New paintings and regular art updates.
14 years ago and we had heavy snow. On the night of 14 February 2010. The orange sodium streetlamps cast a reddish glow across the snow. Those lamps are now changed to white LED lights. Less energy used, less atmospheric lighting. No snow!
This has been the hottest February on record. Even in the alps and other mountains in the UK and Europe the amount of snow is 47% less than in previous years. Not good for skiers and winter sports.
This was on my Facebook memories today.
Have you ever unintentionally broken the law?
I once cycled down an against traffic bus lane in the snow!
I was trying to cycle to work and the roads were covered in snow except where the buses ran. It was snowing heavily and I was going to be late. I didn’t know my highway code which apparently prohibited cycling in such a bus lane (although cycling in a ‘with’ traffic lane was allowed). Long story short, I was pounced on by a young policewoman sheltering in a doorway who told me off in a very nasty way. I was allowed to continue as long as I pushed my bike on the pavement. I later got a caution in the post!
The last lot of snow fell a few weeks ago, now here is a threat of more. The forecast is for wet weather coming up from the south hitting cold air in the north. Wherever it clashes we will get the snow.
There is also the risk of ice, and possibly heavy sleet and high winds. Oh what fun. I’m staying in and snuggling if I can. We live in a city and don’t get things too bad. But even so we can sometimes get gridlocked as there are a lot of bottlenecks in the road system. It once took me three hours to dive home two miles due to abandoned vehicles.
Brr it’s cold tonight, the wind is blowing and we might have some snow. The cats can open doors but don’t want to close them! That let’s the draughts through from the back door area. Our cat flap is old and loose through wear and tear. I’ll get up and shut the door, then a cat comes in and pushes the inner floor open and whoosh, cold air. The cats have warm fur so they aren’t bothered, but I’m shivering, brrrr
Outside now! After a freezing week, some snow has dumped itself on us! Friends waiting for snow. This is white and fluffy, I don’t know if you could ski on it and it might be gone in the morning? I don’t know the temperature but it must be below zero. Everything is hushed, apart from a gritting lorry which went by about half an hour again.
The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog…..
A statement that contains all the letters of the alphabet and also was used to improve typing skills I think?
This is a tiny miniature, it needs more detail, less splodges. I will try and get more of a furry look to it. I might add a bit of blue to the snowy background so that it looks more realistic. Only 6 more to paint!
How do you feel about cold weather?
Britain is a temperate but also a maritime country. It sits in a position where winds come from all directions and can get hot but also quite cold. That variation in weather means the British are always talking about the it!
As the world warms up we are getting less cold weather, but we don’t always have warm temperatures. Some years ago the country was covered in snow for a few weeks. Satellite pictures showed a totally white surface of the country, which was brilliant white with snow and ice.
So how do I feel about the cold? I have not really experienced very cold weather. But I have lived in cold houses. Huddling around a coal fire when I was a student, with not enough money to burn coal! I remember one day chopping up an old chair to keep warm. That was the year a crank on my then boyfriends bike snapped because it was so cold.
On another occasion we went cycle camping one Easter. The weather was fine on our travel to the camp site, then it snowed. We set up camp then found places in the town to keep warm. We sat in a warm pub till closing time, then had to go back. You know its cold when you put on two pairs of trousers and four tops to go to sleep in a sleeping bag inside a tent!
So on the whole I can cope with the cold. I don’t like not being able to heat our house as I get older, but I can put on more jumpers and a coat.
What I hate is too much heat….
Weather forecast.. Yellow warnings for severe weather. Gale force winds and heavy rain. Apparently we have a fast moving jet stream above us which is bringing rain and strong winds over the next couple of days. Hang on to your brolly! We went out in it and got soaked, but the blossom is starting to open on the pear and cherry trees, so spring is making itself known round here. The wind has blown a couple of slates off the roof. I don’t know if I can claim on the insurance? I will have to find out, I don’t hold out much hope.
The cats keep coming in like wet otters and curling up in warm places. I don’t know why they want to go out at all. I can tell the direction of the wind because the rain is lashing the back of the house and the gutter is overflowing and dripping down onto the back windowledge, you can hear the drips. It’s also due to get colder for a few days and there may be some small snow showers, heating will have to go on again….
I just found this photo and remembered the morning I sat in my car and saw these spectacular frosty fronds inside the windscreen. I think it was when the heater in the car was broken. It was a few years ago. I don’t think we have had such a cold spell in a few years. Yes it gets cold, but not this cold. It’s due to get cold again this weekend, a few snow showers, maybe some rain.
I remember when I was a child having frosts like this on the inside of our bedroom windows, Jack Frost really did visit in those days. We even had snow in June one year. We had been on the train and when the sky turned orange grey and the snow fell. But that was fifty years ago. Times change.
What is the last thing you learned?
I always wondered where all the water was when snow melts. There can be so much snow, but the sun comes out and there are no huge puddles. So where does it go to?
I was watching a TV show called QI, a comedy quiz show that comes up with ‘quite interesting’ facts. I’d never realised that snow is mainly air, I wrote about it a few days ago, and I learnt it from the show. Snow is crystaline and so its spiky structure traps air. So ten centimetres of snow only leaves about one centimetre of water. That’s why there aren’t huge floods after even very heavy snow fall. Rain is much more damaging and with climate change we are getting a months worth of rain in a few hours nowadays.
Yes I’m British and yes I talk about the weather a lot. Its what we do.
Mallaband-Brown