This is what the garden looked like this morning...
... and this is what it looked like an hour ago. Yes, it's still snowing. I know this won't look much to Canadians and Mid-Westerners but this is Edinburgh, a coastal town lapped by the Gulf Stream, and we don't usually do more than a pickle of snow which melts in a day or two.We live in a cul-de-sac of five houses; it's on a little hill, with us at the bottom. The street isn't exactly a priority for Edinburgh Council in its gritting operations and the road at the top of ours is also on a hill and never gritted till three days after the snow. Every day is a little adventure if we decide to use the car.
The cats are not impressed.
And Daughter 2 (who's staying for a few days, hurray) and I have nasty colds. We are expelling extensive goo from various orifices at regular intervals and keeping Mr Kleenex in business. Cough, cough. It's only a matter of time till Mr Life gets it and I can confidently predict that he'll get it more seriously than us.
Still, that was 2009, for better or worse. It was the year that our final child moved out, which was a bit of a shock to the system after 30 years of daily parenting. The year 2000 seems alarmingly recent; by 2020 I shall be 70. (Let's hope.)
On the positive side, Mr Life has found my camera, which was under my desk, where I thought it must have fallen and where I'd already looked several times without seeing it. (You know those crimes when the person who finds the body turns out to be the murderer...?)
Ah well, forward into battle as my father used to say, though in fact he used more often to say "Backward into fottle".
Happy New Year, all.
Oh you made me chuckle this morning!
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year, Isabelle!
You're so funny Isabelle! I laughed out loud when I read that the cat's are not impressed. I hope you and DD2 are feeling better soon. Hooray! You found the camera! I hope you're having a wonderful New Year's Eve celebration.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year to the Whole Life Family!
Happy New Year! Hope you get over that cold soon! (And that you have the strength to nurse Mr. when he gets it! :) My husband is not the best patient! :)) Thank you for the smiles and thoughtfulness you have provoked over the last year of blogging! :)) New Year's hugs to you!
ReplyDelete"Backward into fottle" That's a marvellous phrase. I hope you go forward into 2010 with no fottle at all!!! LOL :)
ReplyDeleteHappy new year to everyone over there.
ReplyDeleteI thought Scotland was meant to be freezing cold all the time... I had no idea that snow on the ground was a bit of a rarity...
We came back from Singapore yesterday to be greeted with a massive heatwave... spent the day sleeping under the air con.
I sent a similar snow scene to a friend in Toronto, saying that she'd laugh derisively at what we call snow. But no, she said we had tons of the stuff compared to them, who only had nasty cold rain. My cats rather liked the snow this evening.
ReplyDeleteHope you get better soon - I did worry a little when I read "various orifices". Happy New Year - see you in 2010! x
All good wishes from across the sea.
ReplyDeleteps. Hope you have some of those tissues that are 'soft' on the nose. Malt whisky for the throat is the ONLY medicine!
Well you yard certainly looks pretty, despite the germ providing properties the weather has provided.
ReplyDeleteHappy and healthy new year to you!
Lots of hot tea for you all. Good new decade.
ReplyDeleteI take back my comments about the black and white appearance of snow scenes. I went for a close up of the last photo on this post, and I can see green leaves and litte red berries (?) peeking through snow - how pretty! I presume your pot plants will survive? Plants really are incredibly hardy; yours survive snow, and ours survive extreme heat. Well, the native ones anyway.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear your camera has turned up, but sorry to hear you and DD2 are under the weather, so to speak!
I do wish you hadn't made that remark about being 70 in 2020...I'll be 72 - OMG!!! Do you think we'll still be blogging?
See now, I thought you spent your whole winter snowed in too. It's the first day of 2010 and already I've learned something.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year to you and the Life clan.
Just as well the camera turned up, otherwise we ignorant other hemispherers might not have believed these tall tales about nasty cold white stuff falling from the sky, just to displease the cats, and irritate the orifices. Is gritting putting down pebbles to give cars and feet some traction?
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year.
But you know the maddening thing is Tom really does get everything worse than I do. Last time when I felt impatient with him for malingering he went down with shingles after just to make his point...
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year Isabelle!
Our late lamented cat used to come in from the garden when it was snowy and glare at me in a way that made it clear she held me personally responsible for the weather conditions. She was very judgemental, as household pets go.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year to you, and look forward to seeing you on Monday (although I note you didn't mention the goo-dripping orifices when you suggested coffee!.....)
Happy New Year! It's still snowing here and several major roads are closed. Still, we don't want to go anywhere so it doesn't matter!
ReplyDeleteA happy and healthy 2010 to you and yours x
ReplyDelete