Persisting in Winter
How We Are Embracing Winter Even As the Christmas Season Comes to an End
For what seems like most of the Western world, Christmas is over, and now comes the long, dreary, and gray days of winter - which is just a waiting room for spring and then summer. At least, that’s how I grew up! This year, our family moved to New Hampshire after living in South Carolina for two years, and while in general we like to embrace the seasons by eating seasonally and planning seasonal activities, I know that truly embracing and celebrating all of winter is what will most help our transition to a colder and darker climate and hopefully prevent the winter blues. Today I want to share with you some of the things we are already enjoying and some others we hope to incorporate.
The first thing you can do to help bring light to winter is embrace that Christmas begins on December 25th. You know that song The Twelve Days of Christmas? That’s not a countdown to Christmas Day. Christmastide begins on December 25th, the Feast of the Nativity, and extends to January 6th, the Epiphany, when the Wisemen were said to arrive. Christians, and certainly Catholics, therefore, should leave their Christmas decorations up until at least January 6th. Our family spreads our Christmas gifts out over the 12 days, and this weekend we will have a big Epiphany celebration with friends. Many Catholics even observe the traditional forty days of Christmas, which means Christmas does not end up the Feast of the Presentation, or Candlemas, on February 2nd. Now that I’ve included that preface, let us begin the list!
Recipes
In keeping with the Church’s request that Catholics abstain from flesh meat on Fridays all year long, we have been enjoying this nourishing soup every Friday. The girls love drinking the broth! My advice: double the leeks, and be generous with the lemon and dill.
I haven’t tried these yet, but I am looking forward to making them sometime in the next week!
Maple marshmallows (see recipe at the end)
These are wonderful because they don’t affect my blood sugar at all!! Now I can’t drink tea without them. I make a batch twice a week!
Creamy chicken soup
Make your chicken soup but add some coconut milk… mmm delicious
Trader Joe’s Winter Wake-Up Tea
This is so good with a dash of real egg nog (with the eggs in it! We get ours from a local farmstand), and the maple marshmallows!
We’ve been enjoying smoked salmon with dill and cream cheese on an everything bagel. Sometimes I add the spicy chili stuff from Trader Joe’s. Bonus points if you can also add pickled red onion and sub lox for the smoked salmon! This makes a great breakfast or lunch — I’ve also had it for dinner in a pinch!
Photo by Hannah Pemberton on Unsplash
Children’s Books
Brambly Hedge: The Secret Staircase (Christmas story)
We are always reading Brambly Hedge. It is such an enchanting and immersive world!
As always, we love these seasonal poems!
Jan Brett’s Winter Collection Box Set
We just have Cozy from this set which we found at the library, but the illustrations are lovely. I would love to purchase the whole set someday!
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
I’m not reading this with my children right now but I am reading it with my women’s group! We will make our way through the entire Narnia series this winter. We are reading it in the “right” order, for the record ;)
Photo by Jacob Diehl on Unsplash
Adult Books
It starts at Christmas so it’s just to start it again now! Also consider reading any of the sequels including Little Men, and Jo’s Boys.
I’ll be rereading this around the end of February/early March. Join me!
My husband and I read this book a few years ago and still think about it a couple times a week. I also loved Migrations by this author and think it also would be well suited to reading in winter. Both books feature a lot of animal science so if you like learning while you enjoy a great story then I think you will enjoy these. Both books are on the darker side (as is Kristin Lavransdatter) so if you’re looking for something more uplifting I recommend sticking with Little Women.
Family Movies
This is a touching tale about brotherhood and taking responsibility for those we love and those we ought to love more. My one warning is that there is some language in it our family doesn’t love. It’s playful but things like calling other people idiots or stupid - I can’t remember exactly. We watched it yesterday and the winter vibes are immaculate but I think we will wait until our girls are older to watch it again.
A great princess movie with a winter feel that is not Frozen. Nothing against Frozen, I’m just not ready to show it to my toddler lest she become obsessed. Anyway, this movie is great but it’s a little spooky and there is a lot of talk of death, so consider that.
A Christmas Carol retelling suited to the littles that has some humor. I didn’t grow up with The Muppets but still enjoyed this.
This short film is so sweet and suitable for all ages. It is all free on YouTube.
Photo by Daniel Mirlea on Unsplash
Bits and Bobs
Most of these are about staying warm because I think being warm and cozy is integral to enjoying all the other parts of winter. Some cold exposure is good to challenge your immune system, but in general you want to mostly fortify it with warmth so that it is not fighting too hard for too long.
alpaca sweaters
My inlaws were very sweet to gift us thrifted alpaca sweaters this year for Christmas. They are so soft and lightweight and a perfect layering piece. I have knitted accessories with alpaca wool before but never had a full-size garment and I have to say it is (almost) making me consider keeping alpacas someday for fiber instead of sheep.
Mama owl wool/silk base layers
These base layers are well worth the price tag. They are so soft and lightweight and make a huge difference in insulation. Each member of our family has one pair and loves them to death. I am hoping to save up for one more pair for each of us so that we can have a daytime pair and a nighttime pair. You can put them under your clothes for extra warmth, like we do, but they are also cute enough to wear as your outer clothes. Base layers are indispensable if you, like us, want to keep a mostly natural fiber winter wardrobe.
Blundstones for daily walks
I first bought Blundstones as a workboot when I had a job trimming street trees. They are a fantastic workboot! They were also my daily driver when I was pregnant through a Connecticut winter. Despite being used so much they still looked almost brand new when I had to sell them last summer due to my second pregnancy increasing my shoe size (cue tears). If they don’t end up working for you they hold their value very well. Fortunately, I was able to replace them in November with a bigger size when I found them on sale for only $20 more than I sold my first pair for. They are just as wonderful as I remember. They are real leather and worth the price tag.
Wool socks
Indispensable. I look forward to wearing my wool socks every year. Any brand will do! My favorite pair of wool socks I acquired from REI Garage Sale - they had a hole in them! My husband patched up the hole with another piece of wool and I love them so much.
Leather slippers for tiny feet
We buy the girls’ everyday shoes from this Etsy store and add on the rubber sole. They are amazing. Our rental is very poorly insulated so I suggested getting the girls’ “slippers” from this shop without the rubber sole but with the wool insert they offer. When the girls wear these it means I can put warm socks on them without worrying they will slip on the wood floors. Now that their feet are toasty I notice a lot less whining as well.
Consider lighting a Swedish anglaspel at dinner - it entrances the children! We have the snowflakes. I would love to buy the swallows, horses, and Christmas set including the holy family, shepherds, and wisemen in the future!
This winter we also plan to make some serious headway on our family scrapbooks! Maybe we will even do it by candlelight.
I’ve been loving this playlist of Celtic Christmas hymns!
And lastly, don’t stop going for walks!!!! Bundle up and get out there. I’m talking just as much to myself as I am to you.
Can't wait to try the Loikeitto!!