Come and tell me your dull and unexciting news 7: Calmly through the day

[MissConductUS]

I've started a new one. Please join us and share the boring and mundane things happening in your world. It will be calming for all.

MrsWooster
Isn't it?
DD learned Russian in school and all her teachers were from the more central parts of Russia - their idea of when it's cold was quite different from mine.

Also Cambs. Snow still on the ground.

I have spent a considerable amount of time in Canada so my parameters for cold are a bit different :)

Sorry, didn't realise we were doi g coldest temperatures. My primary school didn't close until it hit - 40C. Which did happen occasionally. Maybe I win?

@Prokupatuscrakedatus

Yakutsk in 2014 -48°

How is the woman in that clip outside in that temp with bare hands?!

I have no idea, perhaps a kind of personal risk assessment.

DH has an acquantance in Russia quite a lot older than him and she does this 'break a hole in the ice and dive in stuff" and swears by it - so what do I know.

It doesn't look like there's any wind at all in that video, so I think it would take time to chill skin. If the air is still then it would be similar to walking into a very large freezer, you could be in there for a while without any protective clothing provided you're not touching anything with your bare skin. She probably has gloves but has taken one off to be able to touch her face.

A very big wood pigeon just landed right next to me on the terrace. It seemed to think I owed it food, it looked at me accusingly and walked around me.

All of those places are way too cold for me. I prefer it to be around 18-22 degrees (I also dislike heat. I really have very narrow temperature window in which I’m happy.)

Just remembered that last night I had a dream where I was vigorously debating how much brand new cars depreciate as soon as you buy them. (I have never bought a brand new car, or worked in the car industry, so I don’t know why I thought I had a valid opinion about it.)

Ddog and I are hunkered down with the log burner lit. We went for a walk earlier and it was fine out of the wind but rather bracing in the more exposed bits! Ddog wore his coat and is now snuggled up in his fleece jumper (to help dry the bits that the coat didn’t cover).

Just steeling myself for the school run and refilling the log basket when I get back...

I think the coldest it’s been here (at least since I’ve lived here) is -13C, about ten years ago when we had that spate of really cold winters. I remember the cold being actually painful one night, walking across a car park. I was living in a very draughty old house with deeply inadequate heating at the time too - I remember going to bed one night in fluffy socks, fleece pyjamas and a hat, and having the electric blanket on and a wool blanket over the duvet, and not getting too hot at any point 🥶

How exciting that you've had snow in the UK. We've had a few flurries here but nothing that's stuck. We may get a bit on Saturday night. In one of those perfect timing moments, the lawnmower shop rang DH yesterday to say our snowblower was ready to pick up, which he'll do tomorrow.

I've just watched some Graham Norton video clips on youtube. He's great. My favorite so far is this one:

I see we're rapidly approaching the end of this thread. I'll start a new one later today when we're a bit closer unless of course, someone else is keen to volunteer for hostess duties.

Great, thank you Miss

DD has just washed the cuddly toy she got as a baby. There is almost nothing of the original left and it needs repairs again.

@Squirrel26, I too have a narrow band of tolerable temperatures but mine is 21-23°C . But 23-25°C is acceptable if all I need to do is sit in the garden or by a pool etc. The hot summers we have been having recently are not good for me.

I’ve been to Lapland twice. The most recent time it got down to -26c + windchill during our stay, so felt like -32c. The not fun kind of cold, but sparkly and very beautiful. The cold is different here because of the humidity.

I've been to Lapland twice too but once was in the summer so warmer that time.

DS has just been told to isolate for 2 weeks until Thurs 17th which is great as we have a haircut booked for tomorrow at 9.15am, a museum booked, safari booked, electrician and plumber booked for here and electrician booked for old house plus I'll be teaching him and he'll think Christmas holidays came early!

silkie It always happens like that, doesn't it!

DD intends to bake Buchteln with a plum jam(?) filling.

Overnight winter temps here are commonly in the -10 to -18c range here.

Speaking of cold, the HVAC company now has the part to fix our furnace but can't do it until Monday afternoon. DH will just have to keep restarting it until then. I'll be glad to have it fixed before the really cold weather sets in.

We got a propane delivery yesterday, 236 gallons, so we'll soon be set for the winter.

He's only been back a couple of weeks since the last isolation, just realised got to cancel his orthodontist appointment too. Just cancelled everything. At least we can still go out to get food etc.

Just had a Chinese - spare ribs in sweet and sour sauce and seaweed with glass of coke. Probably my sugar intake for the week but I'll need that with DS home!

DS1’s year were sent home yesterday after COVID cases plural were diagnosed. I had only just reorganised his orthodontic appointment, which now falls in his isolation period. 😩 I will call on Monday to reorganise. He would have finished his treatment completely by now, but for COVID. So that’s DS done with school until the new year. Sodding seems happy. DS1 is his favourite and he spent 3 hours asleep on his lap this morning.

Nothing dull in my life today, all go and all very stimulating! Just starting to wind down with a gin.

Painted DD1’s bedroom. Just white, only to refresh.

I'm just having a hot milk whilst I think about re-planning next 2 weeks.

Cat has been helping DH working from home.

Welcome, @AdoraBell, and thanks for sharing your calming news.

I fell into a youtube rabbit hole "Tales from the green valley' - but I go to bed now. The heating has switched off for the night and it is 15°C at my desk.

DD4 decided to go downstairs (from second floor apartment) to get the mail wearing her fuzzy socks, slipped and fell, now has a very sore ankle and bruised shoulder. I had already picked up the mail but she couldn't have known that.

It was only early 2019 but seems a lifetime away when the metropolitan area ('Chiberia') where I live was hit by the famous polar vortex. With the wind chill, it felt like -50F. They had to light railway tracks on fire to keep trains running. I park my car outdoors and had to go out wrapped up like the Michelin man to see if I could start it and drive around a bit to get the engine to warm up. At first I could coax it as fast as 5 mph and the inside of the windshield was quickly coated with a thick layer of ice from my breath. The second time I tried the car I stayed in my parking spot until I dealt with the interior icing problem before taking to the streets. Felt so relieved to get past February this year, and then...

They had to light railway tracks on fire to keep trains running.

As a Brit, that is hilarious to hear. If we get even the lightest dusting of snow all the trains are cancelled, schools are closed, there are huge traffic jams as people slow to a crawl, and the shops are stripped bare.
I'm genuinely not exaggerating. We went skiing for the first time this year and as DH and I walked past huge snow mounds on the way back from the supermarket, which had been fully stocked and life went on as normal, we commented on how the UK would have responded to the same amount of snowfall.