Island Woman articles breed articles, as do casual emails from family. Two of these, juxtaposed on the same day, incubated this one.
Sarah & Sean’s “Beauty on a Cold Grey Day” led me to remember the outdoor colour present even on the most miserable of our days, and a note from my daughter in chilly Fort McMurray, in reply to my dismay at dismantling holiday décor, suggested we needed that indoor colour through February.
Pandora’s box popped open! Away with the winter blahs!
Exchange dark, heavy holiday decor for a lighter touch.
In the midst of some other necessary but mundane job, I made the first splash. The aging Christmas centrepiece and its dark wine runner were removed from the dining room table; an airy light coloured runner and a decorated glass bowl replaced them, catching and reflecting the light from the skylight. It was a start; it gave me a lift every time I walked through the room.
I started looking for other places to brighten up … and thinking about what I had tucked away to do the trick. Those trinkets, cushions, and cherished mementos did little to lighten the mood while tucked away in a cupboard.
When I removed the wreath and candles from the mantle, what about draping it with a bright serape or shawl; hanging a different piece of art work or photograph to complement it? If you still crave light, a string of white fairy lights in strategic places will brighten the colour still more.
Haunt the shops for a brightly flowering plant to catch your eye in a dark corner. Or reposition a still-blooming Christmas cactus and keep it happy with some accompanying trinkets – these can easily be changed every day or so to vary the scene.
Grow some bright pansies in a sheltered window box.
Do you have a window box on a balmy side of the house with a fair overhang? Plant some colourful pansies there and watch them display their colours all winter.
Bring some outdoor colour inside by snipping a few glowing red branches of Osier Dogwood to arrange in a vase. When the Forsythia begins to bud, forsooth, bring in a few branches to shed their fast-opening gold.
What colourful things might you create? Quilt, sew, embroider. Paint … a picture, cards, a chair, or ?? Write a colourful poem or story. Raid your closet, pull out the colourful clothes, and brighten up a colourful you.
When you want to sit back and mull some colour, open a new seed catalogue … the first one arrived last week! Here’s colour galore for your eyes and your spring dreams. And don’t forget that true harbinger of spring that starts first, right here in Qualicum Beach! It’s Seedy Saturday at the QB Civic Centre on Saturday February 1st, 10 till 3:30. Now that’s colour with a capital C!
If you like the warmth of your kitchen, start building some warm colourful soups and stews to brighten winter dinners. We can use up those leftover carcasses and clean out the freezer while we’re at it.
While things are simmering, cozy up with a pot of your favourite hot drink and treat yourself to a few of those holiday treats … feel the colour spreading inside.
Blahs be gone! Colour your winter!
Nancy Whelan
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