I took this picture two days ago as I was thinking about cultivating spring on the inside even if it’s not quite ready to make an appearance outside.  I’ve suddenly found myself sick of the paper snowflakes and window stars and ready to move on to other things.

I’ve had less patients for winter this year.  I think it has something to do with all of the time we spend house hunting over the summer and fall.  I don’t think I managed to soak up my quota of vitamin D or the stock of sunny experiences that carries one through a long dark winter.

Then yesterday Mother Nature countered with the double whammy of the largest snowstorm of the season and sickness in the house.  Well, ok then.  I concede.  Winter is not done with us yet.I spent the morning in the kitchen with the well ones, while the sick ones rested in bed and Steve reported in to work from a make-shift office in the living room.

A double batch of nettle and red raspberry leaf chai and two kinds of almond flour scones (blueberry and orange vanilla, I modified this recipe), cheered up the scene a bit (the sheets needing to be changed twice in so many hours, did not).

I appreciate the efforts of my shamrock, with it’s blossoms managing to open just a little even though it is so cloudy.

I spent much of the afternoon reading to the sickies.

We have one well one here who has little tolerance for the atmosphere of a house with sick people and one sick one who has no tolerance for the process of getting well!  We are hearing lots of “I’m bored!” from a child who is otherwise never bored.

Steve and I have been encouraging him to take this time to think and dream.  He’s not really one for introspection normally, and quiet and still do not come naturally to him.  That’s what this time is for; hibernating, hunkering down, digging in deep.  And maybe, just maybe, it’s just what he needs.  The seeds of inspiration and the clarity of dreams take root so.

As for myself, much of the busy work of the day was spent lost in a day dream of my own.  I had an epiphany regarding Iain’s birthday sweater for next year.  And I’m pleased to know that now that I’ve found the one, I’ll have a nice long head start on it.  And somehow in the scattered bits of sleep last night, I found the inspiration for a new recipe as well.

A little bit of doing and lots of dreaming, that’s what February is all about.