Winter Weather Wisdom

Dawn at Orange Court Farm in Littleton.

So here we are at the end of January and it is another flat cold soul less winter day. The photo above is not what the world out there looks like today. This particular shot was taken a couple of weeks ago when we had cold frost and the light levels were higher and I was feeling more positive. I woke up early and dragged myself out of my warm bed for a few days in a row just to make the most of the frosty weather. It was a tonic for my winter blues. I captured loads of good images which I will sprinkle through this post to cheer everyone along. But today we are back to an endless bank of murky cloud and I am fighting the annual seasonal struggles with the barrage of endless grey using my own methods.

Firstly this morning I distracted myself by painting the black plug attached to my iPod speaker with bright orange nail polish. I severely dislike black leads, black plugs, black TVs and go to great lengths to hide them. Putting a flash of bright orange nail polish into my room is preferable to the monotonous black. My TV screen is draped in an old vintage cloth to cut out the expansive flat black surface in my lounge. Black swallows the light and makes me feel negative. My black Bose speaker is hidden under a cheerful linen serviette. If I could buy white appliances I would. Hence the victory of Apple phones and computers. Thank goodness for WHITE!

During this season of hibernation I read loads of books. I recently read Carrie Lloyds 'PRUDE' in one day due to the excellent writing, the relevant subject matter and the fact I had nothing else to do! I also consume bucketloads of podcasts. Again Carrie Lloyd featured heavily in my January consumption. This morning I listened to Episode 27 of 'The Carrie on' podcasts, the subject was WISDOM. I really recommend it to those who are serious about growing up emotionally. Considering the huge amount of information we are overloaded with, we are becoming less and less wise at how we manage it and how we apply it. This podcast nails the simple truth of Godly wisdom versus its more glamorous & applauded but shallow relative - carnal intelligence.

Frosty January morning at Loseley.

I also sat down to read through a stack of old magazines and one article on the subject of our dismal British weather caught my eye. It cheered me up to acknowledge that

"We British can endure our weather only because we are so expert at denying how often it disappoints us." Lucy Hughes - Hallett - Weather permitting.

We deny it with our humour. Our stiff upper lip. Our brief escapes to the sun in the school holidays. We know that warm weather will not arrive until July but every year we kid ourselves into believing that an early Spring is on the way in February when we see our first snowdrops and fill vases with the early daffodils that are sent over from the Jersey isles to be sold in our supermarkets.

Yet we know that every year we will hold ... "Easter - egg hunts among the rain-trounced daffodils of our sodden April gardens. Every year we plan walking holidays in May and weddings in June. We picnic at Glyndebourne, umbrellas spread out over our evening dresses and dinner jackets, or dance knee-deep in mud at Glastonbury."

Who can forget the huge amount of effort and planning that went into marking the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in June. Visitors flew in from all over the world to join in the celebrations and stood beside the Thames to watch the procession of boats in such cold conditions that Prince Philip caught pneumonia!

This time of year is usually filming season at Loseley and it amuses me to see what a huge pretence the whole film industry perpetuates. We pretend it is Spring or the Summer & actresses are sent out in tiny outfits to dance on the lawn when in reality we are just waiting for the next rain cloud to plunge us into another barrage of drizzle. Directors stand around in Arctic proof winter jackets over thick scratchy woollen jumpers while unfortunate actors are made to perform the same line over and over again in very little clothing and wintery conditions.

We are a nation that has learnt to laugh at ourselves. I think fondly back to that game we play every December. Will it snow this Christmas? Another delusion we entertain every year. We hope for snow & we long for it. We place bets on it. Yet we know that during our lifetime we may only see two or three actual snowy Christmases. So why do we keep the hopes alive? We are a nation of optimists. Our garden parties might frequently get rained off, but the gardens themselves are spectacular. The envy of the rest of the world.

If we live in Britain we will spend the majority of our lives under ever changing weather conditions and nearly constant cloud cover. In the summer it is normal to endure 4 seasons in the same day. We live on a small island surrounded by water. These conditions are to be expected.

It is a depressing fact that the 2 most worn items in my wardrobe are a pair of wellington boots that will get worn nearly every day because there is no way of walking in the countryside without them. It is wet and muddy even in June. And multiple pairs of jeans which are tough and can withstand anything thrown at them.

We are about to say farewell to January and enter February. The grizzliest month of the year. I shall continue to hibernate, to bumble along with the rest of our island, making the most of this season of darkness by living in denial. I shall read and listen to podcasts and literally paint happy pictures of summer sunshine. My latest canvas is inspired by 'The Durrells' and their move from the doldrums of murky Bournemouth to light filled sundrenched days on Corfu. I am painting a swimmer on her back lying in a sea of blue. Ever the optimist. I will soldier on through the next 2 months of winter.

Dusk over Loseley in late January winter sunshine.