Snow

Can't even get rain, let alone snow in California...70 degrees and sunny, where's my WINTER??!!! 

...Is that something to be upset about? I'm with chary, if I never saw another snowflake again, I'd be ok. I realize that's not going to happen, it's just that I wouldn't miss it.

That being said, we've had a very mild winter so far in the Northeast. Just the one snowfall a few weeks ago and the freak one in October. I'm happy with that. I don't like to be cold. It was in the 60s on Wednesday! Glorious.

That being said, we've had a very mild winter so far in the Northeast. Just the one snowfall a few weeks ago and the freak one in October. I'm happy with that. I don't like to be cold. It was in the 60s on Wednesday! Glorious.

Its been pretty mild here this year (it was in the 60s on Christmas day.. and the mid 40s to low 50s up to this past week) Even the damp has been almost non-existent, so its nice to get some weather and actually feel wintery.

I grew up in a place where you can expect to get down to -25C in the winter, and I've never lived in a place that you didn't expect to get wintery weather and snow every year.  Moving here has been a huge change.  I hate the damp (one of my few complaints about this country) and would much rather have it drop below freezing and stay that way to let things dry out.  I guess I was prepared for rain, but I expected the rain to be the kind I was used to.  Not mostly drizzle and misty crap more days than not with a chance of semi-hard rain and high humidity most of the year.

Anyway, when it snows here, I like it.  It goes beyond it being pretty.  It helps to suck some of the damp out.  It feels more normal to me.  I realise that not everyone grew up with cold, snowy winters, but for some of us who did, it can sometimes be comforting in a weird way.  I do realise that not everyone who thinks of winter as being snowy feels the same way.

My husband is funny about the snow.  I sent him out to pick up bread, milk and some snacks (thinking a thing of biccies for him) because we were out of two and low on one.  He came back with two loaves of bread, a giant jug of milk, two packs of gummy candies (his favourites), a thing of oat cakes (not sure why), digestives, a packet of garibaldi, jammy dodgers, two bags of sun bites (so 12 portions), and some Pepsi Max... It made me laugh.  Well, once he felt that we'd not die of junk food deprivation if we were snowed in, he's given hourly updates on the amount of snow in the garden.    It really started snowing too late, but if it's still there tomorrow, I hope we can go out and have fun in it.

Can't even get rain, let alone snow in California...70 degrees and sunny, where's my WINTER??!!! 

Our winter went to the Ukraine, Colorado, East Coast, everywhere else! I threw in the towel today and put away any 'winter' gear I actually have here.

Sympathies to those not enjoying the snow. But any positive vibes you have to have it maintain so I can get my fiance over here on Wednesday would be great (wedding next Saturday!)

I stand by what I said. Snow is evil. A friend's daughter was scheduled to fly to Australia last night. Seven hours sitting in the plane on the runway and now 12 hours delay with no sign of takeoff. Snow sucks.

I haven't seen snow since 2002 and I ran outside like a little kid at 9am into our garden. I'm getting ready to take my dog for a romp in the park. This is awesome.

It's especially awesome because the snowplows, or salters (or however they remove snow from the road - forgive me, I am from Florida), have already been by. And the buses are running.

I measured the snow this morning. 4.5 inches in north London.

Nope still no snow in Northern Scotland. Not even really cold! Fine by me today as I am travelling and I don't need/want delays

The park was beautiful this morning. So many people out with their dogs, kids making snowmen and sled riding. People were very smiley today and loads said hello which is not the norm lol. R and I had a pathetic snowball "fight" which involved more laughing than snowballs. Now we've finished our Sunday breakfast and can settle in to relax. 

I've had a lifetime supply of snow from my time living in northern Indiana and commuting into Chicago during the late 70s when we had some of the worst weather ever. Plus I lived in Vermont and New Hampshire during the 60s.....never knew it could snow so much.

The past few years has been trying to work in business trips around snow. Had to reschedule 3 last year, and one was done before the airline waived the fee. Bummer.

We had <1 inch yesterday, and it's screwed up dinner plans (we had family coming). You younger folk enjoy the snow if you must; give me just a cold, but snow-free winter! I have a trip planned in 2 weeks, and fingers crossed for a clear run to the airport.

Here in our Cambridgeshire village people are digging their cars out.

Here is my question (I'm from Florida):

Why don't they make the handles on snow shovels longer? From watching out the window it seems that to get the proper angle of attack requires you to get into the worst sort of position. A longer handle would allow you to be more upright.

Last week the pump on my boiler went out and I am so glad I got it fixed before all the cold weather and snow.

Yesterday I decided to stay in and rearrange the furniture in my flat and tackle all the DIY tasks I've been putting off. Laundry and dishes are next! Snow days are great. It is so peaceful outside. Few people, cars and airplanes!

Last night on iPlayer I started watching the Call the Midwife series on BBC. Love it!

I am going to make potato and carrot soup, perhaps some bread and mock up a recipe I saw for butternut squash brownies. I am missing some of the ingredients so that will be interesting!

I was looking forward to enjoying the snow today and then I woke up with a migraine this morning (my own stupid fault for getting up early and taking a trip to London yesterday instead of getting enough sleep after my night shifts).

I've only just made it out of bed (although my head still hurts) and now there's only about an hour of sunlight left .

Here in our Cambridgeshire village people are digging their cars out.

Here is my question (I'm from Florida):

Why don't they make the handles on snow shovels longer? From watching out the window it seems that to get the proper angle of attack requires you to get into the worst sort of position. A longer handle would allow you to be more upright.

I'm from the (often snowy) Cleveland area of Ohio. I've not seen a proper snow shovel yet in the UK, so what you're seeing might actually be gardening shovels, as one of my neighbours was using earlier. (Last winter I watched in bemusement as people used mops to get snow off their cars!) With a proper snow you do have to bend down a bit to hoist the load off the ground and fling it elsewhere. This means you don't want the handle too long because it actually makes it harder to lift and move the snow. The technique is to have one hand at the top of the handle and one hand closer to the shovel itself. Being upright usually only happens if there's less on the ground and you're just pushing it off to the side.



That being said, I wouldn't call 4 inches enough to be digging your car out. That amount is just a leisurely winter drive in Northeast Ohio! 

Nope still no snow in Northern Scotland. Not even really cold! Fine by me today as I am travelling and I don't need/want delays

I'm in Edinburgh, and no snow here, either. It's actually a pretty nice day, and my medium weight coat was a bit too heavy for me when I was out earlier. We had a dusting of snow a few months ago, but that was all we've had this winter. Aren't we supposed to be the ones with terrible weather? I always hear from people living in England that we have terrible weather, but I've never noticed a huge difference. In fact, whenever I go to England, it seems to be nicer here than there. I'd like these people who claim Scotland has terrible weather to try a winter in Illinois where I grew up and see how they feel about Scotland after that. I remember it being -20C (-5F) pretty regularly when I left for school in the morning. Above freezing was a "warm" day.

My husband was born in Scotland and lived in Texas for a while, so he doesn't really know what a real winter is like, so his reaction to snow is always funny. We were in Canada last month and it began snowing, and he was convinced it was a blizzard, when it was really just a completely normal snow! We showed up to the airport when it was snowing, and he was convinced our flight would be cancelled... it left on time without any delays. I love airports that can handle snow! When I was at university in Colorado, it took 6 feet of snow to cancel classes. I walked to classes in 3 feet of snow on a pretty regular basis. I think the entire country would shut down and people would think it was the apocalypse if that happened here.

Here in our Cambridgeshire village people are digging their cars out.

Here is my question (I'm from Florida):

Why don't they make the handles on snow shovels longer? From watching out the window it seems that to get the proper angle of attack requires you to get into the worst sort of position. A longer handle would allow you to be more upright.

I don't know if you can buy decent snow shovels here. I looked everywhere for a decent ice/snow scraper for the car, and we ended up buying one in the US and bringing it back with us.