SETTLING DOWN TO WINTER

How short the days seem already, the low cloud and lack of sun mean that it is dark even earlier that usual. Along the lane the trees are almost bare of leaves now and the pavements are treacherous for the unwary, made slippery by wet leaves. The gilded autumn colours have bled into the grey mist leaving only echoes here and there of their short lived beauty. Winters monochrome palette now holds sway and the who has kept company with me all through the summer months now sings a much quieter song as he waits in et old damson tree for Pa to fill his special tray with meal worms.

The great bounty of this autumn is also over, the generous harvest of beech mast. Acorns and damsons. Cherry pits and hazel nuts have all been prized in their season and set aside for winter use by the birds, the animals and my self. We have made the most of the unexpected warmth to secure our winter stores are plentiful enough to last through the fiercest of winters.

Having spent over half of my life in remote places I have acquired the habit of stocking up in the winter time and by this time if the year every space in my kitchen is stuffed with extra flour, tinned beans and tomatoes,rice, pasta and just about every thing from candle sand paraffin to dried mushrooms and anchovies. My friends have always considered this squireling rather an eccentricity until the last couple of winters when many of them have applied to my stores for candles, sugar,or some other food item. Of course if the winter is mild is is always nice to have plenty of dry goods in the house as it cuts down the shopping bills at a time when we are spending so much more on fuel costs, it works for me.

The rooms have been made as cosy as possible with draught excluder and hitch curtains,some years ago when we were as poor as church mice I made winter curtains from old blankets bought at a jumble sale. I brushed then until the looked felted and then painted them red Indian style, As our house at the time was filled with weird old pots and bits of horse harness and such like they worked very well and were much admired.

I like to be cosy and in winter I use light to create the effect I want. Our fireplaces are not in use at the moment so to make the effect of a fire I scrunch up a string of red fairy lights and then put them in the grate with a deep layer of fir cones on the top. This gives the effect of glowing embers and really make a room seem snug. If you decide to try this please remember to turn them of if you go out or when you go to bed.

I have a trick of lighting richly coloured voile panels to make the light seem warmer, these can be purchased cheaply on the internet and for little cost they make a big effect on the cosiness of a room. When every thing has been done to make our home look and feel snug I begin to decorate for Christmas as in our house Christmas goes on for over a month, it may not suit every one but we love it so for us it all begins next week when my son is on his home week.

In the mean time there are cakes to bake and recipes to try , parcels to wrap and cards to write and the tree to decorate then, with candle light and incense the picture will be complete. Winter has its compensations, well at least this part of winter.