Friday, August 24, 2012

Snow on the hills


Last Saturday, outside, it looked like this. Grey and COLD! Inside it looked like this...



Quite the contrast hey?! Grey, windy and COLD vrs colour, cake and NOISE! Oh, the joys of having 13 under-10 year olds in your living area ;-)  Yep, you read correctly, THIRTEEN small people!

The day prior had been similar outside and I'd made the call that the boy's birthday party would be held indoors. I've never done an indoor party before. We've always been lucky. But not this year. This year we lucked out. So much so that when we woke on the morning of the party, there were actually some snow drifts on the hills to the west, from my viewpoint. I wasn't awake enough to get the camera out then, well there were a thousand other things running through my mind that I had to do for the party! Plus I'm not a good morning person, the best photography early-morning effort I've made so far was here. But it was not going to to happen last Saturday. These shots were taken just after the first wave of chaos washed through...


At this point it was hard to discern whether this white stuff was snow, mist or fog. But it was FREEZING. You can't tell from the photos but it was quite windy and so the 'white stuff' was rolling in from the west, over the hills and across the paddocks to our place. I love watching the weather arrive, though I admit I was watching this lot from behind the glass! I'd seen enough small people out the door complete with party bags to know it was too cold to be out there snapping photos. And the camera wouldn't have much liked the cold wet stuff either, that was the real reason I stayed inside ;-) I was considering the camera! 

Now check the above and below shots out. They were taken about twenty minutes apart. About as long as it took me to put the camera in a safe place, walk through to the living area, look outside and realise the white stuff was 'floating' and not dripping...


See that back line of hills in the top shot? And then you don't see them in the bottom shot?! Whoa. Poor old cows! Interesting that they looked to be still grazing happily. Either they were getting in some last mouthfuls thinking they might be buried in a snowdrift, or they considered this to be nothing untoward and actually I'm a weakling from the west who just isn't used to this mountain weather!

When you looked out to the west, south-west, it was even whiter. Or rather, there was even less to see! The hills had all but disappeared. And that lovely sunshiney paddock, that I had walked to, was fast becoming a blur too.


So, there you have it. Warmth, colour and noise inside. Cold, windy and grey/white outside. Nice that we can create that warmth in our homes. I would like to think that my home shares it's warmth with all who enter. And it's a privilege to be able to stay warm with plenty of wood for the fire. But I will tell you one thing; outside birthday parties are much easier on the ears!!! And too many licorice allsorts on a cake turn six years olds into monsters!!!

Tomorrow, this Saturday we're going to another boy's birthday party. I hope for the mother's sake that the weather is beautiful! And I hope your Saturday is beautiful too... I've plans next weeks to make my life a bit more beautiful, or perhaps a better way to say it is fulfilling, I'll let you know all about it. Have a lovely weekend.