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Wales, United Kingdom
Documenting one couple's attempts to live a more self-sufficient life.

Friday 20 January 2012

The truth about last month

The last few posts here don't really convey the fact that this is a bit of a low time of year. In the run up to Christmas I was getting very stressed about the heating project, and wishing that Christmas would just go away until I finished the work. Then I realised that Christmas wouldn't go away, gave in and left the work to attend to the festivities. Since then, well, I haven't really managed to get back to it.

I'm firmly of the belief that humans should hibernate, to some degree. These cold, dark days in the middle of winter should be spent eating and sleeping, and doing very little else. It is my ambition to arrange my life so that this is possible, but I didn't quite manage it this year. At least, I have done very little, but as there's stuff that needs doing, I feel bad about it, which really isn't the intention.

Focusing on the positive aspects of life and writing up-beat blog posts is an attempt to cheer myself up, and to a large extent it's worked. The recent few days of bright sunny weather helped a lot too, coming as they did after about a month of this:


The view from the window today. As you can see, the sunshine has gone away again and normal service has resumed.

Although I haven't been doing the big, urgent jobs, I have been getting some things done, and I will tell you about those, along with the rest of the heating project, oh, sometime soon, I promise!

4 comments:

  1. I've felt the same way and completely agree about the hibernating thing.

    Stuff needs doing but I need to bunker down for a few more days until the sun is a little more consistent/days a little longer. I'm in maintain rather than push forward mode at the moment.

    We'll get our energy back soon though, and then they'll be no stopping us, right? :)

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  2. I don't like to discuss religion and hold no particular creed myself, but I find it interesting that in the ones I've come across, some sort of 'wind down time' is always encouraged. Sabbath, pilgrimage, meditation, trance ... a time to get away from things and tasks and get in touch with your spiritual self or the higher authority you happen to believe in.

    You do tend to feel guilty putting things off (I definitely know the feeling!) but at the same time, there are times better for work than others.

    I hope you see the sun in your sky soon and the light permeates your heart and soul. Ironically enough, it's raining here and has been since last night. :)

    Relaxing is good, but other than sleep, I don't know the trick to it. When I'm really down, I clean - fiercely! Ha ha.

    Looking forward to your next post.

    Cheers from a overcast Barbados. ^_^

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  3. I am a firm believer in hibernation. When I was an exchange student in Norway, it sort of seemed like that's exactly what people did during the dead of winter. In fact, pretty much everything - schools, stores, businesses, etc. shut down for two weeks at Christmas. That was 25 years ago, so perhaps they've been "modernized" out of it, but it struck me as utterly sane and reasonable.

    I can't get over how green everything is in that photo! It looks more like spring than winter to me! We get lots of snow here (I think it's been 34 inches so far this season) but we also get lots of sun, so I suppose it balances out. Still, I HATE it when the sun goes down at 4:30 in the afternoon!

    But the circle turns, and the days are getting longer... and I'd better get my rear in gear and start the broccoli seedlings soon, or else there won't be any chance of them maturing before it gets too hot!

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  4. Louisa, too right - bring on the daylight and there'll be no stopping us!

    Dana, it's more comforting than it should be to know that there's rain and cloud in Barbados too ;-) That's a good point about religions encouraging 'wind down time'. I rather like the pagan respect for the seasons, myself, though I don't know very much about it (and get put off by the supernatural bits). I also think eight sabbaths a year seems like a good number for marking the turning of the seasons.

    Cat, only two weeks? I'd vote for at least a month! Still, that does make Norway a lot more civilized than most countries.

    You see green? Oh yes, I suppose there is quite a bit in that photo. Mostly, I'd say the dominant colours are brown and grey. White is a treat. We had plenty last year, and very pretty it was too.

    You're not wrong about differences in gardening - I'm currently hoping my broccoli will stay strong through the rest of the winter so I can eat the flower shoots in the spring.

    ReplyDelete

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