During the winter months, the cold air robs the skin of its natural moisture and it’s quite common to suffer from dry, flaky and itchy skin. If not taken care of in time, dry skin can invite bigger issues such as allergies, eczema, pruritus, etc. Instead of opting for over-the-counter medications, Granny Mouse’s Camelot Spa’s Robyn Lowe, has a few simple yet effective home remedies to restore your dry hands and feet.

Wear socks to prevent cracks: When your foot is constantly exposed to trauma, it responds by thickening the skin on the sole of your foot. Walking around barefoot is the most common cause. This thick skin can lead to deep cracks in your heels so make sure that you wear comfy socks or slippers when walking around your house.

Soothe with a yogurt mask: A great alternative to that high-end cream is to try coating dry feet and hands in full-fat yogurt. The lactic acid in yogurt makes it a natural exfoliant that gently removes dead skin. To help make the skin even smoother, mix a teaspoon of raw honey into the yoghurt and leave on as a mask for at least 10 minutes. Thereafter, rinse off.

Spritz dryness away: Rose, lavender or bergamot essential oils are great for hydrating the skin. To create a herbal spritzer, mix a few drops of any, or all, of these essential oils with water in a spray bottle. Spritz on dry hands and feet whenever your skin needs a boost.

Whip up an at-home cold cream: You’ll need 30ml beeswax, 1/3 cup virgin olive oil, 2 tablespoons water or rosewater and five to 10 drops of lavender essential oil. Melt the beeswax. Heat the oil slightly over a saucepan, then pour into the melted beeswax. Heat the water or rosewater in the saucepan, then stir it, drop by drop, into the oil and wax mixture. Remove from heat and stir until the mixture is cooled and thick. Blend in the lavender essential oil. Spoon the mixture into a jar and store in a cool, dark place. It should last about three months.

Avocado and sugar scrub: The fats in avocados are extra nourishing for dry hands. Mash half an avocado and combine with 1 tbsp olive oil and 1/8 cup sugar. The sugar will exfoliate dead skin cells while the oils will moisturise your skin. Follow up with a vitamin E-enriched moisturizer.

If you’d like to go one step further and give your skin a special winter treat, join us at the spa next time you stop over at Granny Mouse.

Located on-site, alongside the rustling of large, established oak trees and the sound of running water, lies the Granny Mouse Spa. Whether you are a day visitor or overnight guest, you will find a wide range of spa treatments on offer to rejuvenate both mind and body.

Our premium range of treatments and facilities includes a steam room, Jacuzzi and a hydrotherapy bath. Our professional and highly qualified therapists are at hand to pamper you in every way.

Treatments that are guaranteed to take away the dryness of winter skin and replenish it include:

HAND AND FOOT THERAPY – Sheer indulgence for hands and feet.

Express Manicure 30 min R220
Express Pedicure 30 min R250
Deluxe Manicure 60 min R350
Deluxe Pedicure 60 min R400
Nail Care & Gel Application 45 min R340
Deluxe Gel Manicure 75 min R480
Deluxe Gel Pedicure 75 min R530

Granny Mouse Country House & Spa is the perfect spot for that romantic winter getaway. Like many of our guests who don’t enjoy the winter cold, many of the plants in our gardens like to lay low for the winter. But the beautiful Midlands landscape has its own stark beauty in this harshest of seasons … and then there’s the legendary Midlands log fire and gluhwein!

Always working in the background and nurturing his charges with as much love and care as we do our guests in the chillier months is our head gardener and his team of “green fingers”. Together, they ensure that our gardens are perfectly poised to break into bloom come spring – and provide you with another excuse to escape to the country and Granny Mouse.

Here are some of his thoughts on making sure that those of you who live in colder winter climates can ensure that your gardens continue to look spectacular.

First stop is always right at the beginning and choosing which plants are likely to do best in your particular climate.

The Granny Mouse gardeners settled on a careful mix of both exotic and indigenous flora to ensure a profusion of colour year round and help our guests to unwind in a setting that allows for seclusion, peace and tranquillity while inspiring with colour and form. Ours is an unstructured design with mature trees as well as lush shrubbery and some seasonal annual gems that always add that burst of colour and charm for which Granny Mouse Country House & Spa is known.

Because home grown plants handle the local climate best, each of our deluxe suites has an indigenous planting that includes witsonias, aloe arborence, buddleja, salviafola, crassula, lampranthus, freylina and more.

Like us, find out which indigenous plants are best for your area – ask your local nursery or garden centre and also keep an eye out for what’s doing well in your neighbours’ gardens. Choose carefully, especially when it comes to statement plants like trees and large shrubs that take a long time to grow and need to do well from season to season for years to come.

Also try to have as much evergreen foliage as possible to add just a little colour to the brown winter background.

Your options can be both indigenous and exotic – but remember that many more exotic and tropic types are averse to the biggest of winter gardening problems – frost.

As we all know, the Highveld, KwaZulu-Natal Midlands and the Karoo regularly experience winter night temperatures below 0°C.

Frost, which is both an unpredictable and unwelcome visitor, occurs due to a number of different factors, including freezing temperatures. At night, both the solid surface and air cools. Water vapour condenses and forms dew, settling on exposed surfaces such as lawn and foliage. When the thermometer drops below 0, this dew transforms into ice crystals, which are better known as frost.

So, keep an eye out for the weather forecast so that you can cover up your precious plants and prevent damage:

• Apply thick mulch over the roots of any plants that risk being damaged.
• Make sure that potted plants that are outside aren’t in wet potting soil. Ensure that there’s good drainage by placing containers onto pot feet (or improvise with small rocks or pebbles). Prevent containers from cracking during very cold conditions by wrapping them in bubble plastic or burlap.
• Cover vulnerable plants with hessian or straw tents at night – but remember to open up at least one side of your structure during the day.
• Water plants in the mornings rather than the evenings so that all surface moisture has been absorbed by the time the sun goes down and temperatures drop.
• Delay removing foliage that has been damaged by frost until spring, as it can not only protect the rest of the plants against further damage but cause less stress to your already struggling plants.
• Remove any plants that haven’t managed to survive the frost at the end of winter too. Like many of us, they might just be sleeping out the winter and re-appear in spring!