CLAIRE IN THE COUNT Y WINT ER I S COMING


LIVE 24-SEVEN


96


PREPARING TO HIBERNATE…


Claire Thayers


I recently read an article about bears: mothers will eat in preparation for the winter and hide away in the dark to have their cubs, they’ll grow lots of fur to keep warm and they’ll also sleep a lot…I think I am a bear?


As soon as the clocks change and the nights draw in, I feel myself becoming more and more solitary. Once I’m in the house, I don’t want to leave… I just want to eat!


The sadness is that I don’t rush to the bowl of apples, or dribble over a yogurt, I want stodge – warming stews, steamed sponge puddings, roast beef and Yorkshires – I’m convinced our food is related to our weather. Whenever I holiday in the Med and the sun is shining, I tuck into my salads, throw the odd fruit salad together – there’s not a hotpot in sight. I don’t even want chocolate! The sun just takes your hunger away and the local food is so delicious – fresh fish, fresh veg and fruit. Why doesn’t it taste that good at home?


I had a Spanish au pair and it was fascinating visiting her and her family and comparing their lives to living in the Cotswolds. The poor girl arrived, hardly able to speak a word of English, on a dark, rainy November night, but she took it all in her stride and threw herself into the country life – walking the dog, helping me with the bins and one evening I returned from work to see her in the kitchen with swimming goggles on next to ‘Agar the ‘orrible’ (the


old Aga that had a mind of its own)! It took me a minute to work out why she was wearing such attire and then I realised, she was making the children Spanish tortillas for them to sample a bit of her cuisine and to avoid the tears whilst chopping the onions she had the googles on! A fetching look…but one I have not been tempted to replicate!


I’d never realised just how different our lives were to hers. I found it so interesting visiting her parents who ate out more, enjoying tapas, little tasters with the whole family. They enjoyed eating in cafés in the evening, sitting out with prams by their side, but here, as soon as it becomes dark, the curtains are drawn, fires are on and we hide ourselves away, huddled by our slow cookers – well I do anyway! Lack of sunlight, stodgy food and hiding away during the dark nights, no wonder the British struggle with depression in the winter.


Whilst sitting here on a dark early evening typing away, I realise I’ve gone into ‘winter mode’. I’ve eaten too much, the curtains are drawn and I’m in my ‘cave’, nodding off and then…shock, horror… I look down and see my hairy legs and realise my children’s nickname has come true, I really AM Mummy Bear!


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