Invite Yourself Into Your Home

There is a let down that happens once the Christmas decorations are down and packed away. Gone are the sparkles, the reds and greens, the mice in stocking caps and manger scenes.  The company has all gone home and winter is ready to settle on my house.

Only the wreath on my bedroom closet door remains. ~

I love those old, board doors and their original hardware.

The wreath really stayed up because I have such a crush on the white birch and glitter stars I tucked in among the pinecones.  I simply could not bear to pack them away yet. ~

When a Canadian winter day sends you something like this ~

You have to develop strategies to keep your spirits up.  One year, I decided to treat myself as well as I would treat a guest in my home.

I decided to make everything as clean, pretty and welcoming as I could.

Now, on these icy, grey days, I light the candles.  All of them! ~

In the evening I take long, hot baths and use every nice potion I have on hand. ~

There's no danger of me running out of bath products. Ever since my divorce people have been giving me bath potions by the basketful.  I'm not sure if they think my husband left because I didn't bath often enough or if they think I need to smell like an English cottage garden in full bloom to attract a new mate.  I ponder these things while I soak in the tub.

I use all my prettiest things to make the day special.  

Tea is served in my grandma's special teacup; the one that fascinated me as a child because of the beautiful rose inside. It has to be a strong tea to fight off the gloom.  An Oolong or Earl Grey is called for and not some insipid herbal concoction. 

Tiny, fairy lights in plants give a bit of sparkle. ~

You can buy strings of battery operated fairy lights at Ikea for $2 and they make me feel like I'm in Disney World.  Sometimes I'll ask the florist for damaged roses or a single carnation to float in a bowl of water.  It only costs a dollar or two and does wonders to lift the spirit.

Stacks of books wait for me to curl up in front of the fire and travel through time and space to live all the lives I can cram into a few hours. ~

Magazines, seed catalogues and cookbooks are beckoning me to flip through pages of promise for things to come. ~

It's odd that I'm such an avid reader of cookbooks when I rarely ever use one to cook. I'm more of a make it up kind of girl in the kitchen. I guess they are like Pinterest and I use them for inspiration.

Yes, I think I have been a good hostess to myself today.  It didn't take much more than looking at it all with the same eye I would use for an honoured guest.

Though the winter has given me this outdoors, ~

I'll quote Beverley Nicholson, commenting on the home of Syrie Maugham ~

"Her house was as pretty as a narcissus in the snow,

As pretty as a silver feather on a pane of winter glass."

In fact, that quote has inspired me to take some of the chicken feathers I am forever gathering and saving from the coop and see if I can make them silver.

Invite yourself in to your home.  Be good to yourself.  It won't cost a thing and you'll feel ready, maybe even anxious to go into the season of stillness, while the earth takes well deserved rest under a snowy blanket.

photo courtesy of Wallpapers On Web