Thursday, February 19, 2015

UPDATE: Mid-February Stormy Days


 
not my house, but my driveway looked similar


The weather has been: Did I say it was stormy at the end of last month? I'm sorry - that storm was just a baby. A baby who grew into a temper tantrum toddler who let us know exactly how he/she felt. How to explain how stormy it's been? Buzzfeed has done a feature on us:   Terrifying Pictures of Snow in Eastern Canada  (although we are Atlantic Canada, not Eastern, but anyway) and here's a slide show from CBC : Islander Day Storm Pictures. Because, Yay! it happened on a long weekend. But we haven't been back to school all week as the roads are really not safe for buses. Crazy. It started snowing and blowing on Sunday and continued all day Monday. There were no plows on the roads, the bridge was completely shut down, and nothing was moving. When we got up on Tuesday morning, over 80 cm of snow had fallen. On top of the 75 cm the week before. Our suburban street and neighbourhood didn't see a plow until Wednesday, and that was just a one -lane path.
On the plus side, we never lost power, we are warm and fed, and there really was no where to go. Usually we say on PEI, it's not the snow, it's the wind. This time it was both, and the drifts are unbelievable, even though we keep taking pictures and talking about it, as if trying to make it believable.
 

 I am listening to:  I listened to Not that Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham. It was okay. I haven't seen Girls and I'm not familiar with her comedy so I wasn't coming in as a huge fan or anything but there were funny sections. Parts worked for me, but she's younger than me, and I didn't relate completely.
Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie is my current listen. I hadn't been a Miss Marple fan when I was younger, but I may be changing my mind.
Waiting for the next Veronica Roth book, Insurgent, and I Must Say by Martin Short.



 I am watching: Two seasons worth of  The Great British Bake-Off. Loving the show a lot, especially the polite nature of the competitive show. No need for 'advantages' or ways to hurt an opponent. Everyone is on equal footing, and the food rules. I love the blind judging of the technical challenge.
I also watched the SNL40 special which was perfect. So funny, so many great stars, great clips, great music, so many great memories. I thought Miley did a great version of 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover but whatever Kanye did wasn't needed. Norm MacDonald tweeted a behind the scenes story last night of the making of the show, which is well worth reading. @normmacdonald
I also like watching the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, the Canadian Women's Curling Championships. Yah, I'm a (Canadian) nerd.

 I am reading:
February started with The Handsome Man's De Luxe Cafe by Alexander McCall Smith, another wonderful outing with Mma Precious Ramotswe. I finished What We All Long For by Dionne Brand for my on-line family book club. Very Toronto book.
I'm well into Cobra, by Deon Meyers, the fabulous South African mystery writer. Cobra has an old character I like in Benny Griessel, great pacing, and an international mystery. Perfect for stormy days.



Books Entering House: I haven't been out of the house- how could books enter?



 Plans for the rest of February:
Finish Cobra; maybe start Skin by Mo Hayder, or a Canadian book for the Reading Bingo, Eh challenge and hopefully get back into a regular school routine.