Winter blues

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Started 12 months ago by Jackthetiger
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Jackthetiger
Member

We do not have the harsh winters many of you experience, so you might think I am a bit soft, but we have had cold, showery weather over May and will have another three months of it. It is too cold to leave the house open all day and too damp to dry the clothes on the line. Our tiny house is going through its annual clutter phase with a drying rack loaded with wet clothes in the middle of our living room. The house feels closed up and stale. We have no outdoor covered area, so things that usually live outside start to migrate inside. I like to think we are uncluttered people and we really don't own things we do not need. It just feels like we can't put everything away at the moment. Maybe I should change my name to "Miserable in Melbourne"!!

Does the weather impact on your uncluttered lifestyle?

Posted 12 months ago #
MTNgirl
Member

Funny, your weather sounds like ours. But I live in Montana! I don't think summer is ever going to start!

Posted 12 months ago #
bandicoot
Member

jack, it does sound like miserable weather.
and living with drying laundry is a real pain.

it has been really cold up here for a couple of weeks and because i am mostly immobile right now, i seem to be feeling it three times as much.
we have a wood stove and there is much lugging back and forth of firewood.
my husband leaves a trail of debris around the stove on the floor, that i now cannot get to, to clean up.
there are piles of various throws and blankets and borrowed cushions around the bedroom.
the cushions have been loaned for me to prop my leg up on.
the throws/ blankets are so i can exactly tailor how much warmth i need.
i like everything within reach, so i can help myself.
this means it all lives on half the bed. along with a phone and a couple of laptops.
it is a far cry from my usual minimalist set up!

if it was summer, it would be simpler.
but then i'd be going crazy with itching in the plaster cast!

Posted 12 months ago #
Laetitia in Australia
Member

JtT - I know how you feel - it has been raining a lot here in 'sunny' Qld! Everytime it's a fine day I go, "Quick! Make hay while the sun shines! Or at least dry sheets!" However there are days that tease with a sunny morning but by the time the washing machine finishes its cycle there are rain clouds either already dumping or threatening to, so there are sheets draped over the backs of chairs and clothes that would normally go on the Hills Hoist hanging on the drying rack for ironed / dry indoors clothes, coathangers on door knobs, the rim of the clothes basket and the low ring of the hatstand.

My sister tells me I should be grateful to live in Qld where things dry by the end of the day if it is fine. She, like you, lives in Melbourne but, as she owns her house, she can install a dryer; I alas, as a renter, cannot.

Posted 12 months ago #
Jackthetiger
Member

I was feeling uncharacteristically miserable yesterday, because it has been gloomy for much of May. Usually it is beautiful with clear, warmish days and cold nights. I do usually love winter because it is the only time of year I can wear my lovely accessories, especially my French angora hat. It just got a bit much for me and the drying rack hogging the entire living room was the cherry on top! There is some kind of illness people get in the northern hemisphere when there is not enough sunlight and I began to think I was getting it. Pure hypochondria! I decided to have a bit of a pre- winter clean. I washed the windows and the tops of the kitchen cupboards, so I now know that things are clean and fresh even though there is more clutter than usual. Also, I must not complain because the twelve year drought has broken!

Bandicoot @ I can't imagine how cold it could be in tropical north Queensland, but we all acclimatise to our environment and notice the changes. I was in staying in Darwin one winter and although we were all in shorts, the locals were feeling a bit chilly. Stay cosy.

Laetitia @ The towels have been on the line all day and are partly dry. More work for the drying rack. We have no dryer because this is not usually necessary.

MTNgirl @ Roll on Summer.

Posted 12 months ago #
bandicoot
Member

we live inland a little, and elevated.
neighbours a few kms away had actual frosts this week!
we escaped somehow.
it will be 8C overnight here, which is pretty cold for us!
at least we are having a proper dry season for the first time since 2009.

good to hear that you are feeling better.
short dark days filled with wet laundry would make anyone a bit glum from time to time.

Posted 12 months ago #
lucy1965
Member

@Jackthetiger It's called Seasonal Affect Disorder; I have the reverse of it, and am hoping this is the last summer I'll have to spend here (weeks over 100C and 20% more UV exposure because of the high altitude), because it wrecks my mental state.

Posted 12 months ago #
Jackthetiger
Member

I understand Lucy. My brother lives in the Pilbara region in Western Australia and the winter temperatures get down as low as 32C (90F). It is consistently in the very high 40sC (120F) over summer. I don't know how he stands the relentless dry heat. I usually love our weather in Melbourne. Summer can be a killer, but we do have genuine seasonal changes and I like the variation. I was being a total sook the other day and I know I am fortunate to live in a temperate climate. I just hate the mess of wet washing.

Lucy, I hope you cope with your summer and that it does not play too much havoc with your mental health. Extremes are always a disincentive to decluttering activities.

Posted 12 months ago #
Kaz in Oz
Member

I'm beginning to think I will go nuts this winter. It's cold, we have had some big frosts - the birdbath froze solid last week - and I can't wait for the first snow and ice warning on the way to work. We have had snow, but over the other side of town. It was quite funny seeing cars in the work carpark that had driven to work with snow on them - and hadn't yet melted at 9am.
I got my first electricity bill and while not catastrophic (I pay some off it every fortnight) I will be using the clothesline more - even if my fingers do turn blue and stick to the line while hanging the washing out.
The cold I can live with (I think), but the gloom of the overcast skies is getting to me. And to think, I'm a first generation Aussie on my Mum's side - thank goodness she emmigrated from northern England.

Posted 12 months ago #
Jackthetiger
Member

Kaz @ It is not our imagination; the Bureau of Meteorology said it was the coldest May since 1970. Where are you living to get snow? I think it has only snowed in the high country in Victoria. My family in the north are still sweltering, but Bandicoot said they had frosts in North Queensland!! Bizarre!!

Posted 12 months ago #

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