Favorite Winter Pastimes

greyfurball
greyfurball Posts: 591 ✭✭✭✭

It's almost unbelievable but it's like winter here and it's the 1st of November.

The extended forecast for the next few weeks is even calling for colder and colder temps with high winds and maybe some snow. Actually we've already had snow a few weeks ago in October.

Now it seems they are talking single digits is possible next week.

Well, for me this is great. I'm a snowbird. Love cold weather. But I usually have to wait until February to HOPEFULLY get some of this type of weather. And here it is 4 months earlier this season.

But this weather does put a crimp on many types of outdoor activities. So what does everyone else like to do in the true winter season?


Comments

  • Linda Bittle
    Linda Bittle Posts: 1,518 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I read. Every evening, but in winter I can just go to bed earlier and read more! I work on crafts, and mend things. I cook more soups and stews and casseroles. I watch movies (John Wayne is still a favorite!), and I plan what to do in the yard and garden next. But mostly, I enjoy sitting on the couch, wrapped in a cozy blanket with the dog and the cat nearby while I read. And enjoy a warm beverage.

    Outdoors there's snow tracking, and I like to walk on the trail unless it's very cold, or icy. I have snowshoes, but find that it's really hard on my hips these days.

  • Obiora E
    Obiora E Posts: 517 ✭✭✭✭

    I like to put out seeds in the snow, take photographs, and plan for the next year.

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin

    Building forts, tunnels, snowmen, sledding/tobogganing are some of our pasttimes. I used to like downhill skiing, but doubt that my knees could handle it anymore.

    We have snowboards, snowshoes, cross-country skis...and a snowmobile that no longer works..that is a "past"time. Haha! When the kids were young, we used to get a dog to pull a sled. We have a light racing dogsled & X-back harness, but our current dog was not trained and is most likely too small to do a great job anyway.

    I love stew and heavier comfort foods (less salads), & cookouts in the snow with hot chocolate & cookies.

    For our first BIG snowstorm every year...you know, the really bad type where you can't see far, there's high winds, bad/closed highways...we are usually out on those days (back roads are usually better). It's often an adventure. We got our first one done early this year during our Thanksgiving. Haha! If we can't get out, being cozy indoors once chores are done is great!

    My husband, even in/after the worst snowstorms, will go to work to clear snow. A few years ago, he took the tractor & drove over hard 6' drifts to get there, then used a massive loader to clear solid depths like that at work. That was quite a storm! 😀👍👊

    Winter on the Canadian prairies is quite something!

  • ines871
    ines871 Posts: 1,283 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Tho the Better of us watches the world go by every day of the week anyway, - during Winter we enjoy watching about 2 hour U-tube movies like THE NUTCRACKER, you know where on Christmas Eve a young girl named Clara wants to stay up to play with her Nutcracker doll, but she must go to bed. After everyone has retired, she sneaks downstairs to be with her doll, falls asleep and dreams a magical... dream: Clara is kidnapped by a Mouse King, but her Nutcracker doll--now a dashing prince--rescues her https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdFD96RoVYk

    And we love drinking the best Apple-cider I have ever found https://www.amazon.com/Trader-Joes-Halloween-Thanksgiving-Favorite/dp/B015Y8Z8FO , but (instead of amazon's ridiculous cost), I buy this 1/2 gallon bottle at only $3 at Trader Joe's, Yea 🤗 so I get it by the case (6 in each).

    Additionally, no proper German would EVER go without the traditional German Winter-bread our "Stollen". But I should share this in the food-section. Let's just summarize it here by calling it yet Another 'divine' pleasure...oh YES 🤩

  • greyfurball
    greyfurball Posts: 591 ✭✭✭✭

    I love to hear what everybody says but @Laurie I would absolutely love to be a kid in your house.

    Your winter fun sounds spectacular. I wouldn't mind even joining in now at my age. Everyone now seems to think I should be at that "sit on the rocking chair on the porch and act your age." That's just not me and never will be.

    @rainbow I'd love to see your Stollen recipe. I have to contend with food allergies but I've learned a lot of tricks along the way on how I can convert a recipe so when you have time please share it with us.

    @Obiora E yes all of us gardeners know winter is not for relaxing. It's the most important time of year to plan so we can have a successful garden season in the next year.

    @Mary Linda Bittle and yes the cat and dog thank you immeasurably for your time and attention to them also. Bundling up and close together is a rare treat for any animal. It's just one way they thank you for your love.

  • shllnzl
    shllnzl Posts: 1,820 ✭✭✭✭✭

    My husband is an avid snowmobiler. A couple of times each winter, the whole family travels to the cabin with him. Roads are not plowed, so travel is difficult. We use a tracked ATV to get to the cabin sitting at 8100 feet in elevation. This is me in the sled with chihuahua sticking out of my coat. You can see the back of my white German Shepherd. The parrot is in a backpack next to me. It is a hassle to get there in winter, but the sled ride is fun.

  • chimboodle04
    chimboodle04 Posts: 286 ✭✭✭

    I usually take up some project that I can do while cozying up in front of a fire with a nice warm drink :) Last year it was a large knitted blanket for our living room - this year, I have started a cross stitch piece to hang in the dining room... Planning and dreaming about next years garden is also a favorite lol!

    @rainbow Stollen is one of our favorites too for Christmas!!! I was devastated three years ago when I was diagnosed with Celiac and was facing future holidays without this (and many other favorite) recipes... Since that time, we have actually found a fabulous gluten free recipe that is perfect - a must for the German blood in this household too lol! Thanks for making my mouth water thinking about it 😂

  • herbantherapy
    herbantherapy Posts: 453 ✭✭✭✭

    I catch up up my herbal studies and write more and read more. I also bake a lot more and make new clothes.

  • ines871
    ines871 Posts: 1,283 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November 2019

    @greyfurball You said it ALL with "be a kid." & may I add Forever...

    The all-time worst mistake to fall prey to, is to abandon our Child abilities...

    One of our Winter activities is either listening... to music, (or in my case singing... along with). I have countless, & not all Christmas songs either.

    As long as I live I will be encouraged... by others also daring to dream, & succeed... Like have you ever heard Alma Deutscher https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCYwQegeYlw Alma Elizabeth Deutscher (born Feb. 2005) is an English composer, pianist & violinist. - She began playing piano at the age 2, followed by violin at 3. She started composing at 4, & at 6 she composed her first piano Sonata. At age 7 she completed a short opera 'The Sweeper of Dreams'. At 9, she wrote a concerto for violin and orchestra.

    Here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3YlcHyF9dc&t=29s she explains: "When I try, it usually does not come. But when I do something else, like I use my pink, sparkly tasseled jump rope (iow she's in a Receptive state of mind) then melodies arrive... & "with my music I want to change the world" https://alma-deutscher.lnk.to/FMBOM

    Age 10 Alma wrote her 1st. full operaCinderellahttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0mb0F8fjqQ Mind you at 14 minutes into this short movie, she has 4 random Notes pulled out of a hat by someone, & in but 40 seconds she spontaneously... Composes & plays an entire piece of music (2.5 minutes long) right on the spot. Most of the music is in her head, she said, Cinderelladebuted in Vienna in December 2016 and played to a sold-out house. - https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/14/world/europe/alma-deutscher-prodigy-mozart.html In addition to her home schooling, Alma takes classes in ballroom dance & theater. Singing in two different choirs has helped her with her German and provided a circle of friends, whom she meets at cafes for a slice of Sacher torte or an apricot palatschinke, a Viennese crepe. She has little interest in social media. She does not even own a cellphone.

    “I would love to dance in the balls in Vienna,” she said. “And maybe dance to my own waltz.” More immediately, she is looking forward to her performance at Carnegie Hall, Thurs, 12-12-2019 where she will be among the youngest composers to perform their own works there, officials said. YouTube channel

    As the Conductor says: "It is Natural for her, because it is play... " - Ah yes, when we simply Allow ourselves to play... this is how we come to know & share experiences...

    Have you had abilities/experiences you can not totally/fully explain to someone else, but to you it is Natural... I have as well. - Actually Truth be told Each of us is so blessed, & we are free to individually decide How to Express & share....

  • greyfurball
    greyfurball Posts: 591 ✭✭✭✭

    @rainbow just reading over your list of accomplishments for this girl only shows me how much of "a hillbilly" I am.

    Now I am not using that term as derogatory but it's more a feeling of lack of accomplishments with my lifetime. But then I know we all have a different level of abilities to which we can attain to. I just believe we all have the capability to meet certain goals and as long as we use our time on this Earth to attain a new goal every day, every hour, every minute we are living up to our potential.

    But to compare myself to this young girl, yes I am a true hillbilly.

  • merlin44
    merlin44 Posts: 426 ✭✭✭✭

    @greyfurball I agree, living up to one's potential is the most important realization one can have during our time here. From the little I know, it appears you have a very special bond with the feline world, a very envious ability that few possess. Comparison to another is useless as @rainbow indicated, as we are all "wonderfully made".

  • ines871
    ines871 Posts: 1,283 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November 2019

    Okay, there is a misunderstanding of why I posted what I did. - Prolly should have spelled it out better. Let's try this again, okay?

    Sure Alma is at what many might think of at the Extreme-end of high achievements at such a young age; but to solely focus on her age, & then compare oneself to her, completely Misses the point. Forget age & particularly do Not compare, in all but the most important aspect.

    Instead, I shared this because she is an Easily-noticed example of when I Agreed with you re "be a kid." & added Forever... our Child abilities... Notice at the end I quoted several conductors Astute observations, of HOW... she can do what she does: "It is Natural for her, because it is PLAY... "

    Most likely 99.9% of people have not had a Childhood she enjoys, & quite Freely. I certainly did not either. - So does that Negate "Truth be told Each of us is so blessed, & we are free to individually decide How to Express & share...." ?? - most certainly not.

    So what is the Take-away here? - Simply this>>>> " When we as an Individual allows a 'Receptive state of mind' then .... " All kinds of results, (what other people usually refer to as 'prodigy, or 'genius', or 'impossible', or 'miracles', iow acts beyond what most of society calls "normal"), can & do in fact happen. - Really, when you think about it, Each of us has the blessed Ability (at whatever chronological age, which doesn't matter) to >Play... in a Receptive state of mind< & I added " this is how we come to know & share experiences... " Does this explain it better @greyfurball ?

    I can share personal examples of when I have & continue doing so, but after you said "absolutely love to be a kid" wanted to Focus on you & your forever-more ability to so live 🙂... & share with yet others.


  • greyfurball
    greyfurball Posts: 591 ✭✭✭✭

    @rainbow you are taking my rebuttal too close to heart when I say now I feel like a hillbilly. I have no desire to compare myself to this young girl's accomplishments. She is a true master of her art. That's just not me and never would I wish it to be only because I do not have that kind of potential.

    But my comment was just a reflection for me saying she has a true gift and she has lived up to its potential. We should all take that message and apply it to our own life.

    But when I do hear what she has accomplished with her life, for myself, yes, now she makes me feel like my accomplishments are just as important as a hillbilly. As I said this is not a derogatory comment. It just means she has a capability far and beyond what I could ever accomplish in my life.

  • ines871
    ines871 Posts: 1,283 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Aawww, Sigh. Since that carefully-chosen example, apparently was unfortunately only a belief Stumbling block, can we just Agree to FORGET it in this present Context, please.


    Honestly, based on apparently other countless... real-life constructive examples, also continuing as adults , what I know is all/Each of us has in fact the Innate capability & potential & ability to share... all kinds of Growth experiences... that (unfortunately too many others from Limiting beliefs still outright reject) yet are true. Therefore encouraging yet more... such growth, is my whole Intent. - iow I was simply trying to be of such shared experiences evermore Encouraging... including in "Favorite winter pastimes" so have fun... @greyfurball

  • ines871
    ines871 Posts: 1,283 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Along the above theme we enjoy countless others..., & not just during winter... Have you ever been made fun of at your expense? - I have, tho mostly 100's x on-line.. particularly as the few who do it, care less what impact it may have. Like when such, drive people to end their life. ~

    And yet, there were at just the right time these magical moments, when some 1 or others Deeply care, & the world is never the same from then on: "You can not read a book by its cover, you have to read what is INside". Such was the experience of Jonathan & Charlotte https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41IS2OKqq1w Enjoy! ---- And because they stepped UP at just the right moment, they were able travel to Europe. & learn from the best, which Encouraged both to start yet another chapter in their career & life.. Too here's during winter's pastimes another of their performances: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pjr6xX6ev8

    When as Director I solo'd this famous song "oh Holy night", as well in a duet with an accomplished tenor, many commonly said after performances " I wish I could sing like that, but I've never been able to, so obviously I can't. I'm tone-deaf (or some other only Limiting 'belief'); which because I Lovingly invited them to come join the choir, & they decided to step UP to their own opportunity, where each discovered much to their delight "Yes, I CAN sing, & well after all". - https://explorersfoundation.org/glyphery/122.html True, 'as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. And our presence automatically liberates others." - Have participated in many such experiences & beyond a pastime winter or summer, touching another's soul is true & magical any time of the year. Happy Holidays !

  • dimck421
    dimck421 Posts: 203 ✭✭✭

    Once the crops stop yielding, we begin building and complete odd projects, as well. This fall, we will move hundreds of tobacco sticks from the dark tobacco barn to the flu tobacco barn. We waited to move the sticks for cooler weather, as snakes are not active. They love to hide in the sticks. I have no need for them, but at this point, I can't part with them. We plan to build a greenhouse and a tool shed. On blustery days, there is reading waiting and baking. I love spring and summer, but winter is time to regain and restore, with mindful walks in the wooded areas and quiet moments, watching sleeping vegetation.