This will be last post I promise - I bet everyone’s really tired of all us Londoners going gaga over a little fall :-D It bears remembering though, that this is only the second time in my life that I have seen this much snow. The first was 12 years ago when I spent a winter in Germany.
I did make a snowman - my first ever (apart from the sleet-and-slush-man that I built with my brother once when we were little). And learned a little bit about packing snow (it’s harder than you think to get it even) and freezing fingers. I tried a snowball later on with mittens on and the snow stuck to my mittens in a big way - what’s the secret??
Windowsill-snow-dude wanted to go out and play with the other snowmen, but I wouldn’t let him because he was too little and only had a scrappy yarn scarf to keep him warm. So he got cross at me and melted in the kitchen :-(
I ventured out on Tuesday and learned that a) gritted snow is safe, and very satisfyingly crunchy to walk on, b) slush is slippery and icky, c) hard-packed footpath snow with no grit is to be avoided at all costs, even if it means walking in the foot-deep roadside drifts and d) wearing gloves with mittens over the top is the only way to survive!
I took this picture sometime on Monday I think - the snow was absolutely chucking it down - hard to capture on camera as it was moving so fast, but I think you can tell. You can see how thick the snow is where it’s been scraped off the top of the car. Incidentally, during this particular flurry, our immigrant was out meeting real estate agents and looking at flats. Ugh! He did admit that, in general, he preferred -2 degrees to 40 degrees if it came to a choice.
Today it’s raining and the snow is almost a thing of the past. They were forecasting more for the weekend but I think they’ve changed their minds - it’s not cold enough any more. So no more snow days, and the trains are (mostly) running again!
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February 5th, 2009 at 10:18 am
Oh, I really hope we don’t get any more snow. Though we’ve not had rain here. *worries*
February 5th, 2009 at 11:11 am
No rain here for 20 something days and expecting 43-44c on Saturday next. I do enjoy the heat and the winter will be here soon enough. I could become used to the hot days and it certainly changes what you eat. Have been living on fruit
tinned salmon and salad. No fries no bread no meat. Enjoy the snow.
February 5th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
I love your little snowman and I can highly recommend merino long johns!
February 5th, 2009 at 4:37 pm
I love all the excitement this snow has caused…so many blogs talking about it and I thought it was just me..and now it melts….
February 5th, 2009 at 4:59 pm
Ohh, you are funny! I didn’t think snow was so exotic until I heard all this. :) Snow is great when it clings to your mittens. Agitate a little bit and you will get some fulling going on. A light amount of felting makes your mittens much warmer, you then don’t have to double up with gloves. This AM I wore two pairs of mittens though as it was 10F here. (dang cold.)
With a good pair of winter boots (insulated, with a textured sole and waterproofing) slush and grit is nothing. Snow pack is also nice. I used to walk snow packed paths every day to class in the winter in Ithaca, NY. Some other hints from the land of snow:
1) You need to own more than one pair of mittens if you’re planning snow play. They get damp, you come in and set them out to dry. Rotate in dry wool mittens immediately. Bear in mind that there are different kinds of snow. Some of it clings to mittens better than other snowfalls.
2) Snow is an adventure. Wake up early, dress up in longjohns (long underwear, mine are silk) and have fun. I am an expert at the snow angel and I love snow candy.) I like helping people push their cars out of snow, it slides so easily!
3) Shoveling your driveway three days a week gets tiresome, especially in temps of -5 F (damn cold). Folks in upstate NY and New England buy plow contracts so someone plows your driveway, but we couldn’t afford one the year we lived in Buffalo. It will also stay on the ground from November to April. It almost never reaches a temperature warm enough to melt!
It’s been fun hearing about this! I forgot how special snow seems to the uninitiated!
February 5th, 2009 at 5:16 pm
As for how to make snowballs, you should have gotten Tuesday’s Guardian. There was a how-to on making the perfect snowball, complete with diagrams.
February 5th, 2009 at 7:06 pm
I came right to your blog to look at the snowman! He is adorable! How do places that get snow all the time make it through? I don’t get why anyone would live there. (Written from usually sunny Southern California, where it is raining cats and dogs right now). Hope you thaw out soon.
February 5th, 2009 at 8:47 pm
I’m not at all tired of hearing about it - if we ever get snow here, I’ll be posting about it too! It’s lovely!
February 6th, 2009 at 3:36 pm
Love the snowman, he is very cute! We are getting rain right now and its going to turn to snow by Monday. I’m not looking forward to the drive into work on Monday. Stay warm!!!!
February 7th, 2009 at 11:24 am
Wow - we’ve had nothing here in Kent compared to what you’ve had.