Wintertime...

What does wintertime mean for you. ?
Is is just an inconvenient time for washing to dry?
Is it a time when your garden is colourless and damp?

Are you a winter person or a summer guru?

I as most of you know a winter girl. I think it is a romantic time of the year filled with activities that warms my soul. Firstly it is soup weather. The memories of soup stem back to Bunty (my Grannie). She had soup down to a fine art. Scotch broth, Minestrone , leek and potato. You name it and she made it. She was a legend. My Mum Katie has taken over the role and taught me. The whole notion of filling the house with the smell of homemade soup , it smells like home. A big bowl of soup with crusty bread lavished with butter...not marg. Bunty had one of those huge big metal spoons just for the job. We use one when we are baking but still refer to it as a grannie spoon.

Mittens and scarves reminds me of winter. I have a plethora of them in my wardrobe . The rainbow of colours and textures is so refreshing .Warm toasty fingers and a beautiful cashmere scarf around my neck keeping the crisp air from chilling me. I can remember Thomas and a scarf I bought for him when he was four. It was a rainbow . He wore it with little gloves and a mini beanie. Cute ...very cute. I can remember my Mum attaching a pair of gloves to the neck of my coat on a string with the gloves hanging out each sleeve. This way I didnt lose my gloves and I could just slip them on when I put my jacket on.

When I was quite little I can remember going to school on a snowy morning and hoping that we would have a big slide to play on. The snow would melt a little and then re freeze making a slippery path. You took a a few steps back at then running onto the patch we would go for a huge slide down to the end. It was so much fun until the school janitor would come out in his brown jacket with a bucket of salt. He would shoo us away and throw down salt to melt our makeshift playground. That was until the next day when we would try another spot.!!

The trees in winter are my greatest joy. They are bare with their personalities showing. THe intricate weaving of the branches and the soft grey colour are beautiful.Driving in the country and the illusion of fluffiness of large group of trees , bare , awaiting spring. Divine.

Walks in the park and down by the river when the trees are bare and Jack Frost has sprinkled his magic silver dust on the ground. The swirling smokey breaths you take and the layers of warm jackets and jumpers are all signs of a magical time of year.

I am off to stir the pot of soup on my stove. Yellow split pea and vegies today. Yummy.
Have a wonderful winters day xxx coco