Snow cancels work day !

I was supposed to go by train up to Milan and Brescia today; as usual that meant sleeping little as was worried about not waking up to the sound of the alarm.

During the night I had gone out to the bathroom (i.e. the laundry room) and saw the clouds had slipped so far down the hills that if I reached up I could just about touch them. The wind was strong, freezing and full of the finest rain - basically cloud mist. I definitely was not looking forward to a train ride into Lombardy.

Fortunately at 8am I got a call telling me not to bother; the snows in the north were deep and crisp and even.

OK! Home day!

Marcia surprised me with a cup of coffee; I surprised her with 'guess what, I'm here today' - to which she said 'well why didn't you come down and tell me earlier?' True, but the bed was deliciously warm, I didn't want to get up ..

I did, of course and the sight before me when I walked out onto the top terrace was, for here, unbelievable. There was ice on the wooden pergola - and on the hill behind the house, snow! Aarrgh!


Went down to the kitchen and looked out of the windows there - yep, snow over the valley too. I didn't leave northern Europe for this!

Then I realized, over another cup of hot (yes!) coffee that a couple of fotos would be good for the record. So here they are :-)

Rest of day was spent in making lunch and making shelves in the the cellar so I can better store my work tools and stuff.

First day of 2009

At midnight checked with the TV for timing, blew the cork on the bottle exactly right and celebrated the beginning of 2009 with Marcia.

Marcia went to bed very soon after; I held out till 1:30, fruitlessly trying to call friends in other places - but the lines were jammed. In one night Italian operators make over 260 million Euros of revenue. Stunning.

Got to bed and launched the mail program to send the last of the New Year's greeting.

Woke up really early - 6am, checked the mail program, fell asleep at 6:30 and woke again to bright sunlight streaming in through my bedroom window. It was 11am already. Ilham called in, I checked other stuff on the Internet, replied to some mails, got up at noon.

Grabbed a cup of coffee, a piece of panettone, a copy of the Economist and a chair and went to sunbathe on the top terrace until 3pm.

The sun touches the snow on the mountains just behind the valley; the sea is a deep, cool blue.

This time last year I was in Taji. My thoughts, as I sit in the weak, bright sunlight, are with the people I met and worked with. Some have returned home; a few are still there.

Sawed down the wood panels from the old door - that's fuel for the fire tonight. Dinner is cottage pie (minced beef, onions and mashed potatoes in a casserole; peas on the side). I'm making that while Marcia plays 'Need for Speed' on the new Wii she bought as house-gift for Christmas.