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In Funny, Women's Interest

The Winter Growler Guide

Author Nicki CawoodPosted on 3 Comments

I’ve thought long and hard about this and I feel it is time to talk about our topiary schedule once more. We’ve talked about general Lady Garden grooming and Smear Test preparation but now we need to have a frank discussion about the Winter Growler.

Ladies up here in the North will know what I mean when I mention Winter Growler. For those that don’t a WG is the practice of letting your garden grow wild for winter, keeping your nethers (and possibly your knees) warm during the bitter British months.

winter growler

Now, I’m all for proper grooming but at the same time, I believe we have body hair for a reason and when it is chuffing freezing outside a little extra self-grown warmth is never a bad thing. That said, there are still some guidelines that must be adhered to when it comes to autumn/winter hair matters.

Start Growing Early

Hair grows more quickly in the summer, up to as much as 15% faster as the warm weather aids blood circulation to the skin which gets those hair cells moving. Bearing in mind the fact that hair growth slows down in the cold I believe you need to start growing the winter hair out now. If you are still trimming… STOP, otherwise, you won’t get adequate coverage of your special parts

Winter Growler Shoe Decoration is Not Required

Growing out your lady garden does not mean you can have yeti legs. No-one wants to see your dangly leg hairs flopping over your sensible autumn shoes so I’d advise following the Rule of Hairless Leg Crossing. Basically, you only need to shave as high as the line on your legs that can be seen if you cross your legs and your trousers ride up.

Wear Proper Pants!

If you choose to show off your blown dry muff to all and sundry in the gym changing room due to wearing teeny tiny pants then that is up to you, however, you should stop and consider for a minute WHY you are growing out the garden. A WG is not about fashion, it is about warmth; after all, a farmer wouldn’t shear a sheep in the middle of winter surely? Wearing small pants will allow accumulated warmth to escape (and there is also the risk of trapping escaped hair in your zip which is never pleasant).

At the end of the day how big your winter growler is allowed to get is up to you however as a rough guide I would say that the minimum length for optimum cosiness is probably is that stage where you can get a couple of inches worth of decent plaits in.

Whatever your Winter Growler plans are this autumn/winter I wish you great warmth and very few tangles.

Winter growler,
Great growth!
In Interior Design, Women's Interest

A Scented House

Author Nicki CawoodPosted on

We are smelly people in that we love a house that smells (nice). While I would love to have the time to ensure that the house constantly smells of fresh baked bread I haven’t sadly. I’ve done everything in the past from putting tumble dryer sheets down the back of the radiator (this works actually but you get bored of the same smell fairly quickly) and placed fresh flowers everywhere (Roy and I like different floral smells and living in what looks like a florist can get expensive).

Herbs from the garden have been used to scent the house however they don’t last long and with rooms with high ceilings the scent doesn’t seem to fill the room like I’d want it to.

diffuser

What I do not like are air freshener sprays, gel thingies and other air-clogging artificial smelling home scents. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve tried everything from the humble plugin to the mighty revolving motion activated sprays however none of them feel natural and I don’t suppose any of them are as healthy as we’d like to think. My youngest has sensitive skin and things like sprays don’t tend to do him any good.

My favourite scent provider of choice at the moment offers a range of scented candles and more which I can use to fragrance my home safely and without selling a kidney on the black market. I use a variety of candle types and air fresheners from diffusers to wax melts and enjoy the memory-invoking scents they provide, as well as the longer lasting yet not over-powering fragrance.

I always had candles burning BC (before children) however floating candles, and hot wax don’t necessarily work well with curious toddlers. Our home now (which I adore!) boasts fabulous fireplaces in the living room and dining room, our room as an original fireplace feature and even the kitchen has a useful mantelpiece over an original bread oven, all of which are fabulous places to house my candles.

My current favourites, not least because they are inexpensive and last well are wax melts. I like a mixture of scents from lavenders, jasmine, freesia and citrus scents and use these regularly. I’m not one for vanillas however the range of Christmas scented melts available is fabulous, from Christmas Tree to gingerbread. I like a scent that captures my mood, the season and which lifts a room ideally.


For rooms that I would like to have a constant yet not over-powering scent a diffuser is a good choice. Reed diffusers diffuse perfumes gradually as the scent travels up the reeds. We have one in our room which provides a pleasant but not over-strong scent all day long.

Candles are the traditional format and I enjoy both tealights and larger candles (all of which are great for giving as gifts too). I look forward to lighting a candle and enjoying the warm glow as well as the scent it provides. A candle can motivate me depending on the natural oils used or even calm and relax me.

yankee Xmas

Clearly I am something of a scent tart! I can never get enough of candles, wax tarts and so on which makes me easy to buy for! My question for you today is: What is your favourite scent and why? I’m not sure I could pick an absolute favourite myself as so many smells mean so many things however I would be curious to see what your must-have fragrances are!

 

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