Blue Sky and Apple Pie

Summer is well and truly over. These early winter days are shorter and gloomier and the weather is decidedly damper and colder. For many of us, winter will also bring with it an increase in pain levels and yes, we may well be feeling totally fed up.

Winter doesn’t necessarily have to be like this for you. You can still find ways to beat the blues and once the nights draw in you can make the most of all the good things that this time of year offers you.

Something I like to do at the beginning of each season is to put together a list of joyful things - things I love to experience in autumn, winter, spring and summer. I just sit down quietly for a few minutes with a big piece of paper and start writing. I list all the things which I like to hear, see, feel and do. My winter list goes something like this:

Toasted teacakes and Earl Grey tea; Green & Blacks chocolate; being outdoors in the fresh air with a woolly hat, warm socks and mittens; freshly baked bread; fresh snow; winter sunshine; candlelight; fireworks; peace and quiet; crackling log fire; frost on trees; people who make me laugh; aromatherapy massage; lacy top stockings; lipstick – if nothing else, wear lippy; music; lazy Sunday mornings with breakfast in bed; singing; a good film which makes me cry/laugh; stroking the cats/dog; savouring a glass of spicy mulled red wine; hot chocolate; Christmas markets; roasted chestnuts; sunsets; smell of damp woodland; church bells ringing; fluffy fur throws to cuddle up in; hot water bottles; bedsocks; snow topped mountains; playing carols on the piano; listening to the rain when tucked up under the duvet; going on a train journey; baking cakes; ticking of an old clock; the sound of bagpipes; starlight; reading a good book; easy one pot casseroles; curry with the neighbours; listening to the sea on a stormy day; crisp frosty blue sky days; a slice of warm apple pie after a gentle walk in the country.

When I have listed everything I can think of, I decorate the page to make it look nice, I print it out, and then I stick it up on the fridge. Every time I open the door, I read something off my ‘Joyful Things for Winter’ list and it really does help to cheer me up. I try to do at least one thing from the list every day too; most of them are free so there’s nothing to stop me!

What would you include in your list? Take a few moments yourself, borrow some of my ideas if you like and then stick your list somewhere you will see it often.

I guarantee you will find it lifts your spirits on a dreary dark December day!