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Wednesday, February 26, 2014

still winter



In the beginning, we cozy up to the wood stove and think of all the long, dark nights ahead where we can knit, read, watch movies, paint, and dream. There's the joy of revisiting favourite winter meals, hearty and warming, and the novelty of winter sports after a long summer of sand in your butt. 

But when my husband went down to the basement last night to load up the furnace with wood (again), we looked at each other in near-disbelief. It's still winter? It feels like it's been a long one. If I have to eat one more bite of shepherd's pie, I might run away forever. And don't get me started on the daily search for mittens, hats, neck warmers, and long johns before I head out to work with the kids in tow.

When this feeling of cabin fever hits, it's good to pull out the seed catalogues and gardening books and plan improbable gardens. We dream of the root cellar we'll have, and how we won't have to buy any root vegetables or apples next winter (we dream of this every year and it has yet to actually happen).  But the dreaming in itself is balm for the winter-weary soul, picturing tender new green things reaching for the sun.

After all, one can always find a sunbeam to squish oneself into. One might have to share it with a heat-seeking feline, or one might also use it as a spotlight for the many masterpieces one cranks out in a day.

I know in my head that winter will end. But by late February, it always feels like this has been the longest one ever. It feels like we'll never make it through with our sanity intact. 

But we will. Right? Maybe after we make one more pot of soup, Maybe this shepherd's pie will be the last one. In the meantime, I'll be here, knitting away on my Dala Mittens in hopes of wearing them (at least) once before real Spring arrives, and dreaming of rhubarb, fiddleheads, and fresh greens.

6 comments:

  1. I feel the same way *sigh*…my garden catalogues are in my bathroom…I hide away in there and dream about summer! (and without that "dream) of gardens and the promise of growth, what else is there?! I don't want to live in a world where that is not a possibility in my life. Love you :) maureen

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  2. So true! Even my winter loving self is tired of the whole thing. I keep looking for the tiniest of signs that Spring is coming. Wondering if it is too early to get some greens into one of my raised beds...surely I could dig it out.
    But wow, the promise of it coming - that's what it's all about.
    Enjoy the day.

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  3. When you come in March, let's have a barbeque! THAT will feel more spring-like. Although hopefully by then, it WILL be spring...

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  4. February is the *worst* month of the year. I know it only has 28 days, but every year, I wait impatiently for it to be over. I make myself wait until March for the exquisite torture of planning my garden.

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  5. painting is a great way to while away the winter

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  6. Oh yes, my dream garden is magnificent! So is that dream of having a house that is finished. And a farm that has all of its fences repaired.

    How are the mitts coming along?

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