20 reasons to LOVE February
We are nearly there, folks! We survived seemingly never-ending January and we’re now into the tail end of winter (we hope!). We love February at The Forge – the shortest and in many ways the sweetest month. Here are just a few reasons why…
- The mornings are getting noticeably lighter – no head torches needed after 7am!
- The sunrises are also stunning – with fluffy pink clouds scudding across the hills.
- The evenings are getting longer and we can be outside doing stuff until at least 5.30pm!
- The days are warmer but the nights are still definitely cold enough to justify getting a big roaring fire going to snuggle up next to.
- Snowdrops! There seem to be more and more everyday as their little petals open wider and wider.
- The crocuses and the primroses are also poking through, their gorgeous little purple and yellow faces smiling all around the stream.
- Foraging season is beginning again – it always feels like a mini-miracle watching the vibrant green three-cornered leeks and wild garlic popping through, offering tantalising smells for some foraged feasts.
- There are lambs everywhere! The air is filled day and night with the bleating from little woolly mouths.
- The hens are laying again, prolifically and in a wonderful array of colours – omelette anyone?
- You get a week’s ‘holiday’, or at least a break from the routine with the kids off school for a week – great opportunity to get up in the hills for some lovely long walks.
- It also means that all our amazing local tourist attractions will be open for business – castles, play farms, adventure playgrounds – the options are endless…
- Did we mention that January is over?! Meaning there are at least five blissful guilt-free weeks of not abstaining from anything before Lent starts!
- You can take the kids outside in record time by just throwing a fleece on them, without having to spend an hour donning them in hats, gloves and scarves only for them to take them all off again by the time you’ve got your own wellies on!
- You can start planting seeds again – does anyone else get ridiculously excited about planning, ordering and then getting all the potting trays out again? Every February I am amazed anew by how something so tiny in my hand can grow into something that feeds our whole family for months!
- Dining al fresco – so maybe not a whole meal but we’ve dusted off our picnic blankets for a few sweet treats outside after school.
- Rugby Six Nations! – living in Wales it is the law to support Wales and stop absolutely everything when they are playing. You could hear a pin drop in our valley when the boys in red are on the pitch…
- Valentine’s Day – what better excuse to get involved with some bubbles and a truck load of chocolate?
- Valentine’s Day is over for another year – if, like me, you are not wholly bought into the commercialism of the whole thing, you can breathe a sigh of relief that you don’t have to see any more red heart themed tat for at least 11 months.
- It also means that you can definitely legitimately start holiday planning for the summer – can’t beat a bit of vacation day-dreaming.
- Which brings me on to the last reason…there is less than a month before The Forge reopens its gates for business on the 1st March - woop woop! We are filling up fast so book your stay now to make sure you can get your preferred dates 😊.
