Got the Winter Blahs? Stop in here for some Solsken Cheer!

[annmarie]

Okay, here's one, seek out sunny movies on the gloomiest days. One movie I watch every winter is Fried Green Tomatoes. I'll add that any book written by the author of Fried Green Tomatoes, Fanny Flagg, is a warm sunny book that is meant to be enjoyed in the cold, dark winter, topped off with a Baileys or three and you're as close to heaven on Earth as you can get.

Anyone else have some warm sunny movie suggestions?

 

[Cottage Rose]

Jennifer...how remote are you?
We live 30 minutes from a major town so I can get my mall and movie time in there but I could easily live even more remote. I love country living (AKA away from people/crowds) but where we live its getting too built up. Wish we could move out in the middle of no where but we decided at this stage of life (late 50's) we'd rather travel than take on a new mortgage.
My husband just retired from GM.
He took the last buy out just before this mess with the automakers all started and now works part-time (got bored after a couple months of retirement) and I work part-time for play money.
Anyway you're blessed to have a farm and live in such a beautiful state. We only have 5 acres.
Just a little bit of country but it did allow me to have horses and dairy goats and lots of fun times when we we're raising our kids. (1 girl, 3 boys)
Never been to Maine but I suspect it has lots of trees and lakes like Michigan.

 

[Cottage Rose]

We saw Brad Pitt's new movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button on Christmas day.
It was really long...but I like long movies.
It's an adaptation of a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Kind of boring mid-way through the movie but interesting enough to keep you awake...and Brad Pitt is always a joy to look at!

http://www.benjaminbutton.com/

 

[annmarie]

We saw The Curious Case of Benjamin Button the day after Christmas and really enjoyed it! I thought the cinematography was just beautiful, and it was a miserable day outside so I was more than happy to sit though a long beautiful movie, and yes, Brad Pitt only made it more lovely!

 

[Chicken Salad]

What a lot of really good advice! Especially number 3 - that's what I do. The Mid-Atlantic isn't ME...but it's still helpful to knock it into do-able chunks:

1. November and December aren't bad...we can still get decent weather sometimes so I start counting at the solstice.

2. From Solstice to my birthday (mid-January) is block one. Holidays/birthday...busy. We also have Obama's Inauguration this year!

3. End of January here is usually fairly brutal (lots of deep cold and ice) so I block it to Feb 1. First day of February (in some traditions called Imbolc - for when sheep were 'in milk' time)...3 weeks to President's Day - when we usually get hammered by snow here. Just get me to March 1.

4. March is a gentle *usually* slide into the Equinox...and then we're home free. Sometimes cold and sometimes a bit of snow but nothing un-doable.

In Iceland, in the heart of winter it's sun-rise at around 10am and sun-set about 3p.m....they cope by reading a LOT (99+% literacy in the country), drinking a LOT, and making a lot of babies.... (two outta three ain't bad).

 

[Cottage Rose]

Quote:
We do that in Michigan too.

C.S., I like how you block your way through winter.
I only have 2 blocks:
1. Nov. - Dec . Holidays
2. Jan. - April waiting for spring to arrive.
We can't set tender plants out in the garden until May 30th. Memorial Day weekend is the traditional time to plant your garden around here. Our weather can be very cold through April, including snow and snow cover, and I'm in mid-west Michigan. Up north its even a longer wait til spring. Ugh!

Another thing that is real funny is we get so use to the cold that when it gets above 40º we think its really warm. I do manage to retain my sanity by looking at seed catalogs, planning my garden and waiting for the crocus and daffodils to emerge.

 

[FunnyFarmer]

Quote:
We watched Mamma Mia on Christmas Day--that was awesome! Especially if you're a secret Abba fan. Great music, sunny Greek island, lots of really funny scenes, and Pierce Brosnan for eye candy. I'll be adding that one to my collection.

 

[horsejody]

I totally agree with the heated water. When we bought our house 14 years ago one of the best things about it was the automatic heated horse waterers.

 

[Chicken Salad]

Quote:
We do that in Michigan too.

C.S., I like how you block your way through winter.
I only have 2 blocks:
1. Nov. - Dec . Holidays
2. Jan. - April waiting for spring to arrive.
We can't set tender plants out in the garden until May 30th. Memorial Day weekend is the traditional time to plant your garden around here. Our weather can be very cold through April, including snow and snow cover, and I'm in mid-west Michigan. Up north its even a longer wait til spring. Ugh!

Another thing that is real funny is we get so use to the cold that when it gets above 40º we think its really warm. I do manage to retain my sanity by looking at seed catalogs, planning my garden and waiting for the crocus and daffodils to emerge.

Cottage Rose,
When do your daffodils come out? I mark ours by my granddaughter's birthday - they were out good when she was born March 28.

When I lived in Virginia Beach it was a full month before then - I settled on my house Feb 27 there and when I got there after closing there were tiny mini-dafs in bloom out front.

 

[Cottage Rose]

Daffs? Ya know I'm not sure.

Maybe April-May?