Cold Feet

It is cold; I don’t think the temperature has risen above freezing since Saturday, like much of the country. Yesterday, I was caught in a snow shower in Princes St – large flakes swirling around the merry-go-round, ferris wheel and slide.

Sunday night and Monday, wrapped up in bed, my feet were freezing, so cold they kept me awake.

So yesterday, I went shopping for a new duvet.

And last night, my feet were very comfortable indeed.

* * *

It feels like we will be in for a cold winter; and I was thinking about previous winters. When I first moved back to Edinburgh, fourteen years ago, the Water of Leith froze over at Christmas: the falls in Dean Village were solid ice, a waterfall of icicles. It was very beautiful – but cold.

And in January 1982, I was in Oxford, which was for one night the coldest place in the UK. The temperature fell to -17°C. There was ice on the inside of the windows of my bedroom. Going outside to go to the pub, my hair froze – my breath rising from my mouth condensed on my hair, and froze it so it cracked when my fingers rubbed it. My hair was longer then.

I think I’d like another cold winter, for a change.

Cold Feet

It is cold; I don’t think the temperature has risen above freezing since Saturday, like much of the country. Yesterday, I was caught in a snow shower in Princes St – large flakes swirling around the merry-go-round, ferris wheel and slide.

Sunday night and Monday, wrapped up in bed, my feet were freezing, so cold they kept me awake.

So yesterday, I went shopping for a new duvet.

And last night, my feet were very comfortable indeed.

* * *

It feels like we will be in for a cold winter; and I was thinking about previous winters. When I first moved back to Edinburgh, fourteen years ago, the Water of Leith froze over at Christmas: the falls in Dean Village were solid ice, a waterfall of icicles. It was very beautiful – but cold.

And in January 1982, I was in Oxford, which was for one night the coldest place in the UK. The temperature fell to -17°C. There was ice on the inside of the windows of my bedroom. Going outside to go to the pub, my hair froze – my breath rising from my mouth condensed on my hair, and froze it so it cracked when my fingers rubbed it. My hair was longer then.

I think I’d like another cold winter, for a change.

Christmas...

Shops in Edinburgh have had Christmas decorations up since October: as usual, it was the Dome in George Street which was the first.

Edinburgh's Christmas market is up in Princes St Gardens, with the big wheel and slides, and down below, where the loch once was, a skating rink.

I don't feel in the slightest bit festive. For me, Christmas starts on December 24 and lasts three days, at most.

Still, I have succumbed to the inevitable - and for the first time ever, I have made myself a Christmas icon.

I rather like the idea of a Christmas Angel [of the North] ...!

Edit...And of course, when I go back to my non-festive userpic after Christmas, it will disappear, and this post won't make any sense at all... I really, really like the happenchance around that!

Christmas...

Shops in Edinburgh have had Christmas decorations up since October: as usual, it was the Dome in George Street which was the first.

Edinburgh's Christmas market is up in Princes St Gardens, with the big wheel and slides, and down below, where the loch once was, a skating rink.

I don't feel in the slightest bit festive. For me, Christmas starts on December 24 and lasts three days, at most.

Still, I have succumbed to the inevitable - and for the first time ever, I have made myself a Christmas icon.

I rather like the idea of a Christmas Angel [of the North] ...!

Edit...And of course, when I go back to my non-festive userpic after Christmas, it will disappear, and this post won't make any sense at all... I really, really like the happenchance around that!