Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Not a post about work

Well, I must say one gets far more comments when one posts pictures of cats than when one moans about one's paid employment. So I shall stop complaining.

Here are some photos of last Sunday afternoon when, among other things, Daughter 2 and I went for a brisk walk. It was brisk because the weather, though sunny, was absolutely freezing; also we were having the rest of the family (minus Doctor Son, alas) to dinner.

Here's Daughter 2 marching along. She doesn't hang about, Daughter 2, and since she's taller than I am and has longer legs, I have to scurry a bit to keep up.
She had come home for the weekend, thus brightening our dull, middle-aged lives.

Not a leaf on the trees either by the road or on Corstorphine Hill in the background.


Back home, I had cheated by planting primroses from a garden centre in a pot, giving a false impression of spring. What a cheerful sight for winter-jaded eyes.



Here are my winter-flowering pansies, still blooming after eighteen months in that pot. A bit weedy, but colourful compared to the rest of the garden. I must dead-head them.


Meanwhile Mr Life had hauled the pink blanket out of the cupboard so that he and Sirius could have a nice nap on the sofa. This is the blanket that I had on my bed when I was a girl, years before downies. It was very long and I used to wrap the top of it round my head on cold nights. No central heating then; the windows used to ice up on the inside, the condensation freezing into star-like crystals.


A little bit of spring inside too.
The days are getting longer, the first snowdrops and crocuses are forcing their way through the hard ground and soon, surely, winter will draw to a close in our little island. Sending it your way, Australia.







13 comments:

  1. Cold here as well. I grew up in a house without heating (we had a coal fire and back boiler) and even our toilet used to get ice on it. I don't remember feeling deprived at all and found central heating in other people's houses unpleasant!
    Don't stop blogging about work, lots of people identify with it, I know I do.

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  2. Thanks Isobel, after this last summer, I think many of us would love just a tad of your cold (and wet - please send some of the wet as well, lots of us still in drought!)I have a sneaking preference for winter here but not sure how enthusiastic I would be if our winters were as long and cold as yours. Please don't stop blogging about your work. You give us quite a few chuckles as well as identifying with your frustrations.

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  3. What happened to all that snow?? I read that in the mountains around Trento it was minus 48 degrees C. I much prefer the winter. It is much too humid here.
    I too love reading about your work - and the cats, the children, etcetera. How amazing that you still have a blanket from your childhood.

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  4. Oh, how I remember those childhood bedrooms without heating - getting out of bed and having to step off the rug onto the lino in bare feet, makes one shiver just to to think about it. Glad I'm not the only one who still has childhood blankets though.
    I was going to send you a sympathetic comment regarding the horrors of the semester system which requires things to carry over Christmas and end/start again in January - hated it when we changed from terms when I was working in a Uni Dept.
    Pity we're not near enough to borrow a cat, husband saw a mouse in the sittingroom this morning - not sure who was more surprised.
    Haven't yet been driven to dispose of M, but thanks for the offer of moral support!

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  5. Oh...how beautiful your little flowers are! We don't even have a peek of green here -- and won't for probably six more weeks. I love it when you post the neighborhood and the seasonal splendor -- I do so wish I could see spring there, in person!

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  6. I guess you posted this before it snowed again!

    It is really jolly cold today. I had hopes that spring was on the way, but it doesn't feel like it...

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  7. Thanks for the Winter....I wouldn't say no!

    I bet your indoor hyacinths smell divine.

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  8. I cannot function when my pipes are frozen! It looks so blue and brisk, but I'll just enjoy the pictures. We will surely get back to our normal sunshine here soon.....waiting....waiting......waiting......zzzzzzz.

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  9. I'd like to point out that while I might walk fast, I don't actually make a habit of walking 12 feet in front of my darling mother when we are out on a walk together. Or rather, only when she says, "Walk ahead of me so I can take a picture of you for my blog"!

    D2

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  10. Rosemary Riveter6:01 pm

    I thought you would like this poem about teaching, it made me think of some of your funny student quotes:

    http://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/013.html

    ~RosemaryRiveter (can't log in to my account rught now)

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  11. Bah, enough with the ice already. I do long for spring - all you see outside here these days is people trying not to fall on their faces. I don't think I've ever seen this much ice befor *brrrrr*

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  12. I love the way your family leave comments on your blog, Isabelle! I chuckled at Laura's comment here defending herself for walking in front of you, when you'd asked her to walk ahead so you could take the photo - LOL!
    I enjoy your photographic journeys out and about in Edinburgh. (I've just done another one about Melbourne). Thanks for wishing your winter on us, but no thanks - as much as our heat is uncomfortable sometimes, I really do not want Melbourne to freeze over like Europe this past winter!

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  13. I just cannot wait for the winter to begin.
    On the other hand, after days of sulky sultry humid wet days, the skies have cleared to a most un-summer-like clear, mild, blue skied evening, of very tolerable temperature.

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