Worth Sharing This Week: Winter

This week we had a bit of winter weather.   For us it means that we were cold with nights below freezing.   I'm not complaining..  We live in a fairly temperate area and any change from warm is usually welcomed with cries of joy from nearly everyone.  What we miss in snow and cold, we generally make up for with plenty of wet weather.  Last week we had rain every day for seven days.  It didn't rain non-stop but it did rain at some point every day or night.   This week we had three lovely very cold sunny days and then it warmed up and rained again and is still raining.



So in thinking about winter this week, I was not surprised to find that the word 'winter' is derived from an old Germanic word which means 'time of water'.  

Winter is known as a time of  dormancy.  To be dormant means to stop growth or development, to conserve energy, to be 'temporarily inactive'.  Is it any wonder our natural instinct in this season of the year is to sleep, stay close to home, think and plan for the year ahead but forgo too strenuous action?

I found this lovely poem about dormancy...

Winter Trees

By William Carlos Williams

All the complicated details

of the attiring and

the disattiring are completed!

A liquid moon

moves gently among

the long branches.

Thus having prepared their buds

against a sure winter

the wise trees

stand sleeping in the cold. 

Isn't that just lovely?  "The wise trees..."

I know that for many winter is bleak and long and unrelenting.  But I choose to remind myself, especially when the long wet weeks occur and the skies gloom above me, that there is a purpose to winter...And nothing states it more eloquently than the poem above.  "having prepared their buds against a sure winter..."   It reminds me that instead of pushing myself to prepare for the holidays next year I should prepare myself for winter, as well.  And I've been thinking about how I might do that.  I could begin with a reading list of all the lovely books I find I'm too busy to read in the spring, summer and autumn.   And I could gather things to make winter more enjoyable.  Like making a fruit cake in the fall instead of waiting until Christmas week!  Gathering a variety of teas to enjoy.




Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" is a lovely piece of work but his 'Winter' concerto is what I'd like to share today.

Antonio Lucio Vivaldi, was born in Venice, Italy in 1678.  His music is noted as Baroque style/era music.   He was a violin virtuoso, composer, teacher and Catholic priest.  Many of his works were sacred chorals but his best known work is The Four Seasons series of concertos.  He wrote The Four Seasons around 1725.  He died in 1741 at age 63.  He remained a priest his lifelong though poor health excused him from saying mass.

The original compositions of the Four Seasons were accompanied by sonnets which describe the scenes of each concerto.  Winter's concerto includes frozen landscapes, children ice skating, and warming fires.

                      " Winter in the Country, A Cold Morning", by George Henry Durrie, 1861

If this artwork appears familiar it may be because several of Durrie's Americana pieces were chosen by Currier and Ives to be lithographed.  I love how real this house appeared with all the activity and the smoke drifting upwards from the chimney.

Durrie was born in Connecticut in 1820.  He was a self-taught portrait artist, but in the 1850's began painting rural scenes, especially those of winter.  He died in 1863.



An old fashioned garment I admire for winter is the shawl.  I was reminded of this as I watched 'Anne with an e' on Netflix.  There's something so cozy and feminine at once about a woman wrapping a shawl about her shoulders and holding it tightly wrapped about her.  I have two larger scarves that may be wrapped about me but I didn't plan either of them into my wardrobe this winter, more's the pity.    I would like to have a shawl or two to wear when here at home.

I very much enjoy watching a YouTube vlogger called "Farmhouse Vernacular" and Paige often wears her hair up, long skirts and shawls in a pseudo Edwardian farm wife style.  She did a video that you can see on her Instagram account here about how she wraps her shawls.

I found this image of a Victorian handwoven Jacquard as I looked for images of shawls to share:

Isn't it a beauty?  Did you know that there are shawl pins, as well?   This one is an antique that might have graced a shawl such as the one above but it has an almost Art Deco appearance to me.

I go barefoot in the house most of the year, but come winter I wear socks.   I don't like socks that are too thin, nor socks that are too thick and tight.  Before this winter is over I'm going to find some nicer dark socks I might wear about the house instead.

If we had truly cold winters, I might even indulge in angora or cashmere.  We don't...so I'll save my cash for a more worthy purchase.  But aren't these pretty?  Apparently they are men's socks but they are lovely regardless of who is meant to be wear them.



This week I am loving a mid-afternoon cup of hot Peppermint Tea.  I purchased a Twinings Peppermint Tea and find it very refreshing and energizing.  I might add that twice now I've had a headache that eased considerably after drinking the tea, too.    My only regret is that I have no chocolate cookies on hand...I'd feel as though I had a Thin Mints thing going on!




Winter seems to just call for a warming dish of soup or stew, agreed?  It's wonderful for chasing a chill from the body at the end of a long day.  One of my favorite recipes is simple and has the advantage of slow cooking in oven or crockpot.

Lazy Day Beef Stew

2 pounds stew beef (I use chuck roast cut into cubes)
2 cups cubed potatoes
2 cups carrots in thick slices
1 large onion
1 can tomato soup
1 soup can water
1 can green beans (I usually substitute the liquid from the green beans as part of my water)
salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients in casserole or crockpot and cook on low heat for six to eight hours.  Serve with a pan of warm crusty bread and a crisp green salad.  If using the oven, then put into a covered ovenproof dish.  Bake at 300F for 4 hours.