Day 284: To Battle the Winter [Blues]

So far these last couple of weeks of fall there have been just the right amount of beautiful days to offset the possible bad weather-induced depression. There have even been some split days where the weather has been pretty near perfect in the morning, but then turns cloudy, cold and windy in the afternoon. I am okay with those days but two or three days in a row of purely rainy, dull weather and someone turns into a grouchy bear. I'm not saying who but she writes a positivity blog and she told me just recently that it is harder to find happy on those days. But she still tries.

With daylight hours already beginning their slow, death march to longer hours of darkness, and the weather becoming quickly colder, I've decided that I need to arm myself with some weapons to battle the fast approaching winter [blues]. I have found that planning trips and having projects and activities to look forward to always helps tremendously. Just space them out so that there aren't any long periods of inactivity, especially during January and February. Right now I am looking forward to a trip home to visit family and friends and, while there, getting to do a little shopping and eating at some of our favorite places.

In the middle of our travel we will also be celebrating some birthdays and anniversaries, which will be really fun. Then the holidays are just around the corner and I absolutely love all of the festivities that they bring. The Christmas markets in Sweden are filled with so much tradition and I love all of the handmade arts and crafts. I am hoping to start making some of my very own this year and, in fact, I am enrolled in a ceramics class that starts the week we come home from our trip.

I also love this time of year for baking some traditional favorites, such pumpkin bread, apple pie and homemade soups. These are especially great for chasing the winter blues away. This year I also have several craft projects in the works. I have always loved to make things and be creative, a special bonus being that most of these things are indoor activities so I can pretend that I just decided to stay in, even if the weather stinks.

What are your favorite "chase the winter blues away" activities?

Just wanted to share these pretty leaves that were in my path today...