Wrapping up warm and walking the pier

It's weather for lots of layers at the moment, and thick socks and woolly slipper boots.  And that's indoors!   We discovered a sneaky draught coming through the lounge windows yesterday - actually, and rather alarmingly, you can see daylight between one window and the frame which definitely shouldn't be happening - so N has been applying sticky tape in the hopes of plugging the gap.  That is probably something that we will have to look at closer next year - sigh.

The Hovercraft  - a passenger ferry that runs between Ryde and Southsea, near Portsmouth

We went out for a walk this afternoon, wrapping up with a few more layers and interesting headwear - I don't care if my knitted beret is unfashionable, my ears stayed warm and that was the main thing.  We walked briskly, buffetted along by a stiff wind, and actually weren't that cold.  We had to walk to the end of the pier to buy some ferry tickets (we discovered some time ago that buying 'in bulk' saves us a small fortune, so this is now budgeted for).  We had the pier to ourselves, can't think why no-one else wanted to walk half a mile into the sea on a cold and windy November day, I have to say the sea looked really cold!  

An empty pier - no other pedestrians or cars

We've often said that there's nothing really stopping us getting out and walking during the winter, although pouring rain might be a deterrent ;-)  We've both got walking gear for colder weather and providing heads, ears and hands are kept warm, walking on a cold and bright day has a lot going for it.  You tend to walk a little quicker, for a start, so that gets the heart pumping a bit faster.   You often get to see things that you miss in the summer, and the light can be great for photos.  And there's always the bonus that after being outside in the cold, going back indoors feels so much warmer.  And you haven't been tempted to put the heating on!

We bumped into an ex-colleague yesterday; he has also recently left work and seems to be of the same mindset as N and I.  He's downsized, paid off his mortgage and as he said himself, 'Life's great'.  Living within your means, being content with what you have and making the most of things.  To us, it just makes so much sense and it's great to hear someone else having a similar attitude - and being happy with it.  

Decorating the lounge has thrown up one or two other little jobs that needed looking at, and one of those was trying to re-house the mini stereo.  It's an old system that one of my children had when they were in their teens (so that's going back 12-15 years!) and it's served us well over the years, but it has never really found a permanent position - usually one or other (and sometimes both) speakers were balancing precariously on a shelf, or the CD unit was tucked out of reach because the cable wasn't long enough.  However, N bought a few meters of speaker cable and has rewired the system so that there is enough cable for all 3 sections to be in the right place.  As we sat with our cup of tea this morning, we listened to the Kirkwall City Pipe Band and imagined we were back in Orkney.  The CD never fails to move me; the hairs on the back of my neck stand up when I hear the swirl of the bagpipes.  There is no doubt that Orkney 'gets' us both.

These colder days see lots of home-made soups for lunch, and warming stews for dinner.  We are cropping the leaves of our cabbage and sprouts for winter greens, and quickly sauteed with a little oil, garlic and leeks are 
delicious.  

What's not to love about a steaming veg stew, with herby dumplings and greens picked fresh from the garden?