darker months make me want to hibernate. Winter is something to make it through. Winter takes work.
A few years ago when I heard that Emma Mitchell was writing a book about surviving winter through making, I was thrilled. What a perfect idea for a book.
It’s beautiful, filled with recipes and projects (though I’ll admit the only one I’ve done is the cake in a mug).
A couple of weeks ago Dana shared a vlog about getting through winter. Watching her post reminded me to take Emma Mitchell’s book off my shelf.
My friend Karen shared a respite from the world’s craziness on her blog this week and in her post, she mentioned Lee Valley, a tools and garden company from Canada. Their winter tagline: Time to Hibermake! Perfect.
All of this got me thinking. About what I do to survive winter.
I’ve shared the solace I find in houseplants and how I was able to discover subtly beautiful colors in my winter garden. But there’s more I do each day to make it to spring. Maybe my ideas will help you get through winter, too.
1. Read About Gardens
I think I’m going to need to do an entire post about my favorite garden books, but until then I wanted to share the one I’m reading now:
Tovah Martin is one of my favorite garden writers and I couldn’t believe I hadn’t heard of The Garden in Every Sense and Season when I saw it in Dana’s winter post. It wasn’t in our library system, but I was able to find a used copy online and quickly dove in, escaping winter for a bit by reading about spring.
Do you have a favorite garden book or garden writer? I’d love to add some titles to my pile.
2. Drink Tea
I start my days with coffee, but after that I always have a mug of tea by my side (usually waiting to be re-heated). For years I only drank loose tea, green and black and oolong (often from Tea Source), but recently I picked up a package of Good Earth Sweet and Spicy Tea at the store and am hooked. It’s festive and cozy and perfect for these winter days.
3. Crochet
Crochet is a perfect hibermake activity.
In my mid-month Joy Letter, I shared the fact that I had just finished crocheting a shawl. It had taken me around two years, most of the time it sat in its bag untouched. Quin is 15 but he still acts like a kitten. Strings of any kind drive him crazy. Somehow he always knows just when I grab for my crochet and suddenly, there he is.
Finishing my shawl made me remember how much I love to crochet (it’s where I first started stretching my creative wings) and how much I’ve missed it. For days I studied patterns on Ravelry. I wanted something easy and I wanted to use yarn I already had on hand. I decided on a simple vest pattern.
The yarn is a recycled wool blend. I’ve been stealthily avoiding Quin and it’s going quickly. I’m already dreaming of what I’ll make next (perhaps this, I have the pattern and the yarn).
4. Dress in Layers
Pulling on thermal underwear might not be exactly joyful, but layering sweaters and tunics and shawls and scarves makes me happy and keeps me warm. And if it’s something I’ve made myself? Even better.
5. Get Outside
On all but the coldest days, I try to go for a long walk. (Number 4 helps with this!). Even when I can’t, I get outside.
Into the backyard with the girls. Filling the bird feeders. I watch nuthatches and chickadees dart in to grab some seed. I send good vibes to my little peach tree, hoping I’ll get some peaches this year. I search for the moon and check on its progress from full to new to full. I gaze at Orion, hanging over the snow-covered garden.
Being out of touch with nature is something I struggle with during the winter. Getting outside helps.
6. Plan for the Coming Gardening Season
Every gardener knows the joy of seed catalogs arriving in her mailbox.
I’ve been studying mine since before Christmas. Making notes of what I want to grow. Old favorites. New experiments. I finally ordered my seeds last weekend. Some things were already out of stock but I still managed to find plenty of beautiful, fragrant and tasty varieties.
If you need help deciding what to grow and where to get your seeds, last year I wrote a post about planning for your garden (I even made a printable seed sowing plan). For more garden inspiration, don’t miss Floret’s favorite seed sources (it includes international sources for those of you who aren’t in the US!).
What are you planning for your garden this year?
7. Move My Body
Winter has kept me from walking as much as I’d like to, but I’m so proud of myself for sticking with Adriene’s 30 Days of Yoga this January. I haven’t missed a day! I’m not the most coordinated, graceful or flexible, but I feel myself getting stronger, more confident and definitely more flexible. I’ve tried to incorporate yoga into my days for the last two years but I’ve been sporadic at it. This month something shifted and I plan to carry on into the rest of the year.
Winter can be so sedentary. And in general I spend a lot of time sitting, either at the computer or at my painting table. It feels good to move and stretch and care for my body.
8. Grow Something Edible NOW
One of the things I miss most about my garden when it’s covered in snow is running out to harvest herbs and vegetables. In the winter I usually grow sprouts on my kitchen counter and sometimes we buy an herb plant or two at the grocery store. I had the brilliant idea this winter to grow my own herbs from seeds under grow lights.
So far, so good.
This year I also plopped some romaine stems into dishes of water on the kitchen windowsill (they’re growing!).
Even this little bit of edible indoor gardening feels wonderful.
9. Make and Eat Soup
As soon as it starts to get cold I want soup. We usually make a big pot on the weekend and eat it all week or we eat some and freeze some for later (my mom says it’s like money in the bank). This week we’re eating Split Pea Soup with Ham and Potatoes from Melissa Bahen’s beautiful book Scandinavian Gatherings, recommended by my mom (hmmm… could it be I inherited my love of soup — and gardens and crochet and books — from her?).
Most of the time the soups we make are improvised (I love that about soup!) but it’s also fun to try new recipes. I’m reading Lousie Erdrich’s The Sentence. The main character talks about taking a “world tour of soups”, stopping in ethnic restaurants throughout the Twin Cities where soup was “satisfyingly cheap and very filling.” Such a beautiful idea. We don’t have enough ethnic restaurants in our little corner of rural Wisconsin for a world tour, but I’m happy to make my own soup. You, too?
Here are a few more I’ve enjoyed:
This Roasted Cauliflower and Chickpea Soup was delicious (thanks Ann Wood for the recommendation).
I need to make this Deep Green Lentil Stew with Spinach Tahini and Lemon again and am looking forward to trying some more of the recipes in her recent roundup.
This Red Lentil Soup with Lemon is one of my very favorites (which reminds me I haven’t made it in a while, either).
A few weeks ago I made Black Bean and Chipotle Soup from the Moosewood Restaurant Daily Special cookbook and discovered the deliciousness of chipotles in adobo sauce. (While writing this post I was so excited to find recipes on their website! Can’t wait to try a few more).
Do you have a favorite soup to make?
10. Escape into Fiction
Ok, so maybe this isn’t winter-specific. I nearly always have my nose in a book (fiction and otherwise). But in winter on the weekends instead of being outside, I’m inside with a book. Snuggling under blankets, getting lost in a good story.
Last weekend I tore through Kate Albus’s A Place to Hang the Moon.
Torrie from the blog To Love and To Learn shared it as one of her favorite books of 2021. I’m so grateful when people share books they love.
It’s cliche to say I laughed and I cried, but it’s 100% true. At one point Matthias looked over and said, “You must really like that book.” Yep. Sweet and satisfying.
Don’t let the fact that it’s a children’s book turn you off! As a former children’s librarian, I do have a soft spot for children’s books, but if Harry Potter taught us anything, it’s that children’s books aren’t just for children.
These days I read a bit of everything. A few I’ve loved from the last year:
Alice Hoffman’s The Marriage of Opposites (She’s one of my favorite authors, but I didn’t love The Book of Magic)
I also can never get enough mysteries. I’m always waiting for the next by Louise Penny and Michael Connelly and I’m nearly finished (finally) with C.J. Box’s Joe Picket series.
What have you read recently that you couldn’t put down?
11. Snuggle
Sometimes I just need to give in to the urge to hibernate. Blankets. Crochet. Books. Mysteries on Acorn, Britbox and PBS. Winter is the time for snuggling.
It’s a good thing I have a house full of snugglers. They make every day more joyful (and warm).
So, what do YOU do to survive winter?
I hope you’re staying safe and healthy and WARM and savoring your own favorite ways to make it to spring.