Terri Webster Schrandt

Sunday Stills: Getting #Cozy

In our rushed world, now filled with fears of viruses, etc, many of us have forgotten what it’s like to be cozy. The last two years have hopefully taught us that being safe in our own homes and neighborhoods provides contentment and that feeling of coziness if we can’t be close to our loved ones.

I felt cozy in my former home. I started a family there in 1988 and lived in the house with both daughters. In 2009, I met Hans whom I married a few years later. He helped make that house cozier with his carpentry and building talents, and of course, his humor and love! Seems once we got her looking gorgeous, we said goodbye!

Front of house completed
Cozy upgrade
Hugging my house goodbye
Hugging the old house goodbye

We scratched the itch to move and we began a new life in a larger home and property. It is surprisingly easy to keep it cozy and warm, which is a great idea when you live in the Pacific Northwest.

Cozy house in first snow
First snow of late Autumn

As I prepare to spend my second full winter here, I am still shocked at how soon the sun sets. Not only is the sun low in the sky all day, but according to this source,

“The sun will set before 4 p.m. every day after that until the Winter Solstice. Then, the days will slowly start getting longer again. The next time the sun will set at 5 p.m. is Feb. 7, 2022.”

I guess I’ll be getting cozy for a few months yet. Not hard to do with this guy!

Cozy at Home
A cozy selfie on Thanksgiving morning

When I’m home, I like a cozy, comfortable, calming space.

Stacy Keibler

How would you define cozy?

Oxford Dictionary defines COZY as “giving a feeling of comfort, warmth, and relaxation:
“a cozy cabin tucked away in the trees.”

Everyone can identify with a fragrant garden, with beauty of sunset, with the quiet of nature, with a warm and cozy cottage.

Thomas Kinkade

“Cozy” can be found in the warmth of a kitchen or an inviting mountainside setting.

Warm Kitchen
chairs in Lake Tahoe
Seeking Warmth

The Danish have a word to describe the idea of “cozy,” known as Hygge (pronounced hue-ga). Hygge is a quality of coziness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being, according to Oxford Dictionaries. Snuggling with pets and blankets suggests coziness and is good for your mental health.

Blonde and Brown dogs
Brothers Gideon & Aero
Cozy blanket Autumn Decor
Daddy loves Brodie
Textures of Aero and bed linens

Cozy or Hygge Hobbies

There are hobbies that are considered “cozy” or “hygge.” In this era of self-care, cultivating a hobby that brings you joy and contentment is a must-do. Depending on your interests, you can go for hobbies where you create coziness, like knitting, quilting, and crochet. Other home arts include soap-making, candle-making, and baking. I enjoy holiday decorating to make my home look cozier.

Cozy German Christmas Decor
Close-up German Christmas Village Scene

If you’re outdoorsy or fitness-oriented, hiking or walking and filling your eyes with beautiful scenery is always a win. While you’re out and about, try your hand at taking pictures and cultivating a love for photography. Our mobile devices make it impossible NOT to capture a fine photograph.

Cozy in the Fall
Reading and lounging
Getting cozy with Brodie
Me with Aero and new kayak
Kayaking with Aero on Lake Natoma
Family enjoying a hike on mountain
A Cozy Sunset Walk on Lembert Dome, Yosemite

There are hundreds of wonderful hobbies available to explore.

Speaking of photography, it is up there in my top two favorite hobbies of all time (hiking is the other). I have not forgotten about Writers’ Quotes Wednesdays Writers’ Choice prompt (forgotten) this week. I think this quote works wonderfully for the idea!

Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever… it remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything.

Aaron Siskind

Even Bald Eagles Get Cozy

Last weekend, we drove 60 miles to Higgens Point on Lake Coeur D’Alene, Idaho, to see bald eagles congregate as they hunt for spawning kokanee salmon. We picked a great day with clear blue skies. More seagulls than eagles, but oh my, I finally got some of my own fab photos of eagles! This eagle pair hung out together and I can’t believe I caught this image of them looking “fondly” at each other and cozy together in the same tree.

Cozy Eagles
Bald Eagle Pair

Here is a close-up of one of the pair. The eagle photos were taken with my Lumix FZ300 at full 600 zoom in aperture mode.

American Bald Eagle
A cozy branch

As we walked back to our car, I looked back and caught the eagle couple in another cozy pose. Aww.

A cozy pair

Photo Challenges this Week

Each week I am inspired by my fellow bloggers’ photo challenges. I find it fun to incorporate these into my Sunday Stills weekly themes when possible.

December’s themes are ready for your viewing pleasure on my Sunday Stills Photography Page.

Sunday Stills is a wonderful community of bloggers and photographers who desire to connect with one another. Below are the last week’s links from bloggers who shared their favorite ruby-wine color challenge photos.

Always Write

Beach Walk Reflections

Bushboys World

Cats and Trails and Garden Tales

Cath’s Camera

Cee’s Photo Challenges

The Day After

Deb’s World

Easin’ Along Image shared in comments

Geriatrix Fotogallerie

Graham’s Island

Hugh’s Views and News Image shared in comments

Jacquie Biggar, Author

Kamerapromenader

Light Words

Light Write Life

Loving Life

My Camera and I

Now At Home

Philosophy Through Photography

Photos By Jez

Retirement Reflections Image shared on Instagram

Robert’s Snap Spot

NEW TBL

This is Another Story

Travels and Trifles

Travel With Me

Woolly Muses

Working on Exploring

Sunday Stills Photo Challenge Reminders

Sunday Stills weekly challenge is easy to join. You have all week to share and link your post. I appreciate so many loyal participants each week and am blown away by your talents!

  • Please create a new post for the theme or link a recent one.
  • Tag your post “Sunday Stills.”
  • Title your blog post a little differently than mine.
  • Don’t forget to create a pingback to this post so that other participants can read your post. I also recommend adding your post’s URL into the comments.
  • Entries for this theme can be posted all week.

I’m looking forward to your posts featuring “cozy!” Next week, December 5th is the Christmas Song Lyric Photo Challenge, where you try to match your images to selected lyrics of your favorite Christmas song. We had fun this summer, click here to see how we all did it–easier than you think.

Wishing you a COZY week!

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100 comments

  2. Wow! From start to finish your pictures are outstanding. The eagle closeup may be the best eagle picture I’ve ever seen in the blogger world and I don’t remember any eagle books. You should put that one out for publication. Gorgeous. Your home pictures are super cozy. I love that word and the feeling. You will have even more fun with next week’s challenge. It’s totally you – Toys/Play (leisure). I must have thought of it with you in mind! Have a wonderful week and I’ll be working on cozy. 🙂

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  6. A perfect week to think about being cozy Terri – not a fan of cold, snow or winter hence my southern move, but I do enjoy seeing others embracing it! Your new home looks beautiful. We are very fortunate here as we are now up to 7 eagle nests on our 10-mile island. Pretty amazing that they all have room to roam and plenty of fish and marsh rats to feast on. I love watching how caring they are for the eaglets, especially when they are newborns. Your cozy images are lovely as is your eagle catch. I look forward to next week’s fun – our subject is “celebrating” so we should have a nice overlap of followers!

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    • The good thing is we can visit the southern states when we can, Tina! That must be amazing to see so many eagles flying about–they are excellent parents for the first year and are known to train their eaglets on hunting and fishing practices, even when they are barred from the nest. Thank you for your kind compliments and next week should be fun singing and celebrating (thanks for the heads-up)!

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  17. A perfect post as we transition into December, Terri. I love the word hygge and all it implies, very similar to cozy. You home looks wonderfully cozy with the golden light and all that blue snow. I love cozy crafts and will have to make some time for them this holiday season. Thanks for the lovely post.

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  20. Woo hoo … I made the list! 🙂 Cozy is such a good word that I added it to my “topic ideas” list for future beach walks. Thank you! I thought of the synonym “comfort” – especially comfort food. The only beach walk topic that comes to mind is “Haven” because that is a personal place of comfort – the cozy place we can retreat to when necessary. Here’s that walk … and if it doesn’t work, that’s ok. https://beachwalkreflections.wordpress.com/2021/06/08/83-havens/

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  21. So much coziness! I have to admit that I have never thought of the word cozy and Bald Eagles in the same sentence before. The days are shorter here as well, the sun is setting around 3pm every day. Yesterday we took out our Advent lights, and decorated for Christmas, the Christmas tree its still left to decorate, but everything else is in place. Decorating for a change of season is definitely cozy in my world.

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  22. Terri,
    Your dogs are cute, and your eagle is an award winner, but my favorite is the featured photo at the top. Is that a painting? We have camped for the last two weeks, so I’m sharing a cozy campsite picture as my contribution, although you’ve seen it before. I loved this post! Have a great week! Joe

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  29. Beautiful pics Terri. Cozy to me means wearing my cozy, furry lounge pants with a furry top to keep the chill out, holding a cup of coffee – or a glass of wine, depending on the day. 🙂 x

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  36. I love your interpretation of cozy Terri and your reflections of moving house. I agree the past two years have made us get more comfortable with being at home and cozy. I really like the Danish Hygge and have many Danish friends who I try to emulate. Stay warm and cozy over there x

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  38. Fabulous photos, Terri! 🙂 Your new home is so serene blanketed in snow, and certainly looks cozy! And the eagle pictures are amazing! I’ve taken a few pics of eagles myself as they frequent the area here. The detail you captured on the lone eagle is remarkable! You’ve inspired me to buy a Lumix camera – I’m hoping the extra zoom will help me on my next outing. 😉 🙂

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  40. Though Winter is my least-favorite season, I do like the downtime aspect of it – no yard work to do, limited errands and unless you have a day where it is blizzard-like and you’re outside shoveling every few hours, it is a time to get comfy with a good book tucked under a cozy afghan, something I was better at before the blogging bug bit me. Your new house is beautiful from the inside and out Terri.

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  41. Those eagles are sure winners, Terri. Wow, wow, wow. I’ve heard of Hygge before – who doesn’t love cozy hobbies, habits, or places! I’d say our camper is quite cozy without doing any effort! We’ve taken it off the camper now for the month of December and it looks tiny without the truck!

    My idea of coziness is a self-contained cabin in the woods, warmed by a wood fire, and reading a book on its comfy couch. 🙂

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  44. When I first saw the word ‘cozy’ (or cosy – as we spell it in the UK) for this week’s theme, it made me immediately think about being underneath a 10’5 tog goose-feathered duvet when my smart clock tells me this, Terri –

    But I always feel cosy when indoors at this time of the year, especially when it’s dark outside and the Christmas tree is up.

    This photo was taken last Christmas. We haven’t put up our tree(s) this year as yet.

    It must be amazing to see bald eagles in the wild. We don’t have anything like that in the UK. Your new home looks fantastic set against the night sky and snow—Very festive, Terri.

    Sunset here in Swansea, Wales, is at 16:09 today. And rises at 08:03 tomorrow morning. It’s defiantly the time of year to feel cosy in you’re in the Northern Hemisphere. But it’s also the time of year when the days seem to go even quicker.

    Enjoy the rest of the week, Terri.

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  51. Beautiful, majestic Eagle photos, love them!! Your photo and mention of snow in late August 😲 made me shiver, lol, but I do love fresh fallen snow. My latest cozy feeling was sitting with my 4 yo grandson yesterday, reading a book, my arm wrapped around him, while he turned the pages. Life was perfect at that moment! 🥰

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    • Hi Donna, thank you! I was so excited to see the eagles and get some great shots with my Lumix. I’ve oohed and ahhed over so many spectacular eagle pics, I just wanted some of my own. Your cozy moment with your grandson sounds delightful. Thank you for taking a few moments to stop over by my blog 🙂

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