How to survive January?

I do not find January any different from any other month, apart from less gardening. I have a whole host of activities at home and away that keep me occupied all year regardless of weather.

So come the beginning of January I have a journal to start editing, some sewing and knitting projects to return to and I am also returning to some charity work I used to do, but with a different charity.

My eldest son will be 50 in two weeks time.
I just feel old.

I always dread January - so bleak and miserable after the lights and jollity of Christmas - but it never seems as bad as I imagine. Shall spend a lot of it doing a big jigsaw on the dining room table, or curled up on the sofa with a good book, as well as a lot of practice for the piano exam I might be taking in April, if I'm a) up to scratch by then, and b) don't chicken out.
Oh, and a good walk every day - essential for a) counter balancing time spent on sofa with books, and b) working off all the Christmas excess/chocolate - still plenty of all that to go!

I don't mind January and February at all. My worst month is November, just after the clocks go back, followed closely by December with all the Christmas rubbish going on . We are now going the right way, heading towards Spring, and slowly slowly the days will be longer, what's not to like? I love it when we get the first snowdrops peeping through.

We often have a short weekend break..we have been to the Slapstick Festival in Bristol the past two years. This year however we are going on a bigger holiday and are hoping to see the Northern Lights on a Norwegian Fjord cruise. If we are not able to go away then we plan day trips to exhibitions, meet up with friends etc. Not really much different to the rest of the year.

DH and I have a 5* Spa mid week break booked for the last week in January (a very generous gift for all the child care we give). It's on the coast and the area is quite wild and beautiful. I will just keep my fingers crossed that the snow stays away as it is a 6 hour drive each way.
It's followed by a visit to the Theatre on the evening of the day we come home.

We're going to Athens for 3 nights in mid January for DH's 70th bday. Total cost for the pair of us is £331 including flights. Bargain!

TBH I don't mind January, February is a bit of a problem for me.

I quite the cold weather for a few months, love walking even if it snows and I don't mind driving in it either although I know some do. I suppose I just like the seasons and Winter is just one but you always know that Spring isn't far away.

I plan. Something that is an achievement, no matter how small, every day and also make sure there is something enjoyable each day, could be small like a tv programme or bigger like a meal out. Doesn't matter as long as there is something to look forward to each day. I'm not a winter person but do try to make the best of it.

And I like to make resolutions. Not that I've kept one for more than a few weeks, ever. But I live in hope. Must start thinking about this year's....

I quite like January. I like walking in the cold, all wrapped up, and coming back in to a warm house. I like lying under the duvet hearing the poor workers scraping their car windscreens and knowing I don't have to stir. I like reading in bed, knowing it's blowing a gale outside and hearing the sleet batter the window. I like Winter food - one pot casseroles, curries, thick soup. My birthday is in mid January and DH's is the same week, so there's also plenty of and and more , and a couple of family parties to look forward to.

Of course I'm not so keen on the days we look after our DGS, when we have to be up before 6 and don't get home till after 7, and there's black ice on the road and rain lashing the windscreen, but I try not to think too much about that

DH has his birthday on the 2nd . It's really an effort to make a fuss but I do. It hasn't helped that the token sweater ( his proper present is still to come) was needed over Christmas. His cake was baked today and he is having scallops and game pie for his special request meal followed by clafoutis aux pruneaux d'agen.

I rather like January and its promise of new beginnings and the opportunity to declutter. Most of my hobbies are indoor crafts so it doesn't bother me at all except perhaps for the lack of natural light.

and I want to have a clear out, must get motivated.

I will try and catch up with some friends as we were all poorly before Christmas and didn't manage to get together.

Hospital, optician, hairdresser - oh, how the time will fly with all these enjoyable activities!
I still have some plants to put in which should have gone in a few weeks ago.
Must finish the sweaters for the DGDs too before the weather gets warm.

It does always seem a long month though as it seems to start straight after Christmas and drag on.

merlot That sounds lovely. I can imagine you sat at your kitchen table, going over the books, writing notes and warming your hands on a milky hot chocolate.

I watched a Flog It the other day which I had recorded. It was at Tatton Park, in the summer. I hadn't seen it before, it is gorgeous, I might go this year if I can. But just to see the flowers and sun was wonderful on a dark winter's night. It reminds us that there are bulbs getting ready to break through and shower us with their floral beauty. I do think gardening helps to make January more bearable. It seems such a long month.

I have appointments for hospital, different departments, and dentists too. Go to appointment and then leave it until next appointment and get on with something fun, like the auction house.

And Nina

Mine too Kitty ....the big seven zero

The ornamental kitchen sounds very interestingmerlot I wish I was artistic in some manner I just plant the seeds/bulbs and hope and prey they appear when they should,I don't enjoy January/February they are dark dismal months imo even going to work is a bind as the shop is very quiet until about lunch time when all the regular customers make an appearance,not to worry it will soon be Spring ladies.

I don't mind January at all. My favourite gardening books come off the shelves on New Years Day, in particular, Carol Klein's Life in a Cottage Garden which spurs me on to deal with tasks that can be done. I also have an ornamental kitchen garden to design so I might do a proper job and find some design software as my drawing board is lurking somewhere at the back of the garage.

The sewing machine will make an appearance after a trip to the market to buy some fabric for making cushion covers for the mobile home. I will also finish some decorating jobs and the solid wood worktop in the kitchen could do with oiling.

If the weather is truly dire I will have a kindle and TV binge.

Soon be Feb

I don't like January and already I have two funerals to attend.

ps how to survive? I used to spend more time playing the piano, or baking, or sewing, or writing letters. No good going to bed early or I would wake in the middle of the night, bored.

I quite like the winter months, especially here where it never gets dark earlier than 5.30 pm. I like the cold weather, once I get going, and it keeps the insects away.
But I wouldn't like it in Scotland, where we had a place once. It was dark at 3.30 pm, until about 9am.

Mine too kitty

I only said to my husband this lunchtime how i long for the warmer weather so that after lunch i can start pottering in the garden. I hate the cold dark afternoons i seem to gravitate to the sofa put on a film or catch up and promptly fall asleep. In the spring and summer i am outside as much as possible weather permitting, either in garden or playing bowls. This time of year makes me feel lazy and sluggish. I like many other eat all the wrong foods and put on weight and i hate it. I hate having to find things to do in the house rather than doing things cos they need to be done. Maybe i suffer with SAD??? I kind of feel 'shut down'