Did anyone else notice the temperature plummet a good 10 degrees this weekend? I’d been getting along perfectly happy with the weather as it was – the occasional flurries of snow and the ice that has been covering my car and our road had been starting to decrease and diminish somewhat recently. I know it’s only January still, but I was ever-optimistic thinking that we’d maybe seen the back of the freezing weather. I was wrong.
Yesterday we met my parents at the top of a nearby hill to walk the dog before they came back to our house for a warming chilli con carne, made in the new electric pressure cooker they gave me for Christmas – that thing is a new staple in our house, slow cooked meats in 30 minutes? Yes please! Anyway, as it turned out it, the weather wasn’t quite as warm as the sunshine streaming in through the windows made it seem. That sunshine was deceptive.
Fortunately I made sure to pick up my winter wear before leaving the house and I was bundled up in layers of scarfs, gloves and hats, but I could definitely have done with some much sturdier winter wear. While there was little to no snow on the ground, there was a completely solidly frozen layer of what looked like hail and frost on our whole route – that kind of frozen that even the direct sunshine on it wasn’t even making an impact.
My family, meanwhile, were all dressed up in their proper winter wear. They’ve booked themselves on to go skiing in a couple of months and we’re somewhat anxious about this based on how their last skiing trip went – let’s just say that it wasn’t just one trip to the hospital. My dad shattered his shoulder half way through the holiday (and caught it on his GoPro!), while my sister injured her knee on her first run down the slope, resulting in knee surgery upon returning home. Nevertheless, they’re all kitted out in their winter wear with my dad in his men’s ski jackets from Simply Hike, my mum in the woolly hat I got her for Christmas and my sister in proper boots.
Fortunately I’m not joining them on this skiing trip – I’ve got all my holidays booked up this year with our wedding (eek! It’s this year!), honeymoon and potential minimoon. I’m not massively complaining – while I enjoy skiing, as you can probably tell, I’m not the biggest fan of the cold – but I am sad I’ll be missing out on a holiday with them (and another later in the year, sob!). But then again, maybe this winter wear wishlist will come in handy for more wintery walks with them if this cold weather continues much longer!
It has been freezing for 2 weeks where I live. I mean really cold – below 32 everyday and most below 15 degrees. I definitely have to dress differently for that cold weather. I wear only wool socks and a down filled coat that covers my behind as well as never leaving the house without hat and gloves. Fortunately we are warming up this week. It will be around 50. Yay.