This is exactly what it felt like yesterday morning when I awoke and found myself magically transported to a Narnia like landscape, completely in control of the White Witch. Do you remember those wonderful books by C.S. Lewis in the Narnia Chronicles as well as the superb adaptation of them several years ago in the British series The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe? At the time, I could not even begin to picture a landscape covered with snow and I wondered what it was like to live in a world like that. Perhaps that is the reason I have adapted to snow so well - it captures that part of me that was stirred by tales such as Narnia.

The handiwork of the White Witch was in evidence everywhere. I looked directly out of my front window and sympathised with the neighbour across the road, who was facing a long job de-icing his car and shovelling the driveway before work.



I was very glad to live in an apartment with no car when I saw that sight. This entry will be mostly pictorial as I went a bit crazy photographing the white stuff. Out on the balcony, looking to the right up the street, I saw how much it had snowed overnight as well as seeing that the ploughs had been out early clearing the streets.



The yellow building on the corner houses a popular local pub on the ground floor (I pity the poor people who have to live above it!). We get to hear the music on Saturday nights and have come to dread Karaoke nights. Why do people bother? Moving right along, we turn to the left on the balcony and see down the street towards centrum.



See what I mean about a look of magic? It is so very pretty. I do realise that it's not all fun. While eating breakfast, I got to watch someone shovelling the driveway of an elderly neighbour. The poor woman was dressed for work in a skirt, stockings, court shoes and a rather nice coat. I don't think it was an ideal outfit for the work she was doing.



Yes, apartment living is looking better and better! I went out for some grocery shopping and really savoured the beauty of the snow piled up on the bushes.



It was not completely white, though. Those rowan berries were still around and covered in ice, ensuring they will be nice and sweet for the birds that are still trying to live here over winter. They provided a welcome splash of colour dotted here and there in the street.



The shop was full of people today, which surprised me as it was only Wednesday and I was hoping for a little peace and quiet to think of what I needed to get. It doesn't really bother me that much, though the long queues at the checkouts are always a pain. I have no idea why they don't have things like express lanes, cash only lanes - hey even a few more cashier lanes actually open would be a good start. Still, the walk home was nice - it is great to live in a smaller place where you get to see more than row upon row of apartment blocks. Here there is a sense of space - and the chance to enjoy that particularly lovely northern light of winter.



Just an hour later, looking out at the 4pm sky, it was a very different, but spectacular picture. I couldn't get over how eerie it looked watching those indigo clouds flood past at a great speed. The temperature is falling again and that means more snow is on the way.



I'm really hoping the weather will ease later this week. Already there have been two deaths on the roads just outside of town in as many days. And as you can see from this story, more snow is predicted overnight. Luckily we did not lose power here (that must be awful for people in this weather!) but our broadband is not working properly and we are wondering if it's the sudden cold that is responsible. As an example, it took me TWO hours to log in to this site to update! It's like being back in the dark ages of dial-up all over again. It began on Saturday and after 5 days we are fed up with the frustration. I can't even accesss my usual email account for Pete's sake! We are running a broadband line diagnostic test sent to us by the broadband company later on to see if we can trace the problem.

I admit it! I'm an internet addict suffering withdrawal symptons.