I love winter. That may have something to do with the fact that I was and am a winter baby. Yes I know it’s cold and some days it can be quite dark and grey. But, for me winter has a magic all of its own.

Here’s how my perfect winter’s day would look.

It’s a time to get cosy in soft, woollens. I knit on a knitting loom, which is a bit like knitting and weaving all thrown in together. Put me in a wool shop and I’m in wool heaven, choosing my colours and yarns.

I love to venture out into a cold and frosty morning. Wrapped up against the elements I feel as if I am in a warm bubble. My dog and I crunch our way through the frozen grass, breathing in the sharp air. The beautiful, still landscape sets me up for the day.

We return home to

Yes, I know fattening. But, I have just tramped around the field with my dog. Besides, warm crumpets with melted butter gliding down the side of them, make the perfect companions to

a mug of steaming hot coffee and a good read. You have to read and drink coffee to write…right?

Tomato soup is a good substitute. The thicker and creamier the better. ( I’m never going to lose those stubborn pounds!)

If I’m really lucky, it’ll snow …really heavily and then it’ll be back out with the dog and maybe my grandson to play in it.

After all that playing there can only be one more perfect thing, in this the most perfect of winter days…

dumplings! And yes…I’m looking like one now. The next phase of dieting rapidly approaches.

The grandson goes home with mum and I’m left to recover with a glass of wine, by a red-hot fire. Not too close though…don’t want chilblains.

I sit in my home which looks like something out of a country house magazine. All cushions, throws, beautifully coordinated and no clutter. (Yeah, right…I am the QUEEN of clutter.) And I don’t do minimalist – I’m a hippy. I actually thrive on colour and things to look at …and dust. I love dusting…not. You dust, it goes up and comes down again. Why do I dust? Why has no one invented a way to keep dust at bay? Or why can it not be fashionable to have dust and dead skin adorn your television cabinet and bookcases? Why do I not feel at peace with the world until I have dusted?

My wellies and muck boots are never ever this clean. I love my mud and so does the pooch. Life is too short to clean off the muddy boots to go back into the mud and make them muddy again…right? This and dusting are time – wasting chores. I could be knitting, or stuffing my fat face with dumplings and drinking wine!

It’s a perfect end to a perfect winter’s day.

Tomorrow – I start the diet!

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I love the quiet, stillness of winter days. The laid back and hopeful birdsong. The darker days (I’m a migraineur and bright light does not always do it for me…in fact it sometimes does for me!)

I love the naked trees and their skeletal shapes, the fog and mist, the sunsets, the sunrises. The frost on the pavements and the black ice that creeps up on you and nearly catches you out. How I laugh, as I hit the ground yet again and scrabble for the dog lead…before she makes a dash for it.

I’ve found this poem which I feel describes winter perfectly.

Come, oh most glorious Winter
Be quick to lay your silence down
Blanket us with your white coverlet
And i will wear my Green Christmas gown…
We will revel in your snowflakes-
Delight in a skate upon your iced over pond
Build forts and ramparts with much glee
Form a White Winter Bond…;
Come, oh most glorious Winter
We welcome your haunting White Noise…
All your white lanes all aglitter
Trees branches weighted-with White Winter Poise;
All agleaming and crisp making…
Comes thru the Decembers quick air
Completely dressed up in your Winter White
Oh, most Glorious White Winter, so fair!