Rainy day bliss

Lilac Mills

10 minutes ago

3 min read

I've been musing about how to spend rainy days...

Bare branches with orange autumn leaves in a rainy woodland, green background.

Now that autumn is here, I quite look forward to peering out of the window, seeing that it’s absolutely chucking it down and deciding there's nothing Ihave to go outside for - apart from walking the dog.

But after I've done that and I’m back home, if I don’t have a deadline looming or edits to do (a rare occurrence, admittedly), the horrid weather gives me an excuse to squidge up on the sofa and do something nice and comforting, and here are a few of my favourite ways to turn a miserable day into a cosy, snuggly one.

I have to have a good book, obviously! I mean, when the rain patters against the windows (or is hurled against them hard enough to rattle the glass, which is more often the case where I live), I like to escape between the pages of a romance. Give me a little village with a bookshop, a tea shop, a florist and a pub, and I’m perfectly happy – as long as there is a happy-ever-after. And if there happens to be a dog or a cat in the story, even better.

Cockapoo asleep, cuddled against a person in dark clothes on a couch.

Actually, that sounds suspiciously like one of my fictional villages! (Hey, an author’s got to take every opportunity to plug her books, right?)

Or how about cwtching up on the sofa with a film (to cwtch means to snuggle or cuddle in Welsh), because sometimes, I don’t want to read. I want to grab the remote and lose myself into a film or binge watch a series. For me, a rainy afternoon calls for something warm and comforting rather than anything too stressful. A classic British romcom would do nicely - The Holiday, for instance? Or if I’m in the mood for something a little more old-fashioned, a Jane Austen adaptation is hard to beat, with its beautiful country houses, muddy walks, dramatic misunderstandings (gotta love a good old misunderstanding!) and people falling in love while pretending they can’t stand the sigh of each other.

What's not to like? And if I can knit while I’m watching then I’m in seventh heaven!

And then there’s the food. Damp, miserable days and soup were made for each other. A big bowl of homemade broth, some crusty bread and a mug of tea afterwards is pretty much my idea of heaven when the weather is foul. Or I’ll make a big pot of cawl (a slow-cooked hearty Welsh stew) and let it simmer for a couple of hours. It’s incredibly comforting to have something bubbling on the hob while I get on with something else – writing, more often than not.

Bowl of hearty vegetable soup topped with parsley, served on a wooden board with a spoon on the side.

Pies – cottage, shepherds, steak and ale; I’m not fussy – are also perfect rainy-day food. Add vegetables, gravy and some mashed potato and I have a dinner that makes me wonder why I bother going out to eat. Although, having said that, I don’t usually have to have my arm twisted all that hard to agree to abandon cooking altogether and nip to the local pub. Especially if I can bag a table beside the fire or the log burner, and do a spot of people watching.

Let’s not forget tea. Every dismal day deserves tea. A rainy day with a cup of Tetley’s or Yorkshire’s finest is even better when accompanied by cake: Victoria sponge, bara brith, Welsh cakes, chocolate cake, lemon drizzle… and if I have to eat the cake to stop it going to waste, well somebody has to do it, so it may as well be me. I hope the rest of the family recognise my sacrifice.

That’s what I like most about rainy days – they give me an excuse to do the things I sometimes don’t make enough time for: read another chapter of someone else’s book for a change; watch a favourite film; bake a cake; make soup; phone a friend; knit. Or do nothing – although I have to confess to being incredibly bad at doing nothing…

Anyhoo, the next time the rain is hammering against the windows and I haven’t got a deadline looming, I’m going to put the kettle on, dig out my comfiest jumper, choose a book or pick a film, grab something comforting to eat and enjoy my own little rainy-day escape.

Would you like to be notified whenever I write a new blog post?

Find out how - here