Sunday, February 25, 2007

Big Dump

Somebody infuential must have read my blog. We had a nice big dump of snow today - real snow - and the town is covered in priddy white stuff. Funny thing is, usually snow fall is anticipated by a couple of days of 'storm warning' type news reports and much anticipation of a day off work... except this snow came as a complete surprise. We stayed at Adam's last night, having been there for Kati's birthday and an evening of Wii tennis tournaments. When we left today Adam was taking the girls to a good sledding spot. After all the cold weather, it feels like we deserved some real snow!

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

slush city

Hello, I hadn't blogged in a while and thought the weather would be a good topic. Very British of me I suppose!

It has been very cold here during the last couple of weeks, with temperatures well below zero most of the time. You'd think this would be a recipe for some nice pretty dumps of snow but instead it has been all sleet and ice. There has been a couple of times when we had an inch or so of sleet falling (and consequently everyone gleefully called a work from home day last Wednesday) which made for very slushy roads and pathways. Then because of the cold temperatures it has stuck around in very solid icy (and dirty) heaps. I also discovered that my car, which is terrific fun to drive in other road conditions, slides around like a slippery slidy thing in the slush. I think I also had my first experience of aquaplaning, which was no fun but fortunately didn't result in an accident. On the plus side, being indoors has felt more cozy and appealing than ever. The drive to work, although a little more treacherous and slow, has turned more attractive for the most part too. In equal measure to the dirty ice heaps there's untouched pillows of snow that make for a very beautiful wintery scene in the morning light. Actually it's more like sleet that's iced into a solid mass from a distance you can't much see the difference.

So not quite comparable to Mum and Dad's anniversary trip to the alps, but definitely one to add to the list of my new experiences in the US.