Mathilda is alight and in the big house on the rock we've declared winter. The number of unheated rooms in use is dwindling as we shoehorn ourselves, our lives, our clothes, our work, our laundry into the heated rooms. And there are other signs that winter is here, too.
There's snow on the higher mountains hereabouts, including Cannobio's Monte Giove (a babe at 1298m a.s.l., but it would still qualify as a Munro if it were in Scotland).
Overheard conversations in Cannobio now often include some of the following words : "neve" (snow, as in there'll be snow over 1,000m a.s.l. at the weekend), "gelo" (frost, as in the frost will get your winter lettuce if the slugs don't), "acceso" (lit, as in have you lit your stove yet?), "cappellino" (hat, as in why the hell isn't your child wearing one?) and "pazienza" (patience, as in you gotta have some).
Our overstock of olive oil is gently and rather beautifully crystallizing in the pantry.
Our slightly greater overstock of chocolate is starting to bloom white like Cadbury's bought in Manang (3519m a.s.l.).
In the bathroom (c.300m a.s.l.) by the light of the pre-dawn, I see that the outside temperature is 5ºC, and the inside temperature is 3ºC.
The cold water coming out of the taps (which usually arrives from about 400m a.s.l.) is now too cold to put your hands in.
The toilet seats are too cold to sit on. Thank-you, Mum, for teaching me to "hover" (at about 305.2m a.s.l.).
And the rather muddy white paws of this years' Carmine kittens are as cold as the blue feet of a Dickensian urchin seeking his mother in the Christmas-Eve snow (or those of a Nepalese urchin ditto in Manang).
Oh, yes, and we saw our first Christmas tree yesterday. It was blue too.
Copyright © Louise Bostock 2007, 2008. All rights reserved. Please ask first.
12 comments:
Does freezing change the flavour of olive oil? I love all the subtle change that occur when winter first sets in. :)
BTW, i love your christmas wishlist! If i thought my family was capable of taking hints i'd try it myself. LOL
Lovely post ... but I've gone blue just reading it! Here in Sweden I'm spoilt with underfloor heating (downstairs anyway)... The bedrooms upstairs are a lot cooler.
You've got to eat up that chocolate quick! Didn't realize that it went white with cold... only thought that chocolate bloomed in the heat (as it were)...
We've got a sprinkling of now here and it's minus 2 or 3 in the cold crisp sunshine.
I presume that the blue tree also sang and danced...
Hi Louise,
Another very descriptive piece, a joy to read. Sunny here, but the forecast is for snow at 800 feet ASL. We will see if they are right.
Are you comfortable? Doesn't sound like it. What beautiful surrounding you have, but after reading your lovely posting, I think the Caribbean sounds more appealing.
I was trying to follow your blog, but your follow me button is not working!
I remember your blog from a long time ago, I think I sent my mom here to visit your blog because she was going to visit your little town.
Anyhoo, I will check back now I've found you again!
Cheers-
Chelsea (88words)
Hello Chelsea - take a look , it's working now! And thank-you for being my 8th follower!
I don't think I could take the cold toilet seat. Mathilda needs to work harder.
Brrr! I guess I shouldn't complain that it was *only* 57 degrees here today.
I'm shivering just reading this post, lol. Love the way you describe it all though!
Your life is intriguing and I like your blog; I could spend alot of time here.
I love to read about folks living in Italy, while I enjoy my home in California. I am a writer too, with my first book published two months ago.
Terra
Never has freezing been so beautifully described. Now, I'll quit complaining about the "cold" here. It gets down to freezing at night, but warms up to the 50s in the day.
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