We are now in that bleak stretch of the year – when the jollity of Christmas and the New Year are behind us and the promise of Spring and lighter, brighter days seems like a faraway dream.

I personally enjoy the winter but this year it’s a little different. Even in Kolkata, with its mild winters, our homes, built for the long Indian summers, have been rendered unseasonably chilly this year and everyone seems to be suffering from the sniffs and the snuffles.

 

Here are my 6 tips to alleviate the post- Christmas blues and help to soften the blow of the winter months.

Read books that are wintry, partly Christmassy or are written in a diary format

I do put away my Christmas reading in New Year. It just seems wrong to me to be reading about festive frolic in January. I must admit that books with ‘Winter’ in the title, snowy scenes or those that have occasional Christmas chapters are acceptable to me, however. At the moment I’m reading ‘A City of Bells’ by Elizabeth Goudge. Her writing is so mellow, beautifully descriptive and luckily enough, this book has a bookshop in it AND a Christmas chapter or two. Would you just look at that beautiful cover too! Other books on my January TBR are Elizabeth Fair’s ‘ A Winter Away’, recently reissued by Dean Street Press. I’m also reading a review copy of Peresephone’s latest offering – Stella Martin Currey’s ‘ One Woman’s Year’. To start a book in January, with January as a first chapter is perfectly satisfying, as I’m a diary writer myself. If all else fails, EM Delafield’s ‘Diary of a Provincial Lady’ is sure to provide comfort.

 

Bake season appropriate confections

Firing up the oven during the cold months and making something from scratch feels particularly gratifying. I find Christmas cakes a bit on the heavy side. For the winter months I love baking with raisins, fruits and nuts and find that the addition of cinnamon, orange peel, ginger and other aromatics makes cakes, perfect for snacking with a hot cup of tea or coffee. The best cakes in my opinion, combine equal amounts of sugar, butter and flour.

 

Indulge in all the Vlogmas videos you weren’t able to cram into December

‘Vlogmas’ or the art of vlogging every day in December till Christmas Day is a tradition we indulge in at the end of the year. Although I have never knitted a pair of socks, can’t run a sewing machine and haven’t picked up a pair of needles in a few years, I enjoy watching Vlogmas videos from the following makers : Sew Sweet Violet and Sandy By the Lakeside. There’s something particularly cozy about their videos as they open advent calendars, bake and sew, craft and knit and drink Nespressos. Their videos really put me in the mood for Christmas. Owing to the lack of time to devote to YouTube during December, I always have a backlog of Vlogmas videos in January and it feels just lovely to watch them then.

 

Take down the tree but keep the fairy lights and Christmas cards up

I receive many of my Christmas cards well into the New Year. I’ve even received them in April in past years. There’s nothing as lovely to crack open an envelope from a far away place and feel the pleasure of reading a handwritten note from a thoughtful friend. The greatest gift we can give each other in this fast day and age, is the gift of time and it certainly takes time to pick out a card, write a note and post it. This is why I like to leave the cards up in January. Twinkly fair lights also help to brighten the gloomy days and long evenings.

 

Walk in Nature for even 30 minutes and listen to something

I really am not very good at hitting the gym but I do like to walk in a park or if possible, run my errands on foot. I walk in a small park near my home every day.  It’s a monotonous stretch of path that winds in an ‘L’ shape around a lake and the sameness of the scenery is broken up by listening to various bookish podcasts and audiobooks. Walking in greenery instantly lifts my mood and I take the time while listening to notice small details around me. The patterns of the different leaves, birds flitting by, the undulating motion of branches swaying in the wind. Being mindful while listening to a discussion, a piece of music or a story is calming and grounding. I’m currently listening to Anthony Trollope’s ‘The Prime Minister’ on audiobook. Listening to long unedited, Victorian novels helps me put in those extra steps and keep my mind and body healthy.

 

Drink mulled apple juice and lace it with brandy for those cold cold nights

I’ve discovered mulled apple juice this year. Take cloudy apple juice and dilute it with water to suit your taste and toss in a cinnamon stick, handful of cloves, slit cardamom pods, slivers of ginger, orange slices and then gently bubble it on a stove top. Lo and behold, after ten minutes of steeping, you have a hot drink that will warm the cockles of your heart. Drink it in a mug and warm your hands while nursing the drink. Slosh in some brandy if you feel so inclined.

 

There are many things to look forward to in the new year. Setting up a new diary. Planning seasonal reads. Lighting candles. Baking. Wearing warm socks, creating a winter playlist and taking a hot water bottle with you to bed at night are some small ways in which you can bring greater comfort to your life.

 

Now that I’ve poured out my old-fashioned ways to you, tell me, what can we add to this list of wintertime comforts?