Winter in the Cottage | Healing at Home, Fireplace & Country Walks

Well hello and good morning friends. It feels like it's been such a long time since I've sat down to speak with you properly. Today the world outside is white and quiet and it felt like the perfect moment to pick up the camera again. We woke up to a blanket of snow today, a final a beautiful gift from winter before spring truly arrives. It's a slow and gentle day here and I'm so happy to bring you along with us. If you are new here I'm Mia and I share our life here in the British countryside and for those of you who have been with me for a while you might have noticed I've been missing for a few weeks and I want to just say a massive thank you for your patience. I've been quite poorly recently and I've actually had to stay in the hospital and it's been a bit of a survival season for us as a family. It's been a time of just getting by, resting and really having to let go of the reins a little bit and that can be quite alarming and quite scary when you are the one who usually manages the home but I'm okay with that for now and I'm on the mend feeling much stronger and today just felt like the right day to reconnect. There is something so incredibly grounding about a wood fire, it's one of my favourite things to do. Since I've been recovering the pace of our days has been, well it's had to slow right down and usually I'm rushing about trying to tick things off the list but lately my body has just said stop. My husband has been wonderful, you just don't see him much on the camera but he's been keeping the home fires burning quite literally today and he's building up the fire to keep us warm while the snow settles outside. I think in this season of life when things go wrong or health fails you realise how important these simple comforts are, the warmth of the fire, the roof over our heads. It sounds cliche I know but when you've been unwell and the ordinary things just suddenly feel extraordinary and I've been spending a lot of time just sitting here watching the flames, it's almost a form of meditation isn't it, just being present. And try not to worry about the laundry piling up for the dust bunnies that I can definitely see in the corner and learning that the house doesn't fall apart if I sit down for an hour. It's funny how we resist rest until we are forced into it and I'd love to know if you're the same, do you find it hard to just stop because I didn't realise how hard I did find it and I feel like as homemakers we often equate our value with how much we do but sometimes our value is just in being here present with our families even if we aren't doing anything. Moving into the kitchen I wanted to share something very simple today. I'm still in a bit of a recovery phase so I'm going with as much nourishment as we can but with as little effort as possible. I think a lot of us have those days where we need a meal that hugs us from the inside out. I'm making a very simple winter vegetable risotto, nothing fancy just good and honest ingredients. I think when you've been ill your relationship with food changes slightly, you start to see it less as a chore to prepare and more as a sort of medicine and I'm trying to just focus on propitiation, giving my body exactly what it needs to rebuild. I know sometimes we feel pressure to make these elaborate cinematic meals and while I love doing that when I have the energy, right now good enough is the goal and honestly the children often prefer the simple things anyway. There is a quiet joy in peeling vegetables while the snow falls outside. It's a very slow rhythm, chop, you stir, you simmer. It's rhythmic and reliable. In a world that just feels so chaotic especially after the last few weeks I've had the reliability of something like a soup simmering on the stove is actually quite comforting. What is it Judah? We're gonna sit down and eat this together and I'm trying to be better about sitting down for meals. We try and sit down as a family three times a day for each meal rather than hovering or tidying up while everyone else eats. I want to nurture myself just as much as I nurture my family. After lunch we decided to brave the cold. The snow has settled and it's definitely turned into a little bit of slush which is the reality of snow in the UK really. It's magical for a morning and then it gets a bit wet but getting outside was non-negotiable for me today. I've been stuck inside for what feels like an eternity. Breathing in this cold crisp air feels like waking up. I wanted to talk a little bit about the healing power of nature and I know again it sounds like something everyone says but stepping out here seeing the seasons change it just reminds me that winter doesn't last forever. Hallelujah! Look at this view it puts everything into perspective. When I was lying in that hospital bed all I wanted was to be walking down here just to feel the cold on my face. And it's a good reminder to advocate for our own well-being. Hydrating yourself exercising if you can and getting outside it's just the basics isn't it but they are the first things to go when we get busy or stressed. I'm taking it slow today usually you know I might be power walking or running with the children or trying to get the heart rate up but today is just about being outside. Reminiscing on how beautiful this area is we are just so lucky to live here. I think sometimes we wait for the perfect weather to go out. We wait for the sun but there is beauty in the grey too. There is beauty in the mud and the melting snow and it's all a part of that cycle. And one of the best feelings is coming in after a cold walk into warmth after a cold walk isn't it? As I ease back into filming and ease back into my duties at home I'm trying to carry this slowness with me. I don't want to rush straight back into the chaos. I want to appreciate the lingering winter. I know many of you are probably desperate for spring and I am too. I'm ready for the flowers in the garden but this enforced pause being unwell has taught me to just be where I am. So if you're going through a tough season or a winter in your own life just know that it's okay to go slow. It's okay to do the bare minimum. You are still valuable.