Snow?

compare and contrast with an earlier post (18/08/12)

Coming soon?

The forecast is for snow over the next few days. Even at our altitude (330m).

This time last year, more or less, there was a heavy snowfall which did not thaw for 15 days. Power was out in the Siena area: some were without for 5 days; luckily for us we were in darkness for 'only' 36 hours. However when that happens at Le Ripe, nothing works except the gas for cooking and the fireplace for warmth. It was a lot of hard work to keep us warm and fed and functioning and made us appreciate (again) how difficult life was in the past for the country people. What I missed most was news bulletins. This year we have a radio that also works on batteries.

the enchanted fig-tree; the ice on the pond was 15cm thick - a miracle that the fish survived..

our poor snow-embattled cypress