Do you all want some snow? I have plenty to spare, so help yourselves from the box on the left. It's absolutely magical outside - as though someone has been along the street spraying marshmallow everywhere. It snowed steadily all night, then the temperature dropped to -8C and now the snow is crunchy and glittery in the brilliant sunshine.



Last night when I took the dog out, the sky was so clear that you could make out the Milky Way splashed across the sky. It's still somewhat disorientating for me to look up at the stars as it seems all wrong somehow. Where is The Southern Cross for example? That first winter here, I looked up on a clear winter night and really felt alone in this strange place. After nearly four years, I'm still not quite adjusted to the absence of that constellation. Yes, yes, I know we have polaris, but it's still not the same.

Wandering down towards the harbour, you can see a fine powdering over all of the buildings, contrasting starkly with the brilliant blue sky.



The other great thing about the falling temperature was to watch my breath hanging in icy, smoky clouds before me. Not to mention my nose hairs freezing in my nostrils :) To those who live further north, this temperature is a balmy day. When I mentioned putting on long johns and fur lined leather gloves and hats, they scoff at me. One person wrote Forget -10. -20 is when the long johns come on. -35 is when you start to wear double gloves... Btw, a bike creaks in amazing ways at -35 ;) Can you believe even contemplating a ride on a bike at that temperature?

From the church, you can see the harbour in winter dress



Quite a change from the summerscene full of boats, colours and crowds.

As snow is an inevitable feature of winter here, you'd think they would take it all in their stride. But that is never the case. The first snowfall is always described in terms of Cold Chaos. Why? Surely, you know it's going to snow - it has been forecast and people ought to be prepared, but they never are. The news service reported a spate of ice related accidents, trucks and cars abandoned, power lines felled by branches, flights cancelled and trains delayed. It was the same last year as well, though the snow hit earlier then. The year before, snow arrived in the last week before Christmas, throwing people's shopping trips into disarray. They simply never learn.

Still, things seem under control here in our little town. The streets are ploughed, the footpaths swept and sand covered and the view from Fagerviken through the snow drenched trees out to sea is the stuff of picture postcards.



And just to spoil the mood, I'll leave you with a link for the ultimate office revenge. I'd love to be able to do this to someone - When your co-worker is away.