Looking for the bright spots in the mid-winter blues

 

Crisp clear winter's day with a dog in a cold lake

It seems to have been a particularly dreary winter. Cromwell always gets more than our fair share of fog and lack of sun but we seem to have had far more wet and grey than usual and I for one find that to be a real downer. It means I have to really work at motivation and enthusiasm at this time of year. I'm all for staying in bed and just letting the world happen around me. It is a bit difficult running a school and chairing a community board from bed so I have things that I do to help me get through.

My doofus dog Rosco the rescue hound is a very active and playful dog. He needs plenty of running - a ball flinger and two tennis balls are essential bits of our dog care kit. Weekends mean getting up a hill in the hope of finding blue sky and an added bonus is if we can find snow. His enthusiasm just brings pure joy. He gives us a reason to get out and about however dreary and we always come home feeling refreshed. 

On a school day he joins me in the office and has a mixture of hanging out with caretaker Ray's golden retrievers, guarding the door, sleeping under my desk and having a bunch of keen children throw a ball for him to chase. He's not everyone's cup of tea and I have a leash on my desk to keep him well in check if visitors are a bit uneasy.

Morning meeting in the Principal's office

When the world is grey and we just want to hunker down it is easy to hide at home and remove ourselves from mixing with others. I have to keep connected at work - you can't hide in a school - staff, parents and students provide for many and varied interactions during the work day. I make sure that we connect with our children with regular weekend calls to check on their lives - family is so important.

The bit I find tricky in winter is the interaction with friends. It seems so easy in summer to have people round, to sit outside with drinks and food cooked on the BBQ or in the pizza oven. Winter seems so much more closed in. I love to cook and I love to entertain but during winter we are much less social. Making do with a roaring fire, glass of wine and homemade bread is still something to celebrate - but does feel a bit hermit like.
Homemade ciabatta and hummus. Enjoyed in front of a roaring fire with a glass of wine

Cooking is still certainly one of my main mood uplifts and I love to make good food for the lovely bloke and myself and love to share it with others. My kitchen is definitely my happy place. I do have a wee bit of a problem now that my nest is empty that everything I make leads to quite hefty amounts of leftovers. I have a freezer well stocked with soups and stews portioned up for lunches and foil trays ready to pop in the oven for dinners for two. That does make a difference on cold, dark evenings when I get home without a plan for dinner. Lummox number three who is living in Dunedin is also a regular recipient of my freezer overflow.

As I look forward to lighter mornings and warmer days to come I know that I need to find the energy to start walking before work and clearing my head as I pound the streets with the dog. It certainly makes a huge difference to how I manage my life and commitments - just somehow need to find the energy and motivation to get started. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lamb Shanks with sweet chilli and black bean

Image
This dish has a rich, tasty sauce. The shanks are browned and then cooked in the sauce until the meat is very tender. This can be done in the oven, crockpot, stove top or in a deep electric frypan. Best served with mashed potato sweetened with carrot, kumara (sweet potato), pumpkin or parsnip.  Ingredients Lamb shanks - 1 per person 1/4 cup black bean sauce 1/2 cup sweet chilli sauce 1 1/2 cups water 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger 3 cloves garlic - crushed Method In an electric frypan Heat the pan on the highest setting place the shanks (no oil needed) in the pan, pop the lid on and brown on all sides - this will take 15-20 minutes.  Turn pan down to a simmer setting combine all the other ingredients and pour over the shanks. Place the lid back on and leave to simmer until meat is very tender approx 1 1/2 hours. Turn the shanks from time to time to make sure they are coated in the sauce. Keep an eye on the sauce and add more water if needed....
Read more

Community consultation, conversations and questions

Image
Many of you will have seen that my fellow Cromwell Community Board (CCB) member Robin Dicey posed some questions for our community in The Bulletin last week.  Like all of us on the CCB Robin is looking for ways to engage and connect with the community.  We all want to be doing the best for those that we represent and to be making decisions that reflect what the residents and ratepayers of Cromwell actually want to see in our great wee town.  So, well done to Robin for trying to get the conversation going on a range of issues.  I've popped an image of Robin's questions below - you can also find them on page 12 of The Bulletin dated 12 January 2017.  Robin has included his contact details for anyone interested in contributing to the discussion.  I would be very happy to be contacted too - anna.harrison@codc.govt.nz or via my Facebook page Anna Harrison Cromwell Community Board. One of the questions Robin asks is in regard to the level of community con...
Read more

Circus Time!

Image
I've been pretty quiet over the last couple of weeks.  I've attended all meetings required of me, engaged in discussion and discourse, listened and expected to be heard and thought that there had been a resolution to halt the action to remove Neil Gillespie as Board Chair with only 13 months to an election and with the immensely important Master Plan Project in full swing.  I left a meeting on Tuesday 21st August thinking that a decision had been made to seek further governance training and to set out a rules of engagement document outlining roles and responsibilities of board members and their relationship with each other, council, the mayor and council staff.  So when I was contacted less than a week later on Monday 27 August I was surprised to hear that a requisition letter calling for the removal of Neil as chair had been sent to Sanchia Jacobs, CODC Chief Executive.  I relayed that surprise to the journalist who rang the next day.  I was not blissfully unaw...
Read more