Winter! Oh boy. I refuse to use the word “hate”, but boy am I not myself, really dislike and wish we could skip Winter each year. I come up with personal goals and strategies/challenges each Jan/Feb to help me emotionally get though the dark.

Let’s get this clear: I wouldn’t ever move (as of currently) because of Weather. I’m a New England born and bred girl. Believe me, December and November is fine, it’s just the Jan-Feb-March stretch that’s rough. So a few things that helped me through the winter this year.

How to get through winter if you are not a winter person.

Plants, plants, plants also plants.
My garden goals this year were pretty intense, and my indoor loft garden started this winter, so I was busy organizing, starting seeds, buying seeds and planning what I could do and how I could garden without owning land.

Personal Challenges.
I like to give myself quirky personal challenges for weeks or a month at a time. Example: This week, the goal is to finish two-three novels. Another example is exercise goals, or even something like water or vitamin consumption. I love checking off __ DONE! When I take a vitamin. It’s an easy one so you can have a thing/goal for each day.

Baths.
I take baths in my tiny child-size bathtub. Mid-day as my lunch break (I work 8-1230; break 1230-230 and work 230-630pm). It works for me in the winter so I go with it. So that break in the middle of the day is perfect for stopping, pausing and sitting in a tub of hot water.

This year I have another challenge - a food challenge! I decided I need to use the cookbooks I own, so I am not purchasing any new ones for the time being - and my goal is to cook 52 recipes over the year, document them (on my phone with terrible lighting). I’m 100% behind so far this year, but it’s winter, so I’m not terribly worried just yet. I have time to catch up since Spring and Summer and early Fall are much better for produce and my style of food.

A few rules: Cookbooks I or my family own ONLY, that I document it THAT day - no styling, no extras. Each recipe only counts once, and I am trying to not go over 5 from each book - however I highly suspect that last rule will fail 100%. Where I am right now:

My Recipe Challenge Dec-March 2019 - from instagram stories

click on images above to see in full gallery

What I’ve Read/Started Reading:

Ive been re-reading Harry Potter- and just finished #7 - The Deathly Hallows. The last book was probably the most similar to the movies, especially from the last few, but still I had forgotten the book/movie differences! It was great fun re-reading these.
Home to Woefield, by Susan Juby - from my Garden Book to-read list. GOOD. Definitely made to be a series, because I didn’t really feel like the story every got started. Solid 3 star/5, because it did make me laugh about funny millennials who want to be eco-concious/farmers etc.
The Devil’s Puzzle, by Clare O’Donohue - I read these books on my phone (I don’t have an ipad/kindle etc) and they are my - I can’t sleep and need something to read - books. They deserve a bit more notoriety than that. They are the quilty version of the Chocolate Chip Murder Mysteries - aka: turned Lifetime Movie Series. I enjoy these a ton. On to the two next e-novellas before the last in the series.
Starting to read: Victory Garden by Rys Bowen. Loving the first 100 pages so far. It’s a great storyline, lots of horticultural details - even if slight so far, but mixed into a great novel. More to come when I finish this one up.