cold

Crunch – 100 words

January 17, 2023 By Ellen

Crunch White glows at the edge of predawn blinds. Aliens landing? Nearly as exciting: it’s snowing! Acid sharp inhales and, eventually, blue light that draws the mountains closer. Crunch. Snowballs tight packed and launched on the way to school, put your big coat on… and your gloves. But snowballs are banned. Aye right. Crunch. First […]

Cold comfort: Ten ways I know it really is winter

November 5, 2018 By Ellen

It’s winter again. I love winter. A quick glance at the calendar tells me that it’s mid November and the fact we are at 55 degrees north mean that it’s winter. Autumn is over and spring is a very, very long way off. But if you need other clues, here are my top ten hints […]

Snow, in January, who’d have thought?

January 17, 2018 By Ellen

I’m looking out on what has been called, of late and on social media, a winter wonderland, but what, in reality, is what you’d expect to see at this time of year, in this part of the country. If your community needs help clearing the roads and sidewalks that are burred in snow, call on […]

This has been a week for a little nasal gazing

October 15, 2017 By Ellen

Every flipping year. It’s the same. Just when I think I’ve avoided getting the back-to-school lurgy, I succumb. Wouldn’t it be good if the frequency of snot-storms reduced as you got older? A tiny bit of compensation maybe. This year’s version has been particularly horrible – snotty and bad-tempered. And far worse, of course, than […]