Hygge

“To the attentive eye, each moment of the year has its own beauty,
a picture which was never seen before and which shall never be seen again.”

– Ralph Waldo Emerson

🍁For those of you who follow Morning Musings you know that I spent a week in the English countryside last May.  Walking on the Lake District paths along moss-covered stone walls, through pastures of sheep and cows, over hill and dale had a profound affect on me.  I've always loved being outside.  Whether it's hanging clothes on the line, gardening, or hiking in the woods, I've always felt it to be a place I belonged.  The first thing I do in the morning is open the blinds and whenever I can I open the window to my bedroom bringing the outdoors in.

🍁Upon my return from England I began seeing articles, blogs, and books on the value of getting close to nature and realized I needed to be even more intentional about it.  I was introduced to Emma Mitchell's blog, Silverpebble, through Twitter and am excitedly awaiting her newest book, The Wild Remedy:  How Nature Mends Us - A Diary, due out in January.  About it she writes:

This is a diary of the curative effect of my walks in green places & is full of my illustrations. I hope it will encourage others to get outside.

🍁It will contain lovely drawings and watercolors such as these. . . .

🍁In the meantime I found her first book, Making Winter, in our library and would like to share a bit from it. . . .

🍁Hygge (pronounced "hooga") is a Danish term to describe how the Danish spend their long, dark winters.  The term embodies "coziness, candlelight, nature, and meeting and eating with friends."  Emma has taken it a step further and added crafts and baking to her list for making winter bearable.  She found that when she did these activities she felt "somewhat less like an irascible hibernating bear."  She has several crochet projects as well as recipes.  If she couldn't be out-of-doors because of the weather, she could bring the outdoors in.  Below are several projects that appealed particularly to me.

🍁Preserving Autumn Flora. . . .

🍁Five-Minute Molten Chocolate Cake in a Mug. . . .

🍁Watercolor Botanical Motifs. . . .

🍁She also writes for Countryfile magazine and has a blog post there on how to draw feathers which is also in her book.  And while you are there you can check out the other features at Countryfile, a magazine about exploring the British countryside.

🍁I will be doing more posts in this series I'm calling Take Joy in Nature.  I hope you will use the resources I track down to take you closer to nature--especially as we head into winter.

🍁Take Joy🍁