I Love Winter
What I Love About Winter
So its officially winter where I live in UK. Winter is the end of the year the seeing out of the old and the welcoming in of the New Year It embodies Christmas, New Year, in the UK Cold days and shorter hours of daylight, cosy fires and wonderful winter woollies to wear!
Winter can be harsh and winter can be beautiful. We can have glorious bright cold sunny days or fog and cloud and rain. Ice and snow has its own peculiar beauty along with its problems for us. Many of our plants and trees lose their leaves and colour yet if we look, other things take their place. If things sometimes look dead and lifeless look a little close and you will see the promise of new life still to come, only resting....
While it is not my best time of year, I can find lots to like about it. Sometimes we have to work hard to see what we love about winter and I want to celebrate this season. Here I explore what Winter is about for me.
Please bear in mind that I am building this page gradually -More updates and photos as we go through Winter!
Winter time- love it or hate it ?
Love to know how you feel about winter
Do You LIke Winter?
Wonderful Winter Scenes - Chilly winter
Scenic Winter
Winter can be beautiful and have many spectacular scenes.
Its icy stillness has a strange kind of loveliness that is all its own.
Winter scenes can be very magical and special. This book depicts some wonderful sights to appreciate.
Indeed there is a winter wonderland.
Vivaldi "Four Seasons Winter"
I Love listening to Vivaldi and I think this is beautiful reflection on winter. To me it embodies some of the haunting melody that surrounds our wintertime.
You may find it lovely to listen to this as you look through the rest of the page.
Vivaldi -Winter
Winter At Home
One Of the things I love about Winter is that when it gets dark so early-by 4pm where I live- I like to snuggle up at home with my warm PJ's on , a big mug of hot chocolate or a glass of mulled wine depending on my mood and snuggle up with our big furry blankets to watch a great film.
Of course we have the fire roaring and the flames are soothing and warming. I always have candles lit in winter, it just adds a glow and warming feeling to out home. Essentially we lock the door and are cocooned in our warm as toast home :)
Winter roof and trees scene
Jasmine In The Snow
A Winter Poem
All the complicated details
of the attiring and
the disattiring are completed!
A liquid moon
moves gently among
the long branches.
Thus having prepared their buds
against a sure winter
the wise trees
stand sleeping in the cold.
William Carlos Williams
Heavy snow in garden
LED Ivory Wax Candle
Winter Candle Selection - When the nights are cold light a candle!
When you adore candles as much as I do Winter is a great time to enjoy the rich scents of these winter candles.
It is an evening ritual for me to choose and light a candle and it looks so very lovely and the scents are beautiful!
I do find it difficult to choose a favourite -though I think the Ivory candle depicted here may be just has the edge!
You will need to see which you like best for your home. Winter candles make great gifts as well.
More About Candles
- Candle Culture
I Love Candles. Birthdays, Christmas, healing, Valentines they are used all over in different cultures. I have candles everywhere in our home. Candles can be relaxing and therapeutic. I buy them as Birthday and Christmas gifts. Give them to people...
Vibrant Winter Colour
Winter Lantern
Winter outdoors
When you have a dog you are outside in winter more than most. What I have missed since Goldie passed away is the winter walks we used to take....Admittedly I used to moan a little about going out in the cold but you know once out there in the fresh air and all wrapped up in lovely layers with a bounding dog at your feet, it felt good to be walking and getting good exercise.
I also noticed more about the changing face of nature and seeing the woodland creatures that are around in winter, the stunning starkness of bare branches silouetted against the sky and the amazing tenacity of the few flowers that captured this time as their own. We often had the fields to ourselves in mid winter and except for a few other dogwalkers it was peaceful and calm.
A Snowy Road In Deep Mid Winter!
This winter of Jan 2010 has been particularly severe for us and a lot of roads have been impassible. We are just not used to the heavy and persistent snow that fell.
Gritters could not get every minor road and this was one result!
We could make it down our road to get to the main roads but sometimes felt where is the road!!
Do You Like Snow?
Beautiful Snowy laurel
Here is our laurel quite heavy with snow. As it is evergreen it is a lovely sight in the garden when most plants and trees have lost their leaves. The little birds love it too!
Stark Yet Stunning Bare Branches in Snow
In The Bleak Mid Winter
One of the things I love about Winter is the slowing down of the season and the haunting mellowness of it all. I think this song, the images and its mood for me, sums it all up beautifully.
Christmas At Home
Love Being Home For Christmas
I Love being at home for Christmas. I doesn't really matter to me if it is just a quiet time just me and hubby or whether we have family and friends as guests for dinner or for the whole week! We have done it differently over the years and I just like it.
We have also spent Christmas away from home with family and that is lovely too.
As we have family and friends all over the world one of the things is that we cannot all get together at Chritmas and that means a lot of international phone calls that day!! It is also lovely to give and receive pressies and it is great when those international parcels arrive!
This one from my wonderful friend in US was especially lovely as she had hand made a quilt for us! A truly treasured gift :)
Mostly for me it is a time to chill out, eat nice food and retreat from the pressures of the world, spending time with people I love. Crisp winter walks, warm mulled wine, the pleasure of giving and receiving gifts. The lovely Christmas dinner, I even enjoy preparing that and I adore decorating our home to make it look special and inviting at this time when we have the shortest of days.
Christmas Pressies From Abroad!
Nature at rest in winter
Hibernating Nature
I always find it stunning to see the outline of bare branches against a crisp winter sky. There is something hauntingly beautiful about it.
Many things can look dead in winter yet they are not. It is like they are just watching and waiting for the time to be right.
Some of the familiar creatures hibernate and rest. I sometimes wonder if we should do the same sometimes, instead of rushing around our busy lives, should we too take some time to watch, recuperate and heal?
Winter Magnolia
In winter many trees lose their leaves and our magnolia loses (nearly ) every one. It looks quite dead yet up close there is already the promise of new life in the buds and the gorgeous vibrancy and colour that is to come not too far away...
Winter Watch Animals And Nature In Winter UK
Birds In Winter
One of my great pleasures in the winter is to feed the birds. I just love it when they fly in and twitter at me as I fill up the feeders then almost as soon as I am gone swoop down to feed. They love all kinds of seeds and nuts but probably adore the sunflower seeds the most-they are the ones which go most quickly anyway!
We also have a birdbath which is much used all year round. It is important in winter to go out daily and check that it is still useable as it can ice up very quickly. Recently I had to bash through several inches of ice there as the birds could not drink at all.
I am always so grateful to the birds as when for a year I could barely move with my back pain I could watch the birds and they kept me sane on long days alone when my husband was out at work.
Birds are incredibly entertaining in the winter time and I love to see that first cheeky Robin!
Bird Bath In The Snow!
I think our bird bath looks quite pretty in the snow. However it is not much use to the birds like this so we went out , cleared it and put fresh water in. As it was icing up every few hours we had to repeat the process often...but it was worth it to see the birds happy :)
Feeding Birds In The Snow!!
Do You Like To Feed The Birds In Winter?
Heritage Farms 7533 Absolute Squirrel Proof Wild Bird Feeder -
Feed The Birds
This one is good to protect from foraging squirrels!
It is one of life' little pleasures to be able to feed the birds in winter and watch them as they fly and feed and interact with each other.
As time goes by they will get more used to the feeder and to you and it is simply enjoyable to while away a few minutes, or hours each day watching the birds !
Feed the birds throughout winter, particularly this year they could not get to the food they normally eat so bird feeders are truly a lifesaver....
Very Important To Feed Birds In Winter.
Winter Berries Are Also Important For The Birds
If You Enjoy Nature And Gardening Visit Diary Of A Wild Country Garden
- Diary Of A Wild Country Garden
Reflections on life in a wild country garden. The seasons, wildlife and plants throughout the year.
Bird Prints In The Snow!
When snow has fallen overnight and is crisp and untouched it looks so beautiful.
Even better is when you see signs of nature having visited near our home!
If You Love Birds Come See The Birds In Our Garden
- Birds In Our Garden
Celebrating the bird visitors to our garden throughout the seasons.
Winter clothing
I love the soft, fluffy warm winter clothing. For me the softer the better. From warm wooly jumpers to faux fur hats and gloves, to fluffy socks and warm jammies this is what wearing clothes is all about!!
Then of course there is the more glamourous side of winter clothing the perfect dress for that evening out to dinner ,that special party , maybe a special outfit for Christmas day or New Years eve party. A chance to dress up and glam it up !!
Warm, Cosy Winter hats
- Winter Hats Warm And Cosy For Women, Men And Children
I love winter hats. So practical and so warm and cosy when its cold outside. Winter hats make great gifts in the colder months for Birthday s or Christmas and will be welcomed as the cold and snowy weather start!
Black Cat Full Animal Hood Hoodie Hat Faux Fur 3 in 1 Function Paw Mittens Gloves
We All Need A Winter Hat And Gloves!
We need to look after ourselves too in winter and one f the fun things is we get to wear all those amazing woolly hats , scarves and gloves.
No reason to be boring you can really have fun with this winter gear !
I think you will be toasty warm in one of these!!
Hardy Snowdrops.
Snowdrops are hardy, valiant little flowers who even in the midst of freezing snow bloom their little hearts out. You have to admire their resilience!
They are here for such a short time and are a beautiful sight to see. I look forward to them every year.
Snowdrops In The Snow!
Gardening And Wildlife Throughout The Seasons On Facebook Community Page
If you like gardening and wildlife we would Love to see you down at
There is something lovely about having a cosy winter chat by the fireplace when its cold and dark outside. Feel free to leave a comment or two here if you enjoyed this reflection on winter.
© 2008 RaintreeAnnie