Tuesday, February 3, 2009

A Snowy Day in London Town

It was as if the world took a cold and snowy breath yesterday and decided to have a day off. At least my world did. We woke to a hushed and beautiful scene with nearly a foot of snow on everything: branches, grass, walls, trees, my balcony and everything in sight. Strangely there were practically no cars in the street - just mine and one other parked oppposite - and they were each covered in a thick blanket of perfect white snow. Sounds were deadened and the sky was grey. Snow continued to fall for most of the day; not serious snow, but a continual soft drift of tiny flakes over everything. A few people ventured out. I took some photographs of the views from my windows, and will try and put them on for you to see, if they're worth doing. We rarely have this sort of snow, so it was a delightful surprise really. And it meant that many people took a day out - an unexpected and cosy day off. Daughter and Grandson were forced to stay at home for the day as his School and her Office were both closed. The Boyfriend was at home too, so after a hearty breakfast of ham and eggs, they put on their warmest clothes and went out to make snowmen and throw snowballs. Later they went to a sledging slope nearby and whizzed downhill in Grandson's blown-up Paddling Pool - what a great idea! In between times they retreated indoors to get warm, and had hot chocolate and cosy food to keep their strength up. Despite the fact that they were snowed in (or perhaps because of it), they made the most of their time and the weather, and had a wonderful day. It was a day they wouldn't have had otherwise, because nowadays it seems that every moment in our lives has to be accounted for.

In London, Son managed to get to work on the Victoria Line, but was the only one in his office. At one point he wondered if he was the only person in Soho! He was pretty cheerful about it, and had taken some lovely photos of snowy London which he put on his Facebook.

I sat most of the day, by the fire, reading a delightful book which I re-discovered yesterday. My new Student, a very nice man from the Czech Republic, brought me a present: a book of short stories by a Czech writer whose name seemed familiar. When I looked among my old books, I found a lovely old gardening book which I had completely forgotten about: "The Gardener's Year" by Karel Capek, illustrated by his brother Josef. My copy was published in English in 1931, and the writer died in 1938 - before I was born. It is a delightful book - one I would recommend to anyone who is interested in gardens. It's charmingly naive (as are the drawings that illustrate it), and I spent a happy few hours buried in it yesterday when I could have been doing many other things. Thank heavens for that snowy day...

11 comments:

family affairs said...

It's so odd having unexpected days at home with the kids - lovely actually. Such a treat - although I still have to teach. Lx

Rob Clack said...

We took the day off too, and spent quite a bit of time sitting in front of an open fire, just quietly reading and enjoying the opportunity to relax without feeling guilty!

menopausaloldbag (MOB) said...

You made that sound so idealic a day. Our village too is carpeted in snow and it looks amazing. Four of us went for a walk, watched the kids throwing snowballs and hurtling down the warren in all manner of transport like tin trays - which bomb along good style!

Your new student sounds great. Better than the wee git eh?

A Woman Of No Importance said...

I am so pleased that the new student sounds wonderful - bringing you a serendipitous pressie - Excellent!

I think yesterday was a good day, for sometimes we need to step off life's treadmills and just 'be', and no, the economy won't collapse because of it; Stop wittering on, Media!

Glad you had a wonderful day!

Maggie May said...

Wonderful that you got a good student. He sounds really sensitive & I am sure he will be fine.
Was brilliant he chose that book!

London seemed to have come to a standstill yesterday.
We had snow too and there was that eeie silence in the evening and that golden look to the sky. Only happens when it snows.
Ours is melting fast and it is only the roof tops that have snow now.

Anonymous said...

Just the thought of snow makes me feel cold. It was a complete standstill yesterday wasn't it.

CJ xx

auntiegwen said...

Glad you have a sweet student this time.

The snow seems to bring out the child in us.

My nearly 17 year old daughter made a snowman that was bigger than her !

aims said...

Spending the day by the fire reading sounds absolutely charming in itself.

We have that sort of snow all the time. The fact that it brought all of England to a complete standstill just makes me smile!

A Mother's Place is in the Wrong said...

Hi Lulu, yes it was lovely to have a day out of the normal routine - I guess your children loved it too. We really do seem to have regimented lives don't we? M xx

Hi Rob, I know that guilty feeling, and it's such a shame that we feel it. Your day sounds just perfect too. M xx

Hi MOB, lovely to hear from you. It certainly was a day for reaching back into the past when relaxing wasn't a dirty word!
Yes, my new Student is really much nicer. M xx

Hi there "A Woman", I agree that it's great to be able to step aside from daily pressures.. I really enjoyed my day "off". M xx

Hi Maggie, ours is the same - we have no snow left now, but the memory of it is just perfect. Yes, lucky that I have a really nice new Student - and the book just gets better. M xx

Hi Crystal - yes, it makes me shiver too. But when I went out in it, it wasn't so cold? Strange.
And I like the quietness it brings. M xx

Hi Auntiegwen - I think the snow makes children of us all - what fun it is. And my new Student is really charming. M xx

Hi aims, so lovely to hear from you.It makes me laugh too - what wimps we are! M xx

Working Mum said...

Sounds lovely. Is it wrong of me to wish that I'd had a snowy day off too?

A Mother's Place is in the Wrong said...

Hi Working Mum, so sorry for replying late - no, I think those unexpected days off are just wonderful- they're like little treasures. M xx