Brrrrrr......... The Big Freeze Continues

It was minus 15 degrees centigrade here last night!  This cold snap just goes on and on, I saw that we were way colder than Iceland yesterday.  I was out walking my dogs and felt a cold I'd not felt before nipping at my face (the only part of me open to the elements).  It's such a palaver getting ready to go out at the moment, putting layers of clothes on, boots, scarf, hat, gloves, then of course coats on the dogs too.  Pepsi and Max, being dachshunds, almost disappear in the snow at times but Pep loves it, Max would be quite happy not to go on walks at the moment.  Being wired-haired the snow collects on Pepsi's tummy and forms snowballs, if I walked him long enough he'd be one big snowball rolling along LOL!  Not the best weather for dachshunds.

But having said that we have had a few days of bright blue skies and sunshine, yesterday's sunset was gorgeous, with wispy baby pink clouds in the blueness.  When I was little, my mum used to say that the angels were baking cakes when there were pink clouds, and it made me think of her when I saw them, she too would have noticed their beauty.  The mountains close to where I live look beautiful cloaked in white.  This kind of weather is severe, but there is also beauty in its austerity.

Apaprently this freakishly cold weather here is due to a static weather depression that is literally sucking in icy air from Siberia right onto us.  And at the moment there is no sign of a let up, we've been shivering our socks off for almost a month now. 

The school where I work is closed, as are most of the schools in this area.  I still have to go in to do my hours though or I wouldn't get paid.  I have been able to get there ok - my car temperature display told me it was -10 centigrade at 4pm today as I drove home, yikes.  Most other things have been cancelled - my voluntary work, meeting friends, Tai Chi, shopping (I'm saving a bit money!) people are only going out if absolutely necessary.  My friend Debbi was supposed to be visiting me this weekend, she lives in the Midlands but it just wasn't feasible for her to come.   The Veuve Cliquot will have to wait in my fridge - we always treat ourselves to a bottle when we meet up.

So it's dark now and the curtains are closed, I've got my cosy PJs, dressing gown and bedsocks on and it's warm and snug in here.  Definitely the best place to be, I'm going to put my feet up, open a bottle of red, eat some nibbles and watch the telly and that's me for the next few hours.  Weather report from Siberian Cumbria ends here.