We are up to our necks in snow, well almost up to our necks, maybe a little over our ankles if the truth be told. The snow that fell on Sunday is the cold wet type that freezes quickly, makes your fingers cold and the roads in Italy even more dangerous than they normally are.
On Midday Sunday the weather man warned that it would snow, the competition that Italy is running to find out if teachers like Mrs Sensible can have a proper contract was cancelled due to the forecast of heavy snow. Luigina and I looked at the beautiful blue sky and poo poohed them. Mrs Sensible washed the rugs and I hung them outside, they are still hanging there.
Frozen rugs.
On Monday morning on the way to work, I managed to pirouet my little Mini on the roundabout, as the car slide and slewed towards the barriers, I could hear Mrs Sensible, she was somewhere deep in my head saying “I told you, you need to put snow tyres on your Mini” As I simultaneously asked God to stop the car from crashing and cursed the idiota who was trying to overtake my spinning car. I promised myself that I would change the tyres, immediately if not sooner.
Mrs Sensible’s Car
God answered my little prayer, both my little Mini and I survived our little spin on the roundabout. At lunch time I changed the tyres on both my impractical, but fun Mini and Mrs Sensible’s small but practical and economic Peugeot.
It was still snowing on Monday night when I was driving home,
Snow and a little pic of my thumb
My house is on the right, if the council used our taxes to install street lights, you would be able to see it. Luiginas house is also on the right. On the left is the house where the bereaved German Shepard howls at night. The dog started howling after its mate died. The only time the dog doesn’t howl, is when Gilda, Luigina’s short but incredible fat sausage dog wanders down the road to bark at it.
One of these days the German Shepard will jump over the little garden fence and we will see how fast Gilda can actually run.
The snow effects everybody, even my hens are not very impressed, I opened the gate to let them out and they just glared at me.
Two legged egg laying machines.
Even after I walked back to check on Mrs Sensible’s rugs the hens hadn’t moved.
Hens, not the brightest animal.
My little Mini was frozen solid. The doors wouldn’t open and the wipers were frozen to the windscreen.
Pecora Nera One
Last picture,
This is what Italy should look like,
OK, admittedly this was taken on the beach, but you get the general idea. Roll on Summer.
Englishman in Italy 
While almost the whole of England was snow deep a few weeks ago, and kids were happily sledding away, North Cornwall was “spared”, much to the disappointment of my two-year-old. We are still stubbornly waiting for snow.
LikeLike
Hi Dean,
I will send you some.
This winter has been very mild, this is the first snow we have had. Last year it reached minus 22°C and the snow was 2 foot deep. I spent the day digging out the two cars only for another 2 foot of snow to drop.
LikeLike
Yes, please send us some. You will make a little girl very happy =) D.
LikeLike
Ok three lumps of snow for one pasty 🙂
LikeLike
Wow, that’s some snow. Sorry Mrs Sensible didn’t get to do her exam, and I’m glad your cars have new shoes to show off. The Languedoc got a small sprinkling of snow that didn’t settle, much to my kids’ disgust. I’m expatriate Cornish stock, so I commiserate with Dean: sledging down Cornish hillsides on dustbin bags was as close as I got to snow sports.
LikeLike
Me too, bin bags. I once used one of my mums plastic tea trays, it seemed like a good idea until I had to explain how I snapped it in half 😦
LikeLike
Love the frozen rugs and confused chickens. Hang in there – it will soon be glorious Italian springtime! In the meantime I think you should write a poem called Frozen Rugs and Confused Chickens.
LikeLike
Frozen rugs and confused chickens, mmm I might have to think about that. In the past my poetry tended to be something like, Three old ladies got stuck in the lavatory, they were there from Monday to Saturday…
LikeLike
You made me remember the fun my brother and I had as kids when our mom brought back inside the sheets and nightgown and underwear that had frozen stiff overnight, everything stood up by itself and we danced with as with puppets until she hung it on a line in the service hallway to defrost and eventually dry …
LikeLike
Yes these are just the same. They are completely solid.
LikeLike
frozen rugs, same as when I was living with mum. She kept on hanging the washing outside even when it was minus zero. The socks looked more like pieces of wood, than socks. What’s the point?….
Love your PN1 numberplate! and I think the last picture is the image that most British people have of Italy in their minds. Always hot and sunny, eeeh??
LikeLike
Those four guys came to the beach everyday. Each arrived with his own chair for a long game of scopa.
LikeLike
what a great place to meet for a game of scopa, I can imagine the conversation, the hand gestures, the laughter. Was this in Sicily?
LikeLike
No it was in Liguria, we went for a week during July. We didn’t get to go to Sicily this summer. I was still sulking in November.
The trip during X mass made up for it.
I love playing scopa or even better scopone
LikeLike
Bring on summer! We recently moved all the way up north and my neighbour just asked me if our sump pump was working. Apparently when all the snow thaws – we’ll need a working sump pump. I don’t even know what that is, where it would be in the house and how to find out if it’s working. I hope it’s functioning – I’m already wading knee deep in “De Nial”
LikeLike
Erh!!! allegedly (according to an UK enviroment minister) you don’t need a sump pump. Just build a few snowmen.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-21179069
LikeLike
I should do this! Just to amuse my neighbours – I have enough snow in my yard to recreate a famous scene – maybe the Last Supper 🙂
Thanks for the laugh!!
LikeLike
ha ha! It would make a great blog post. 🙂
LikeLike
Ha ha, I second the frozen rugs and confused chickens idea. and more thumb pics please. lol
LikeLike
It is Wednesday morning and the rugs are still frozen and the Chickens are still confused.
I am not sure about the thumb pics, it was pretty difficult to catch it.
LikeLike
Wow! Where are you in Italy, if you don’t mind my asking? I’m looking to move there for Grad School in a year or so & I’m checking out blogs to see what I’d be in for in various areas.
LikeLike
Casale Monferrato is the nearest city to me. We are about half an hour drive south of Turin.
If you want to know what Italy is like to live in go to http://britishexpats.com/forum/ and join.
It doesn’t cost anything. You will get lots of help providing you don’t ask questions like. “I want to live in Italy, I don’t know the language, what job can I do”
And take no notice of Pecora Nera, he just stirs up trouble..:)
LikeLike
yes I live in Italy, the most important things to remember to bring are, money, your sense of humour (you will need it) and bacon.
Casale Monferrato is the nearest city to me. We are about half an hour drive south of Turin.
If you want to know what Italy is like to live in go to http://britishexpats.com/forum/ look for the Italian forum and join.
It doesn’t cost anything. You will get lots of help providing you don’t ask questions like. “I want to live in Italy, I don’t know the language, what job can I do”
And take no notice of Pecora Nera, he just stirs up trouble..:)
LikeLike
Thank you so much for responding, I just bookmarked the website. I’m very lucky in that I’m great with languages, so my Italian isn’t too bad and I’ll be starting a language immersion program this summer to make sure that by the time I get there it’s much better- I need to be as fluent as possible if I intend of taking my grad school classes in Italian!
I’m just grateful that people are willing to help me out with my questions now and then. I’ve moved a lot within the US (23 times in 15 years), but never out of the country. I’ll take all the advise I can get!
LikeLike
I had no idea it snowed where you are, but I guess you’re far enough north. You might even have more snow than we have here in New Hampshire,
LikeLike
Hi Peter,
It has been very mild this year, it tried to snow again today but gave up. From our house you can see the Alps that cut across the top of Italy from East to West.
LikeLike
Why do I forget about the Alps? Especially since I want to go to Cortina D’Amprezzo. It must be the ‘Sunny Italy’ image we have here in the US.
LikeLike
Your not the only one. It was December when I first flew to Sicily to visit Mrs Sensible’s parents.
I took Flip flops, T shirts etc. My rational was, Sicily is in the Mediterranean, so it will be hot. I froze, one evening I wore 3 t shirts and 2 pairs of socks…
LikeLike