A Few Things On A Winter's Day
Hello friends! It's a cold, snowy day here and I am looking for all the ways I can to bring a little cheer to the indoors. Here in Asheville, we seem to be stuck in a pattern of really cold temps and we added snow and ice to the mix yesterday. The cold weather is due to be with us into the next week. I really am not a fan of the cold, or of snow, but I will admit it is very pretty to look out the windows and see the snow. One way I bolster my spirits during the winter is to look for ways to bring in light. I purchased the crystal tree you see in the above picture before Christmas thinking it would be a good "winter" decoration.
I also changed over my ceramic tree from multi-color lights to white lights and created a little display with snow globes and a glass deer. I have since moved the ceramic tree to the bottom shelf of the side table in the living room and like it better there. It's nice to have pretty lights in several areas of the house especially in the evening.
And then, feeling like I still needed some brighter lights, I put the little three foot multi-color light tree into action again, this time fashioned as a "winter" tree with the addition of pine cone ribbon wrapped around it. I really do love multi-color lights and I was missing them after putting the Christmas decor away so I just took the tree out of its box once more. I haven't put a wrap around the bottom of the tree as yet but am keeping my eye out for something more "wintery" that I can use. I really do feel that my winter decor is different from what I used for Christmas and the extra light definitely helps to improve my mood during these long, cold nights! Winter has never been my favorite season, unfortunately. I don't like going out on potentially icy and slick roads and, since falling in October and breaking my wrist, I am doubly afraid of falling. The Mr. loves winter and the cold doesn't seem to affect him like it does me. And while he doesn't take unnecessary chances, he doesn't feel the panic I feel about driving in bad weather. Opposites attract, right?! Since I retired there is less worry about going out in bad weather although there are still times when I have to make the call about going out or staying in.
When the snow starts to fly, I always feel like cooking and baking. Yesterday, as we were experiencing a snowstorm, I decided to bake some homemade bread. This is the result. I use bread pans that belonged to my Mom and always feel close to her when I am mixing, kneading and baking bread. She was an amazing bread maker and I can still recall the smell of the house with bread in the oven and then her cutting me a thick slice and spreading butter on it and pouring me a glass of milk to wash it all down. Our house smelled really good yesterday as this bread baked and it evoked many such happy memories.
I'll share a little bread making secret with you that I recently discovered. You may already know this and I was just late in coming to the party, but rapid rise yeast has made all the difference with my bread baking!
I could never get my bread to rise like this before using rapid rise yeast!
And how pretty is this perfectly browned loaf of bread?! Yes, I'll admit to being proud of myself!
These winter skylines and sunsets are really beautiful. One blessing from the hurricane is that we now have a mountain view that we did not have before. Of course, that happened because so many trees were blown down during the storm. There seems to be positives and negatives to everything. Including the winter season.
I try to bring cheer into the winter by adding colorful and bright lights and cooking hearty, filling, and warm meals that bring happy memories to mind.
How do you style your life for Winter? Be sure to share in the comments. I love hearing from you! Stay warm!
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Until Next Time,
Debbie (This and That)
*Note: We now have much more snow than what you see in these pictures which were taken over a period of several days before yesterday's storm hit.
