Is it spring yet?

The first of March is officially the first day of spring in the UK for the weather forecasters.  It doesn't mean automatic sunshine, I suppose they pick a date so that they can do weather records easily.

Two weeks ago, our little corner of Scotland was bathed in brilliant sunshine.  It was absolutely beautiful weather.  Temperatures were about 8C, there was no wind, lovely sun all day long.  I thought spring was here.

And of course the weather changed.  It's been snowing since Sunday.  Little light flurries of powdery white stuff from the sky.   This is what the view from our room looked like yesterday at 7am after it'd snowed all day and night the day before.

I love snow because it makes everything look so pretty and magical.  Two years ago, we spent our first Christmas in the UK and there was a light dusting of snow when we visited Glasgow.  I'd marvelled at how enchanted everything looked with a bit of snow on it.

There are some downsides to snow of course.  There's that scraping snow and ice off cars bit that I hate.  I've learnt the trick now - start the car, leave it running for a while so that it can warm up before trying to scrape anything off.  Makes the snow and ice slide off easier.

New snow is pretty but once it melts, it gets all slushy and muddy and ugh.. wet shoes, wet socks, wet jeans, wet gloves, wet hands!  I learnt the hard way that you can't wind down your car window when it's been sitting out in the snow overnight.  Even opening the car door was tough... haha!

I've also had to learn how to drive in snow and ice.  Just be careful, drive slow and drive in the lowest gear possible.  Don't rev your car, it only makes your wheels lose their grip and spin.  If you can't move, ease off the accelerator and then apply it gently.  The council here has been very efficient, gritters and snow ploughs have been out sharp and gotten the main roads all cleared of snow so it's not too bad.

I'm sitting here in the day room, looking out into my back garden and there's big fat flakes of snow swirling around.  It makes me feel like I'm living in a snow globe.

As a tropical baby, I'm enjoying this.  So is Connor who keeps asking "Mummy, can we have Christmas tree and presents now?"  Born and raised in the tropics so far, my son thinks snow = Christmas.  I feel terrible telling him there aren't any presents for now!