Winter Is Coming

Tell me, are you a Summer person?  Someone who craves the sunshine, loves the fact that you can walk around without the baggage of a coat?  Someone who looks at the snow and ice with dread and has a hatred for all things cold?

Alternatively, are you a Winter person?  A lover of warm drinks and cozy clothing.  Someone who loves a good snow ball fight and generally loves the beauty that Winter brings to the landscape.

Me, I'm a definate Summer person, but am trying, slowly to learn to love Winter.  So here are a few things that I thought about that I love about Winter that might make you love it too.

A Good Cuddle

Summer is wonderful, but how many nights have you spent far too hot during the evenings, stripping off layer after layer of clothing, drowning yourself in ice filled drinks and throwing off the bed covers at night?  How many times have you given up on the idea of a cuddle with your partner because you are just too damn hot?

Winter is made for cuddles on the sofa, a hot chocolate and a good film.  My fella is like a walking hot water bottle and snuggling up in bed on a cold night is something that brings us together even more.  

Stepping Into a Warm House

When you have spent a freezing day in the office followed by a cold and miserable commute home, is there really anything better than walking into a warm, inviting house?

It is this time of year that I make sure that our central heating systems are working as they should to ensure a warm and inviting house.  There is nothing worse that getting home on a cold day only to find out that your radiators are not working and you walk into freezing cold house.

My top tip for ensuring that your house heats up faster and retains more heat is to cover a thin sheet of card with tinfoil and placing it behind your radiator.  This reflects the heat back into your room and helps to heat everything that much and more importantly, retains the heat (saving you a bit of money too!)

Winter Clothing & Accessories

As much as I love, and I do adore, a Summer dress, there is just something about wrapping yourself up in many layers like a cocoon that makes you feel wonderful, calm and serene.  

Warm toasty socks in bed, a sumptuous scarf around your neck to keep out the cold, fur trimmed gorgeous coats and a good, old fashioned hot toddy on a particularly cold night are all things that I love about Winter.

The Food

At a risk of sounding like what they call a "typical woman" (what about any woman is typical I have to ask?), I do love a gorgeous roasted hazelnut latte in the Winter months.

Also, who can resist the lovely beef stew, simmering throughout the day in the slow cooker and ready to perfection when you arrive home?  Cauliflower cheese, apple crumble, chicken and mushroom pie or the good old English breakfast.  My mouth is watering just typing about them.

So, is Winter really that bad?  The icy streets can be hard to handle but there is so much about Winter to love, if you only care to look.  

Winter is Coming

As I have been mentioned before on this blog, the thought of winter and the snow that follows has always filled me with dread.  

Last year I wrote about some ice cleats that I had bought which have definitely made winter a little easier for me.  

The NHS have created some top tips for getting through the winter:

• Avoid going out in bad weather but if you do wrap up warm in plenty of layers, and wear a hat, scarf, gloves and shoes with a good grip on the sole.
  
• Try to be active during the day. Visit a local leisure centre or shopping centre if you can. If you can’t get out then get up and move, as light exercise will help to keep you warm.
  
• Make sure your heating, radiators and boilers are serviced to reduce the risk of breakdown in cold weather.
  
• Use a room thermometer. Your main sitting room should be between around 18-21C (64-70F) and the rest of the house at a minimum of 16C (61F).
  
• Have at least one warm meal each day and drink warm drinks.
  
• Sweep the chimneys, in preparation for winter.
  
• Set heating to come on before you get up and switch off when you go to bed.
  
• Get snug in bed with fleecy onesies, socks, thermal underwear and a hat. 
  
• Take care of elderly friends and neighbours. Make sure they’re warm enough, especially at night, and they have supplies of food and medicines so they don’t need to go out during very cold weather.
  

When you are young and have family around you, it is easier to think of just oneself when it comes to surviving winter but what your neighbours?

My street has many elderly people, my parents included, who all make the effort in winter to help out each other, but what about those who are more isolated?  My mum was talking to an 83 year old lady on the bus the other day who told her that her neighbours never speak to her or offer any assistance and she was worried about the winter ahead.  

It is important when winter arrives that we do not just think of ourselves.  Clearing an elderly neighbour's drive of snow or offering to get some items for them in your weekly shop isn't a big encumbrance to you but can make all the difference to someone who is elderly and alone.

I will be actively doing this when the snow comes.  If my mum lived alone I would hope that somebody would do the same for her.  When the temperatures drop and the ground gets icy, we all need to take a little extra care and if that can be extended to the people around you, maybe the winter won't seem to long after all.