Home-made Winter Skin Care {Winter Story #03}

Rest. It’s not a word often associated with the 21st century. Especially living just outside London. Do more. Achieve more. Own more. More…more…more…We think the answer to everything is to just have more…of everything.

My favourite videos to watch on YouTube are those about slow living. You see, I lived in Northern Ireland for three years. We returned to England 14 years ago this March. The (Northern) Irish get slow living. They don’t make videos about it (well, they might…). Slow living is built into their very psych. Northern Ireland suited me like a pair of comfy old slippers. Somehow, they achieve just as much as their English counterparts. They live in beautiful homes, have meaningful careers and spend a lot of their free time socialising. Yet there is no rush.

In Northern Ireland I had a kettle. You know the kind – it sits on a hob and whistles a merry tune once it is boiling. Takes ages to boil… I brought mine to England with me. To this day, each time we want boiling water, we have to use the whistling kettle. And then wait…sometimes for half an hour. It mildly irritates the rest of my family, although I don’t think they would have it any other way.

It reminds us to slow down a little. Stay and chat to others who might be wandering through. Passing not just niceties but friendly banter, enquiries of how we are doing, hugs and warm exchanges.

That kettle does so much more than just boil water.

God knew that the earth needed a time of rest and regeneration. And in the same way, He knew that we too needed a time to slow down, to take better care of ourselves and to take stock.

We took this week off. Over the weekend we moved bedrooms again. We do this a lot. A lot a lot. Our home is tiny compared to the sheer volume of people who mill around. A bedroom which suits one person at a certain time, may not suit them a few months later. I think sometimes a change is refreshing. Other times, Gary and I look at each other in disbelief!

One benefit of moving round rooms is that we go through stuff and declutter. I caught the decluttering bug so we have spent this week going through almost every room in the house.

Concurrently the outside temperatures have plummeted. It’s so cold! Turning up the heat has made our home so warm and cosy, but it has also caused the drying out of our skin. In this week’s video I am making some homemade cherry flavoured beeswax lip balm and hand balm. I will also be wrapping some as a hand-made gift for my mum, who turned 79 this week.