Winter Walks & Garden Views: The Silent Beauty of a Snowy January

A photo collection

Hello, I’m Claudia, and Happy Quiet Life is where I share my view on the world as a Highly Sensitive Person. You’ll find reflections and stories about slowing down & living simpler, reconnecting with nature, mental health & self-care, books & reading adventures. Welcome!

Winter is most welcome

For me, winter is not something to be endured or suffered through. I love winter. Especially when it comes with snow.

January has been very generous. We haven’t had this much snow in at least 15 years - and what a beauty it creates! This one truly reminded me of my childhood winters.

I feel the soothing embrace of the season and enjoy deeply being outside on winter walks in the fresh, clear air, the snow-covered landscapes or looking up at the vast starry night sky.

I enjoy watching the fluffed-up birds at the feeder in the garden, even the usually more reluctant ones come closer to the house now. Birdwatching is also easier when the trees are bare. On simple everyday walks I encouter birds I’ve never seen before or not in these numbers.

❄️ What’s not to like? 🐦‍

I love watching the birds, the garden, the snowfall, the thick, glistening blanket of snow from my comfy armchair by the window, my hands wrapped around a mug of hot chocolate or tea, taking small sips, enjoying the warmth. What a sight!

❄️ What’s not to like? ☕

Everything gets calmer, quieter, slower outside. Winter stops the excessive, hectic and noisy busyness of humans for a while that I as a highly sensitive person often find so unbearable.

❄️ No wonder I love winter so much! ☃️

When snow changes the landscape beyond recognition, when beauty is plentiful.

❄️ What’s not to like? ✨

This is how January looked like for me. I hope you enjoy my little photo selection!

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Winter walk in the countryside

Winter walk at sunrise

What a beautiful way to start the new year …

This is where I realised: THIS is real life. And: I want this to be my everyday life, not a break from my everyday life.

Almost colourless, yet still so beautiful.

I wasn’t the only one around …

There were dozens of chaffinches on the snow-covered stubble fields. (At first, I thought they were sparrows.) I’ve never seen so many at once!

A two-hour walk at sunrise, a snow-covered landscape, no wind, peace and quiet. That’s my kind of morning!

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A walk in the snow-covered forest

My husband and I are both snow lovers at heart, so we took the earliest opportunity to head to the forest …

A white welcome, and we had the forest (almost) to ourselves …

We saw a jay and several nuthatches. It was so fascinating to watch them run up the trees in a spiral, as if they were on a spiral staircase. I’ve never seen them before and was instantly charmed!

Snow was deep

Along the river

You can clearly tell from where the wind was blowing — and we were happy to warm up at home afterwards with a steaming hot cup of tea.

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Is this our garden? Wow!

One of our favourite pastimes in January: watching the snow covering our garden. We even had our very own snow-o-meter (although that was by accident, maybe I should have rescued the cat in time). 😄

Accidental snow-o-meter

The cat has reappared now, but the garden is still covered in snow and still looks so beautiful. ✨