This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
To celebrate the publication of her formally self-published novel Conditional Love (isn’t the cover pretty?), Cathy Bramley is here with a few cheer-making things to love about the winter months.
Winter can be such a busy time of year that sometimes it is easy to forget what a magical season it is. So let’s take a moment to celebrate all that is wonderful about winter. Here are my top ten favourite things and I hope a few of yours too!
1. Boots!
Boots are my absolute favourite footwear; I’ve lost count of the number of pairs I have. I even have a pair of sheepskin slipper boots! As soon as the weather turns chilly, out come my boots and on they stay until Easter!
2. Mince pies
Pop a mince pie in the oven for a couple of minutes, add a cold dollop of double cream, put ‘Now That’s What I call Christmas’ on the iPod and I am in seventh heaven. What’s more, none of my family eats mince pies, so I don’t have to share.
3. Frosty grass on a sunny day
I start most mornings with a walk across the fields with my dog, Pearl. She and I both love that crunchy sound of walking on frosty grass. In fact, she tears around in circles like a lunatic! And with the low morning sun making the frost sparkle, there’s no better way to start the day.
4. A real log fire
For me, winter begins on the first day that there’s enough of a nip in the air to convince my husband that it’s time to put the heating on! At night time, we light the fire in the log burner and the two of us get quite competitive about who builds the best fire. He’s usually the winner and I resort to cheating with firelighters! I could quite happily sit and watch the flickering flames all night – so relaxing!
5. Outdoor fairy lightsI adore fairy lights and my daughters and I have them strung up all over the house. But in winter our village gets the fairy light treatment and there is nothing more welcoming as I arrive back home in the dark than to see the trees twinkling with thousands of lights along the main street – beautiful!
6. Films
I’m not a big cinema goer, there just doesn’t seem to be enough time in my week to go and usually by the time I get round to thinking about it, the film isn’t showing any more. So when winter arrives, I treat myself to all the films that I’ve missed throughout the year. I like to set aside a weekend or a couple of evenings and indulge myself with a film fest complete with a family-sized bag of Maltesers!
7. Christmas shopping
I know this is not everyone’s favourite activity, but I love going shopping at Christmas to buy gifts for family and friends. I like to blitz it in a day if I can. I make a list, drive the car into town and then make several trips back to it to drop off my bags. And I always make time to stop off at the Christmas market in Nottingham’s Market Square for refreshments!
8. Damson vodka
Our garden has several damson trees and what is a girl to do when they produce more damsons than she can possibly bake into crumbles? Make damson vodka of course! I pack damsons, sugar and vodka into a large kilner jar in September and by December a deliciously sweet liqueur awaits me. Perfect for sipping while wrapping all those Christmas presents!
9. Sparkly clothes
I love sequins, glitter and sparkliness in all their forms, but you can’t get away with it in summer quite so easily. Somehow, you can wear a spangly jumper in winter and no one bats an eyelid! Overdressed – moi?
10. Christmas TV ads
Come on, admit it, we all shed a tear at that John Lewis ad last year when rabbit bought bear an alarm clock. And all those lovely throwing-a-snowball-at-each-other M&S ones. Ooh and the wonderful one with the little boy saving up to buy his parents a gift and the ones with delicious food… (sigh.) Bring. It. On.
So there you have it, 10 wonderful things to love about winter. Have I missed anything out? Oh yes, now where did I put my reindeer onesie…?
Conditional Love by Cathy Bramley, published by Transworld, is out now.