I love our earth, I love the cycles and seasons. But for a while now, I’ve been nervous about the coming winter. Last winter I had two pretty severe lung infections and since then I’ve been nervous about winter, infections, feeling like I can’t breathe and having that awful chest pain. The amount of anxiety is disproportionate to the risk of infection, but every time I thought about winter and endless drizzly grey skies I felt tension.

So we decided to re-frame things, and all summer Linus has been helping me put together a Winter Love List. A list of specifically enjoyable activities for cold or wet weather. Some of them are treats we are reserving for the winter months, some are just good things about damp days.

If the current wet weather is getting you down, feel free to dive into my Love List activities and please add your own in the comments!

Grace’s Winter and Wet Weather Love List

Going to the spa or swimming pool and being in warm water when it’s cold outside

Listening to my favourite audio books

Double duvet days – the ultimate luxury. A high-tog duvet over and under you, for total cwtchy comfort

Camping out in the sitting room

Making warm and nourishing foods, like black bean pot, sweet potato soup with vanilla, smokey tomato lentil stew with spinach and olives and scrummy split pea soup.

Drinking hot gingerbread rooibos tea with a good book

Cuddling up with the dogs

Eating Crazy Sexy Kitchen Avo Toasts

Having snow days inside

Watching the dog play in the snow

Funky hot water bottles

Seeing the leaves change colour

Celebrating Yule

Classic FM Christmas music

Decorating the house

Planning the garden

Horses playing in the snow

Grey days are good photography days:

“Cloudy grey days can produce surprisingly beautiful results because the clouds act like a diffuser around the sun, dispersing wonderfully even light across your scene and minimising the risks of harsh shadows and hot spots.” – Instant Love by Jen Altman, Susannah Conway, Amanda Gilligan

Secret midnight feasts 

Vision Boarding

Supercharged vanilla porridge 

Going to the beach with our family

Pickling and preserving vegetables

Making vegan madelines 

Decorating the chimney piece with squash and pumpkin boxes from Riverford Organic Farms and then eating them!

Gingerbread – fresh and warm from the dehydrator

Amaryllis

Knitting

Blood oranges in season

Making kale chips

Watching the Christmas lights get turned on in our local town

Wearing my faux fur muff and coat

Deliciously hot showers and baths.

Skiing

The feeling of coming home when you’ve been outside and it’s cold

Mixed nuts in their shells and clementines at Christmas

Christmas hampers

Star gazing

Want more inspiration? Check out what Gala Darling and Kris Carr have to say on fun winter activities!

P.S dive into the 500 fun things to do from home/bed in my new ebook, Beyond the Boundaries: Finding Freedom & Fulfilment Within Four Walls. Self-Care Edition. Get your copy today…