closing in on spring
wintering | volume 10
Oh hey friends.
We are coming to the end of our wintering series. Next week will be our last letter, making this the longest running wintering series ever. Each email takes me about 3 hours to write and format. Research and photography (including editing) takes 2-4 hours per email. I’m not sure how much time per week I spend trying new meal recipes and making new drinks, but that time doesn’t count cause it’s always delicious. Haha. It costs me about $1,000 per season to purchase new books, games, clothing, and crafts and I love every single second of it. This has become such a fun little hobby for me each winter and I’m so grateful for it. It’s worth every hour and penny and I truly hope you’ve enjoyed it and that it’s helped make your winter a little more magical.
After next week, we’ll continue our cozy wintering journey in the wintering discord, where you can continue sharing your books, hobbies, outfits, and wintering scenes. We only have a little over a month (45 days!) until Spring is here. You’re in the home stretch. Just a little bit longer….
In this wintering volume …
+ something to eat
+ something to drink
+ something to watch
+ something to play
+ something to do
Let’s start of this email with a little immune system help from one of our wintering community small businesses. These organic elderberry syrup packets are from @spinellisbelly There are different flavors/purposes to choose from and each packet has directions on how to make the syrup. Elderberry is a magical tool for your winter toolbox… or just your general My Kids Are in Public School + Sick All the Time Toolbox.
something to eat :
Braised Rib Risotto
The recipe is too long to include in this email, but the full instructions + photos are on Lauren from Scratch. Feels like such a perfect winter meal!
something to drink :
Vanilla Almond Snowflake Latte
Ingredients :
1 cup of almond milk
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon honey (adjust to taste)
1 white tea bag
Optional toppings: whipped cream, a sprinkle of nutmeg, or slivered almonds
Instructions:
Warm the almond milk over medium heat until it’s steaming (but not boiling). Stir occasionally to avoid scalding.
Remove the saucepan from the heat. Add the white tea bag to the almond milk and let it steep for 3–5 minutes, depending on how strong you want the tea flavor.
Remove the tea bag. Stir in the almond extract, vanilla extract, and honey until fully combined.
Froth the milk, pour the mixture into a mug, + top with whipped cream, a sprinkle of nutmeg, or slivered almonds.
something to watch :
for the grownups:
+ The Grand Budapest Hotel
+ Anna Karenina
for the kids :
+ Wild Robot
+ The Secret of NIMH
something to play :
Our very last cozy switch game rec is The Wild at Heart. It’s part exploration, part puzzle solving, part resource management, and the art is whimsical and beautiful. It reminds me a bit of the show Over the Garden Wall.
something to do :
It’s always a good time to start a new hobby and I will die on that hill. The problem with hobbies is that you have to invest a bit of money upfront for something that you’re not sure you’re even going to enjoy. But still - the emotional and mental benefits of having a hobby are so vast, that I think it’s worth the investment. ** But a little tip : thrift stores are hobby graveyards and you can often find entire supplies of a abandoned hobbies just waiting for a new home.
I’m a hobby girlie through and through, so I thought I’d share some of the ones I’ve gone through over the years.
Color-By-Number painting - I picked this up when I was hospitalized for a few weeks and it was such a nice brain-off activity to do while I watched TV or listened to music. There are some really beautiful designs out there!
Diamond painting - I didn’t enjoy this one as much because it’s so tedious and I just never had the patience to finish anything, but if you like really particular things, you’ll love it. Come over to my house and I’ll give you my leftover supplies. ha!
Embroidery - You can get some really beautiful, simple kits. I love hobbies that give you things that you can hang in your house and impress guests with. “Oh, you love that? Well, I made it.”
Crocheting - This has been my longest-lasting hobby. It’s easy to learn, fun, and a good life skill to have, I think.
Photography - This requires zero investment if you have a camera on your phone. You can do so much with phones now. There are youtube channels and blogs that will help you learn! iPhonephotographyschool.com , Regan Baroni, and nocamerabag.com are great resources.
If you have a little money to spend, I love my Sony ZV-E10. I was a professional photographer in another life and had a fancy SLR with all the lenses, but making a business out of it killed the love of it for me. I just picked photography up as a hobby again this year and I’m loving the simplicity of my little mirrorless camera and just two lenses.
Tell us the hobbies you’ve loved and/or abandoned in the comments so we can hobby shop!
Before we head into our week, I wanted to share another wintering small business (there will be two in next week’s email as well!) We’re headed into Spring so fast and I think these earrings are just so sweet and light and perfect for sunnier weather. Might have to bring them on my annual Florida mental health trip next week! The Daisy Pearls are my favorite. I’m such a sucker for a daisy earring, especially when it’s handmade from polymer clay. I have such a sensory issue with heavy earrings and always end up ripping them off. But earrings like this you forget you’re even wearing them until someone compliments you. And they do.
Thanks for sharing them with us, From Dust Designs!
Ok that’s it for this week, friends. I’ll see you next week for our very last wintering edition.
xoxo
I love tea lattes, so I can’t wait to try this one out 😋
I love hobbies but I’m so bad at them😂. I knit, it keeps my hands busy in the many meetings I have with church, and I do photography…or I’m trying to!