27 Comments

I'm quite jealous of your snow and the feeling that the outdoors is sleeping while we play like children. We've had very little snow in our valley and it melted almostly immediately.

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The seasons aren’t playing straight (or fair) Sarah. So much of this year has been wet and windy, cold when it should be hot, warm when it should be cool.

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such a beautiful post!

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Thanks so much Daniela!

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Wow that's a lot of snow! I'm a little jealous, I haven't seen snow since I've left Belgium. No snow in NZ 🙃

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Thanks Sophie! We were surprised to find more yesterday morning; cold, sunny and the wind had dropped—perfect. We usually get a little at the end of this month, but this is the earliest significant snowfall in our 3 years here, and possibly the most photogenic. Usually it’s snowing, windy, dripping, short-lived, misty… but this week it’s been perfect.

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“The walk out, past birch trees naked except for the fringed lingerie of lichen, shining in the early sunlight.” Michela, it seems that you outdo yourself with each post - utterly gorgeous collection of moments, both writing and images. A true pleasure to read.

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Thank you so much Margaret 💛 More snow fell last night, so tonight I am tired but happy. I think these have been the best conditions in the 3 years we’ve been here. There may be more snowy pictures to share next week.

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Oh good. All we have to look forward to here is Storm Bert, lots of rain. 🌧️

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Gorgeous words (and photos) as always, Michela. Your descriptions always leap off the page for me. A lingerie of lichen... ahhh this is such a delicious phrase! And yes to the thrill of existing on the edge of the weather x

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Thank you Rebecca 💛 What a week it has been—last night brought more snow, and today was beautifully clear and calm. I think I shall dream of trees tonight.

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I totally share your excitement for snow. Happy for you, that you were able to enjoy it! We only had a few snow flakes yet…

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Thanks Susanne. This morning brought more excitement…

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‘Autumn meets winter’, I love that. We’re a bit behind down south, but I’m ready for it! 🩶

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Yes, it’s a little early for a substantial snowfall here, at least in recent years. I wonder what Bert might bring you? It’s certainly going to be interesting when it meets the cold air.

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I would love a flurry! Hoping for some down here…

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Exquisite. As always 🤍

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Thank you Lizzie ☺️

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Gorgeous pictures to match the beautiful prose. And oh the snow -- it snowed here overnight but iso light and washed away in minutes this morning. It is a thing I miss greatly from North Wales.

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Thanks Jan. With the wind from the north it is bitter, but it does mean the snow is fine and dry, rather than the heavy we stuff (I suspect we will get that on Saturday when Storm Bert(!) arrives from the southwest. We’d reached a point where most of the leaves seemed to be down, yet the snow has emphasised those that remain.

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‘It’s easy to bemoan the short days of winter, yet there is something magical about them. And if the days are dull, there is always the moon…’

I often think about the magic of winter. I wonder if it’s our insistence to keep our foot on the pedal and not accept the invitation to slow down during the dark months.

Beautiful writing. I felt like I was there with you ⭐️🤗

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Thank you Emma, I’m glad it had this effect for you. I think you are right about us not slowing down—and too often long hours are confused with being productive.

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Barry intriguing that you ask to questions but forego the answers.

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I’m not sure I follow this Patricia?

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It should have read: Very not Barry. I thought it was an interesting approach. You seem to ask questions of the reader, but don’t leave any answers — allowing each reader to draw his own conclusions. Back in to Stone Age when I was taking classes on writing, the concept for writers was to let the characters tell the story (as opposed the old writers (J. Swift, for instance) who told their stories as if they were the “Deux et Machina” —

I thought that what you wrote was the perfect definition of let the character be the one who tells the tale. I find myself doing the opposite, but my goal is to get down how things were at a certain time rather than create complex fictional characters to do it for me. I’m really hoping that this makes sense, it’s been a while since I pondered such things.

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Well,this is the good news, it shows that at least one Paleolithic student in the 1980s was paying attention in class . . . 😉

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Ah, thank you! I will in turn ponder this, and reread, as I’m not sure whether I’ve done so consciously. I appreciate you taking the time to clarify your comment.

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