Last week we had our first nice layer of snow again. In the north, it had already snowed a lot, but not yet here. In recent years we have often had some »real« good snow only once in the winter, much less than in the years before. Actually, I don’t really like winter because I really am a summer person. I like the sun, the heat, the sea. But despite that, such a first good layer of snow is always a pretty sight to see. Especially when it also freezes a bit and the sun comes out. A beautiful scene. I have selected a number of photos from the past years in the collage.

The last time we really had a lot of snow was in the winter of 2013 if I remember correctly. At a certain moment, Bine took the tape measure and measured the snow on the dog shed. It was no less than 110 cm high! The snow that winter was really extreme though. Even the people who were born and raised here had never seen so much snow in our village before. But in a »normal« winter, snow often falls a few times and 30 to 60 cm is then very normal.

When the children were younger, all that snow was of course a lot of fun for them. Every year an igloo was built and secretly Bine found it great fun as well and he always enthusiastically helped them.

He also went “skiing” in the garden with the kids. He made a mini »ski slope« by stamping a whole strip of snow behind our house, and they were having fun there for hours. Tired but satisfied, they came inside afterward. Of course, they had to ski/walk back up every time they skied down, and with those long slats in the snow that is quite difficult and exhausting. But they didn’t mind.

The disadvantage of all that snow is of course the shoveling. Because that also has to happen, at least when you want to be able to go somewhere by car. And jobs continue even when it snows, so Bine has to drive to work every day, no matter what the weather is like. When it has snowed at night or it still snows early in the morning, he gets up an hour earlier to clean the car and clear the driveway. Fortunately, there is good snow clearing by the municipality. They often pay a local farmer who goes through the villages with his tractor that has a snowplow attached. Also very early in the morning because most people start working here at 6 o’clock and therefore have to leave home very early. But it can happen that the snowplow has not yet been around when Bine has to leave for work and then he has to clear the entire path from our house to the main road himself, about 100 meters uphill. So not so fun that early in the morning. Fortunately, this almost never happens. Even if the path has been cleared of snow, he often has to drive reverse, otherwise he will not be able to get up the road. Unfortunately, our cars do not have 4-wheel drive, so the power of the car is only at the front wheels. That’s why it’s easier to drive up the road while reversing than forward. I don’t dare to drive up backward because there is a bend in the path with a stone wall next to it. If the car would start to slide, you can hit it real easy. I rather stay at home when I’m not sure I can get out :).

Talking about cars in the snow, once, when it had snowed a whole lot, my little car at the time, a Volkswagen Polo, suddenly looked like a big SUV, hahaha. A girl can dream right ;)?  

A typical »street scene« in wintertime here are the red-yellow posts next to the roads that are placed everywhere every year, usually somewhere in the beginning of November. They are intended as an aid for traffic, especially the snowplows, so that they can see where the road is going when it is covered in snow. This prevents people from driving out of the road, into a ditch, or against a rock. The posts are removed again in the spring.

I’m curious if more snow will fall this winter. At the moment it is still fairly white because it freezes at night, and it also stays around zero degrees during the day. Let it snow a bit more for the next month, but after that, I would like spring again :)!