When icicles hang by the wall…..

When icicles hang by the wall

And Dick the shepherd blows his nail,

And Tom bears logs into the hall,

And milk comes frozen home in pail;

When blood is nipt, and ways be foul,

Then nightly sings the staring owl

Tu-whoo!

Tu-whit! tu-whoo! A merry note!

While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.

When all around the wind doth blow,

And coughing drowns the parson's saw,

And birds sit brooding in the snow,

And Marian's nose looks red and raw;

When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl—

Then nightly sings the staring owl

Tu-whoo!

Tu-whit! tu-whoo! A merry note!

While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.

Shakespeare: ‘Love's Labour's Lost’

The long range weather forecasts for the British Isles in early Spring last year predicted a “barbeque summer” and again in September, “a mild winter.” We should have known better, or rather we shouldn’t have listened: everyone knows that in this Atlantic, maritime climate it is well-nigh impossible to forecast weather accurately for longer than about three or four days in advance.

But for a few weeks now the winds have blown from the North East (particularly strongly this morning) and we have become a climatic outpost of Scandinavia.

As usual when severe weather stikes us here, the news is full of recriminations about our lack of preparedness and the ensuing travel and educational chaos. Apologetic politicians and municipal officials appear hourly on the media. Not for for us the magnificently dismissive  response of a French spokesman when criticised for a similar problem, "What do you expect? Paris is not a ski resort!"

At least people are smiling and stopping to chat in the streets where, from time to time, pitched snowball battles are being fought by children sent home from school because of the weather.

This is the coldest weather we have experienced here for a very long time with several snowfalls and below zero (Celsius) temperatures by day. The snow is going nowhere fast; the ground is frozen solid and the Vicarage’s exotic garden is looking somewhat forlorn. I can expect quite a few horticultural casualties when the snow melts and things return to normal. As some people keep telling me in another context, I shouldn’t be so "latinate" in my tastes and allegiances
Anyway, here is some appropriately mediterranean music for the season: 'Winter' from Vivaldi's Four Seasons performed by I Musici. Despite the video, it's a little early for Carnevale - but it has to be warmer than this even on the Venetian lagoon!