1.20.2012

becoming a winter girl

Winter? It's not my season. As much as I wish I could love it, it is a seemingly impossible desire. The storybook idea of snowy landscapes and roaring fires appeals to me, but in reality English winters are grey, rather rainy, and quite icy.
This season is going to roll around every year though. January and February will be here for a while yet, bringing with them dark mornings and slushy streets. And it is something that I may as well learn to love. The process of becoming a winter girl will not be something that happens overnight, but slowly I am finding the charm in these miserable months.

With winter weather, it is all extreme. It's sharply cold outside or blessedly sunny, the sky is either chalky grey or bright blue, and the grass underfoot is always sparkly with ice or shining with melted water. It's challenging at times to walk home through hideous rainstorms and the ice underfoot is, for me at least, quite a hazard. But it's beautiful!
Once inside, and away from the elements, I found even more that I loved. Hot chocolate, tea and coffee are sipped on year round here, but they feel much more suited for warming cold hands after winter walk, crocheting under a blanket feels like a cosy option that isn't a complete cop-out from socialising with friends, and, stylewise, is anything better than comfy PJs? My cosy flannel bottoms are the comfiest thing, and chunky knitted jumpers add an extra layer of warmth to my 'evening wear'. Fairy lights are strung above my bed this time of year too; I can't bear to pack them away after Christmas and they add to the welcoming feel of my room. A happy warm cat helps too. And foodwise--Christmas leftovers are often found at the backs of cupboards well into January, and all the citrus is incredible!

As I sit here typing this, I realise that maybe I do like winter. I love layers and staying up reading under the blankets and chai lattes and the sparkly frost and eating satsumas and crocheting with my mum and all these small things that come together to make Winter. It will take me a long time, if ever, to call these months my favourite season, but it's not the terror it once was.

Are you a winter girl {or guy}?

xx
Libby

19 comments:

  1. I'm trying to embrace being a winter girl, myself.

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  2. I am with you. There are many things about winter in the north that I hate, but lots of things I love. If winter could just last the month of December I think I would like it. But now I have moved to the south, and it gets cold enough to enjoy some of the winter activities without loosing fingers and toes. :) Love the post.

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  3. i am a winter girl, but because of texas weather ups/downs {it's in the 60's right now} winter is kind of dreary until february when we get snow for about 2hrs. which i don't complain about :P lovely post. the photos are amazing! :))
    -jocee <3

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  4. Lovely pictures! I do enjoy winter, but after a while I just want it to be warm again! But then in the blazing hot summer I wish it was winter. I need to learn to enjoy each month for what it is. =)

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  5. Winter isn't my favorite season, but I find myself enjoying it a little despite my great distaste for slush and muck. :)
    Love that third picture! For me, it captures that truly winter-y feeling of winter. ;D
    Love,
    ~Bree

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  6. I'm finding I like winter more and more!!!
    ~ALYSSA~

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  7. I looove the first few pictures. Wonderfulnesssss!

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  8. Love the photos! I've always been a winter/fall girl :)

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  9. I am n.o.t. a winter girl,but,like you,I enjoy searching for beauty in the dreary days.

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  10. Yes, I am, I love winter time.(:

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  11. I'm a tropics girl hailing from Australia so I definately prefer summer to winter - winter is so dry and brown and sunshiny and cold whereas summer is green, wet and stormy - me loves storms (or maybe just lightening)!

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  12. Changes all the time. But I do love getting a good snow fall (which incredibly rare in both places I've lived in) and have a snow ball fight with friends. And then of course the skiing and sledding....

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  13. I enjoy Winter. Sometimes it is just a little long though! :) I love the quite days spent indoors, reading, writing, and just relaxing. Summer is always so busy, it's nice to be able to have a slow season!

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  14. There is something beautiful in every season even if it seems hard to find. I like winter because of hot chocolate, reading books in my cozy robe, baking cookies, quiet chilly mornings, the way snow looks on trees, and snowflakes! I LOVE snowflakes!!!

    Sarah
    http://pearls-on-a-string.blogspot.com/

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  15. as long as it snows, i'm cool (get it?!) with old man winter. looks like we shall break up because NC is too warm for snow.

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  16. The winter has always been my favorite season. It started out because of Christmas and my birthday's in February. But I love the layering on of clothing, drinking warm liquids, the snow, boots. Pretty much everything about the winter.

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  17. I'm like the anti-winter girl. I love my springs and falls, and I love the freedom and adventure of summer. Winter? The only thing that appeals to me is that it's socially acceptable to drink lots and lots of hot chocolate, and layer up whenever I leave the house.

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