Tuesday 22 January 2013

A Ramble in the Snow



Winter has arrived.

Winter has arrived.  And with it a short cold snap followed by snow – lots of snow.  But it hasn’t stopped Partner-who-loves-tea and I from having a daily walk whenever other things allowed.  


The first snowy day gave us a bitter wind; the second was very slippy underfoot; the third allowed us a walk in perfect conditions.  Gentle snowflakes flopping down and snow on the ground; the sort of snow that makes excellent snowballs and snowmen.  I’m sure there is supposed to be an Inuit word for that sort of snow. 






Sadly there aren’t many young children in our neighbourhood so there wasn’t a single snowman to be seen but the coating of snow on the trees was just perfect.


A Week ‘Off’

Partner-who-loves-tea has a week of working from home – no student appointments, no teaching and no clients.  So I have taken the liberty of interrupting her most mornings for a chat over a coffee and word game.  This is the life!

Amarylis
Last year one of Partner-w-l-t’s students gave her an Amarylis.  I had never really taken to them before but I thought that one was gorgeous so this year we invested in a couple more from Aldi.  Excellent value for money.


In addition, the instructions for keeping last year’s bulb and having it re-flower were followed and the original one has once again brought forth some superb blossoms. Since the instructions were easy it looks as though we could have three of them again over next winter.

Postcrossing
Sending postcards continues whatever the weather and I thought I would show you how pretty our local pillar box looked in the snow.  However, what I ended up with was a classic example of how not to take a photo.  If your objective is to show the little white cap of snow on top of the red box don’t take it from a position where there is a white van in the background!


The Binmen
Well done to our binmen who were out and about in the snow – not a pleasant job at the best of times it was made even worse trudging through the snow.  Sadly our bin didn’t get emptied though.  The side roads are too slippery for the lorry – especially as ours is a cul-de-sac and the wagon has to reverse all the way down, between the parked cars.  I foresee many weeks of bin bags piling up despite their best efforts. 
By the way – my Spillchucker has gone politically correct on me and rejected the word binmen.  It didn’t give me an alternative but presumably I should have said 'refuse collection operatives [sex unspecified]'.

19 comments:

  1. Our day-time weather has been in the 20's Farhenheit, not nearly as cold as it might be in January. The snow around the Manse is gone, but there has been a freezing fog tonight and perhaps a heavy frost will cover things in the morning. Those trees on your walk were beautiful. Are you sure you didn't have a calling to be the children of your neighborhood and build the prerequisite snowman?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Walking in the snow was OK but the idea of playing out in it lost its appeal a few years ago, Dennis. A walk and then a coffee and toasted teacake are now the best option!

      Delete
  2. I'm torn between the warm/hot sunny summer days and the snow. Well perhaps not exactly torn.......

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Just one word, brother - 'Wimp'!!

      Delete
    2. I'd say fortunate, CJ! We know that he's not torn! We had a high of 13 F Tuesday, and a low of 4 F last night.

      Delete
  3. It looks wonderful. I only know one Inuit word for snow.....Aput....I don't know whether aput makes snowpersons.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. How terribly correct of you, Adrian, "Snowpersons"! I'm afraid mine will always be snowmen and have pipes...

      Delete
    2. I'm recognised as an authority on PC matters John.
      I Made a snowwoman with carrots for nipples last winter. It was not received with universal approval. Perhaps a pub car park was not the best venue.

      Delete
    3. I don't know what the modern abbreviation for 'rolling about the floor laughing' is, Adrian, (i bet there is one) but that's what you just had me doing. Many thanks.

      Delete
    4. leave it to Adrian to make me chuckle out loud! what a wit!

      Delete
  4. The snowy pictures look beautiful, and I am glad you were able to go for walks in such perfect conditions!
    In German, there are various words for snow as well. One is Pulverschnee (powder snow), which is the most popular kind of snow for skiing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pulverschnee sounds the right sort of word for what we have at the moment, Meike. It's a powder that is just damp enough to mould when you pick it up.

      Delete
  5. That treeline could be Ohio this morning. We've had a very mild winter so far, but I think that's over with. The thermometer read four degrees (Fahrenheit) this morning.

    I like the photo of the mailbox. We don't have anything that nice in the Colonies - ours are a uniform shape and shade of blue with the Official United States Post Office logo on the front. How dull.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree! I wish that was one thing we'd copied from the Brits. :)

      Delete
    2. I'll be doing as post about pillar boxes soon becaise there is a chance ours may change. I'm not happy about that.

      Delete
  6. Looking good on bare branches is what snow does best, in my opinion. I wish it would stay up there, and on the lawns, but keep off the roads :) (not much chance of my wish being granted, I do realize that!)
    The amaryllis looks magnificent. I often buy one (or even two) before Christmas but this winter I've not had any. (I don't save the bulbs since I have no good place to keep them, living in a flat.)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Glad you and Jo are enjoying her time off from work.
    There should be lots of mini snowpersons in your garden, since the two of you "kids" can enjoy the snow everyday.
    Please no mini snow ladies with carrot nipples....Adrian's version.
    Loved the wintry photos.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love the icicle effect of a little thaw then a re-freeze.

    ReplyDelete
  9. beautiful array of snow images!

    ReplyDelete

Hello - thanks for dropping by to leave a comment. Your comments are much appreciated even if I don't always reply. They will appear as soon as they have been moderated.

Blog Archive