What do you do to help make the long dark evenings more enjoyable.

Just interested to see what you all get up to during the Winter months. We live outside as much as our weather allows during Spring, Summer and ,usually , early Autumn, eating all our meals out and just sitting and relaxing in the evening until the Sun sets. The long dark evenings/ nights always come as a shock to my system so I tend to save my pastimes/ hobbies until this time of year.

I love reading and always have a book on the go and really welcome having more time to read more books.

I'm very interested in finding out about my long departed family . I began to research and compile my maternal family tree about 9 years ago and so far have delved back to the late 1600s. I find the whole procedure so fascinating. My Uncle got me interested in this as he had done his and my Dads tree so was able to give me lots of advice.

I look out for and buy Jigsaw puzzles throughout the year and stash them away until the Winter arrives.

Since our 2 adorable great nephews joined our family 7 years ago I have knitted them a now growing collection of Christmas Tree decorations . This year I have just finished making them treat bags/ covers complete with chocolate treats.

Every year ( if running ,as last year for some reason it wasn't) I take part in The Big Knit challenge to support Age Uk. Little hats are knitted to place on Innocent Smoothie bottles. The challenge begins around October time and we have until ..June I think it is to send in all our donations. Age UK receive 25p for each hat that gets placed on a smoothie bottle .....so if you spot them in the shops please buy one. You will be helping to support a worthy cause. I've only just got going with my offerings but hopefully will do at least 200.





I also enjoy playing Mahjong and Suduko too.

Please share how you like to keep mentally active during the hibernation evenings as I'm always on the lookout for new ideas.

 

@Oreti it looks like you have a lot to keep you busy this winter.
Lots of great knitting. Great donations. Lots of things to keep you outta trouble.

To answer your question what do I do during winter? Now reading The River Runs Thru’and collect old garden books and study garden catalogs . Also winter is hard on the animals with 2 old horses and 3 dogs and one puppy to care for, & my DH , as his caretaker is always a challenge. I like to paint with watercolors ,oils . Right now busy making holiday ornaments , wreaths for gifts, collecting seeds and & growing amaryllis for gifts. Of course during winter there’s always a lot of clean up and hassles from weather too.

 

Oh how I would love to be able to draw and paint Pac ,I always envy such talent. Our youngest has developed artistic skills probably inherited from my Hubs genes...definitely not from mine.

Yes I can imagine you are kept busy with things. During daylight hours we find we still are too ,if anything it becomes busier due to trying to get everything done in daylight and as the days seem so short now. Like you we can always find plenty to do in the garden ,as you say there's always lots of clean up to do.
I just struggle with the long dark evenings ,especially as I don't require much sleep and am rarely ready for bed before 1am.. We aren't tv watchers and tend to have music always playing in the background which is very relaxing. Of course after the Christmas holidays I begin planning my seed sowing schedules too ......a real spirit lifter.!!!
Now the kids are gone we don't have any pets, the last one passed away about 8 years ago . We knew retirement was nearing and decided to be pet free so as to be able to go away for the day, days or week or two without the worry of having to find care for them.

 

Pac I meant to ask you if you could post some pics of your holiday ornaments and wreaths please, something that has always capture my interest to attempt but as yet never tried. Not to forget you're paintings too of course. Thanks.

 

Oh you guys are terrific— interests and abilities. We are a bit dull by comparison.

We do watch the telly during the evenings, a lot of BBC and of course our own shows.

We read news from different angles to keep up with national and international events. My Bride has collected +/- 13 books to read this winter, and in the allotment during the warm summers’ days.

Of course there is the ongoing planning, work and preparation related to the gardening hobby.

We bake cookies and apple cushions. We make extra chilli and spagbol to freeze-in when we have made room in the freezer by eating some of the veg we put-up during the course of the growing season.

And then there is the administration and house cleaning.

It is also nice to have more time to visit friends, family and acquaintances.

So mates, you can see that we are much less interesting than the two ladies that have written above, still… we keep out of trouble.

BTW— Oreti, nice knitting program. The slip-on’s are really nice. Mate, you’ve got talent !
Can you explain how this scheme works? Do the knitted hoods go on items in the supermarkets with the hope that customers will then buy the products, getting the little knitted thingies to place on their trees gratis?

 

Oreti, Pac, Sjoerd, you all keep busy!

I putter a little in the sunroom. I have a few seedlings started early, pelargoniums and lavender are under LED lights.

There is more uncluttering to do. Between the other house and this one, it has been 25 years of collecting stuff. Last year was a major un-collecting, lots sold on line, put out for free-cycle, or taken to the thrift store. Plus I'm down a couple of sizes now, so even stuff that I like isn't worth keeping. Closets and dressers got even more cleared out. It's a nice feeling, looking in those and everything is easy to see and tidy. I don't need much. There is one storage room to clear out, and the garage. No attic or basement, thank goodness.

There is furniture to repair. Several dressers have drawers that don't work. They are old so don't have modern metal tracks, and need some figuring out to be easily useful again. Plus a dresser that got broken during the big move, lots of drawers needing repair. I kind of regret not throwing it away but it's solid wood, and now it's 75% repaired so there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

I've been off my quilting hobby. As I become less "able", I want that to replace the physically demanding and more tedious tasks that I don't care for but "need to get done". There are several quilts to sew.

I started going to a social services group again once weekly, where people talk about what's important (or not), to be a bit more involved. I'm introverted so mostly just sit and listen.

There are books to read. Currently a sci-fi called "The Hail Mary Pass". I want to re-read some old classics, especially Jules Verne and H G Wells.
.

 

Daniel—What a load of interesting tasks you have.
About those sticky drawers: are they really, really old…like, so old that they do not have rails even?
I ask because I have an old Mongolian chest and a newer Chinese piece that long, lowish and flat. The drawers in both these pieces do not have rails, so I used wax from my bees to get them to slide more easily.

 

@Sjoerd all the hats are collected up by Innocent and they place them on their bottled smoothies before sending them off on all shop and supermarket orders.
I actually think it's now 30p for each hat on a bottle that Age UK receive.

This explains it better...
https://www.ageuk.org.uk/get-involved/corporate-partnerships/our-partners/innocent/

 

Sjoerd you certainly keep yourself very busy too by doing a great variety of things...your Apple Cushions have caught my interest are they like what we Apple Turnovers?

I agree that it's an ideal time to enjoy seeing family and friends too.
We take the opportunity to go and stay with each of our 3 sons too at this time of year. The Spring and Summer seasons are when they escape London and come down to us.

I also enjoy more coffee, cake and catch up times with friends in various cafes in and around the city centre or pub lunches in quaint old pubs. ☕️

 

@Oreti so glad you sent that link to the knit hat bottles. I was having a hard time picturing the whole process.

Now I totally get it. Very amusing and for a great cause. You have some amazing talents .

 

Daniel I've seen your Quilt posts and am in awe of your talent..they are all amazing and utterly adorable stunning ...did you take lessons or did you learn by watching other family members during your childhood days?

You're putting me to shame as I did start some decluttering0 with a fair amount of enthusiasm back in Sept.....but.....I've seemed to have lost it somewhere.

Furniture renovating sounds a very skilful job and must be so rewarding. Well done.

 

Aww thanks Pac.....many of our older folk are having a hard time with the rise in the cost of living especially this year with the additional cost of heating now that the Winter fuel allowance has been stopped. So anything that can help them out and lift their spirits a bit will be an amazing benefit for all.

 

OH-Boy do I hear ya about drawers. Some of the drawers bottom wood has been sliced and needs to be replaced, I’ve been adding plastic drawer attachments to the bottom of the drawers to latch onto the metal rails so the drawers can close to spec. And then your stuck cleaning out all the drawers. It’s a time consuming process.

So glad to hear you are getting out too. Winters are a tough thing here in the PNW. I am glad you have Rufus he is always by your side cheering you on no matter the outcome of any hobby. Once a hobby becomes difficult to cope, I have learned to adjust my perception to my new skills by not comparing to my past outcomes . I do not have the fine motor skills needed, so it’s really a trade off accepting and moving on which is sometimes a slow process.

Daniel I am so looking foreword to your wood working projects , hats and quilts this winter.

 

Wax can help, Sjoerd. I did that with the drawer boxes that also don't have rails.

I think these dressers are over 100 years old, no rails. The drawers slide on wood, which has worn in places. I think your bees wax idea sounds great! And a newer chest of drawers was home made by a previous owner of the house. It's quite nicely built, almost a modern Shaker style, but the top drawer has a broken wooden center guide on the bottom. I need to replace that. I think it won't be too difficult but I procrastinate. I also replaced the ugly handles with ones I like much better.

Oreti, you are very kind.

I am self taught, books, pattern magazines, and some Youtube videos. A lot of learn-by-doing and starting with small projects and working up to larger. Also sewing machine tune- up and maintenance.

The quilt making fell by the wayside this year because of the house fixing up and cleanup for sale, cleaning up this house, and general chaos of moving everything. I hope that's done, or done enough to give me a break soon.

 

Oreti— here is a thread where we made appelflappen (turnovers) a few years ago:
https://www.gardenstew.com/threads/a-little-something-for-with-the-tea.43218/#post-401549

It is getting to be that time again already.
Sometimes the cushions we make square, other times triangular, like in your piccy.

Daniel—I didn’ t know you repaired furniture. That is a serious skill, mate.