What To Do, What To Do

The temps here all week are going to be in the single digits. I love the outdoors, but my lungs don't always thank me for breathing in that ice cold air. Chicken chores and maybe scooping snow for a bit will be the extent of it.

I tend to think of doing all kinds of things on my day off from work and end up doing none of them and then feel unaccomplished.

Other than baking, which I'm always up for, what are some things that you all find to do indoors when the weather is that frigid?

Comments

  • Torey
    Torey Posts: 5,679 admin

    I spend a lot of time studying. There are a lot of free courses on the internet right now in a variety of subjects. And, of course, there are always TGN's Academy courses. You could watch the Herbal First Aid video that @Marjory Wildcraft just sent out a link for in her weekly e-mail. I highly recommend it. Especially the duct tape stitching.

    I agree that Richters is very good reading (or other catalogues). Part of the studying aspect as well as dreaming about warmer days with pretty flowers and lovely scents.

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,576 admin

    Or, you could look at these mini woodstoves. They are really cute!


  • flowerpower *
    flowerpower * Posts: 258 ✭✭✭

    Videos: documentaries and online training. Books: usually non-fiction :) . Telephone. Or, pursuing the endless projects and hobbies that I have, these days tending towards preparedness and survival. A particularly special day (like Christmas) spent cooped up along demands a special project where something of enduring value is created. Then that day was productively used.

  • vickeym
    vickeym Posts: 2,134 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Woke to -17 F this morning. Too cold to get much done outside. It was cold enough inside. Our little rough cabin was only 62 F when we got up and is only up to 67 F now. Lots of air leaks and found out we lost some insulation underneath to critters this year.

    Unfortunately our water supply is also getting low and don't really want to go haul water in this weather so we are kinda rationing ours and melting snow for the critters. (our well pump broke and we have to wait till spring to replace it.)

    So for ideas we are using ...

    You could always prep freezer meals or any type of bulk cooking or meal prep. As mentions online courses (herbal and more).

    We have been going through tons of YouTube videos on not only on herbal medicines but also different types of gardening, growing specific types of veggies or fruits, livestock raising methods, building greenhouses, high tunnels and cold frames. Ways to heat those same structures in a cold climate without costing a fortune. Ways to do alternative growing methods without electricity. Root cellar types and construction methods.

    Getting to some much needed sewing and mending projects. Did a bit of canning since we caught ground been on sale.

    As a bonus we are also getting to spend more time together than usual.

  • Annie Kate
    Annie Kate Posts: 680 ✭✭✭✭

    When I have time, I try to dejunk, catch up, organize. When I am having a bad day, like today, I hang out at TGN and learn things--I just finished the shampoo book by @Marjory Wildcraft. It's good.

  • DurwardPless
    DurwardPless Posts: 162 ✭✭✭

    Our weather has been cold lately as well. I suit up, wear a hat and a scarf to cover my face, and head out for at least a two mile walk each day. You get used to the cold weather and I look forward to my walk and feel good about myself. Just do it.

  • lewis.mary.e
    lewis.mary.e Posts: 225 ✭✭✭

    It's super cold here, too. I've been cooking, reading, watching the herb babies grow in my kitchen table greenhouses, playing with our 6 month old pup, listening to my son tell me about his YouTube streaming learning curve, answering questions from potential CSA members, generally staying busy and waiting for spring.

  • silvertipgrizz
    silvertipgrizz Posts: 1,990 ✭✭✭✭✭

    It's going to be very very cold here too in a couple days. tonight will be 17 but in a few more days will be colder here than has been in some years...12 and then 11 the next night...tolerable during the day for the most part x for the north wind/gusts.

    This time of year I am planning my garden...which varieties of each veg, herb, flowers etc. This year I'm, once again doing some changes but this time I think and hope my new layout will make it poss to have quite a bit more things growing...I'm just hoping my clay soil doesn't impede so much...

    Also, always learning as much as I can whether in book form, the tube..and email subs...and of course TGN..

    Don't forget you can buble wrap your window by just spraying water on the window and placing the bubble wrap against the wet window...it stays until you pull it off unless it's close to an overhead heater vent...

  • stephanie447
    stephanie447 Posts: 404 ✭✭✭

    I work from home, for myself, so there is always stuff to do. Marketing the business, answering emails, dealing with financial stuff. I have to try to set work/life boundaries so I can take more breaks and do nurturing things like exercise, prayer and meditation, and crafts, etc.

  • naomi.kohlmeier
    naomi.kohlmeier Posts: 380 ✭✭✭

    Oh my goodness! Good for you! I need to suit up, get my hat and scarf on and get my whiney self outside for some fresh air and clear my head! Thanks for the "buckle up buttercup" advice. 😁

  • frogvalley
    frogvalley Posts: 675 ✭✭✭✭

    I must admit that I get very lazy on a very coooold day. Reading is my goto activity when I don't want to put my tootsies on the cold floor.

    Lov me some squash baking in the wood stove for hours, curled up watching a gardening show or phoning my ever growing flock. I also use this time to design some new fangled way to do something with a watcha ma call it.

  • happy-trails
    happy-trails Posts: 170 ✭✭✭

    I love doing "cooking marathons" when I have extra time; it helps me to get through the long winter months in NY, but also it allows me to get tons of meals prepared and frozen. That way, when the season of sunshine and gardening comes, I will be SO glad to be freed up to stay in the garden longer working, or not having to worry about food after a long day out hiking. All I have to do is pull out a nutritious freezer meal and pop it into the oven or crock pot! Those days make me super happy.

    I also enjoy getting together with people as much as possible, building relationships and making meaningful connections. I like reading... mostly books that I glean more knowledge from regarding healthy lifestyle, natural medicine, nourishing diet, psychology, etc.

    Do you like writing letters? I absolutely cherish and indulge in sitting down to write a personal letter from my heart... there's something about taking the time to write to the special people I love! Nobody writes letters these days, and I think it's a nice surprise when they receive it in the mail.

  • judsoncarroll4
    judsoncarroll4 Posts: 5,490 admin

    There is a reason so many folks in the Appalachian mountains are phenomenal musicians! I may not be that great, but I learned to play a dozen instruments or so during long winters with spotty power.

  • gardneto76
    gardneto76 Posts: 528 ✭✭✭✭

    Lots of people mentioned cooking. I don’t like to cook so much but my hubby does. I love to look through cookbooks and online for all kinds of new and interesting recipes. In cook books I flag them with sticky note, online I save them to my Pinterest. I have also been working on finishing a blanket I started a LONG time ago. Most of my down time is at work so reading and any kind of needle work. At home I feel guilty if I sit around to long as I know I have limited time there to get things done.

  • VermontCathy
    VermontCathy Posts: 1,987 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I've spent a lot of time working on my business and planning trips for summer. Canoeing, hiking, and general outdoor activities. There will be a lot of fun things to do once it warms up.

    And the more I earn this winter, the more flexibility I'll have to take time off this summer. 😉

  • Monek Marie
    Monek Marie Posts: 3,539 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited February 2021

    Winter is for reading and learning online. I take so many classes in the winter online.

    I just spent 45 minutes beating one inch of frozen ice off the car so I don't need to exercise today. I can fill that spot with a nap