Seeing the Sights (locally)

The Girl was out at a sleepover, and the rest of us got up late-ish.  The weather was good - bright and not too cold.  Some of us fancied visiting the Empire State Building, others thought a trip to Niagara would be fun.  Since we couldn't realistically do both, or even (given the time by then) either, we opted for the closest local equivalents:

Cohoes Falls (impressively frozen)

and the observation deck of Albany's 589 foot high Corning Tower.

With a big enough telescope you could have (almost) seen our house.  It's interesting to view the familiar from a different angle once in a while.

Snow much fun

We're still finding ways to "enjoy" the snow...

or just chill out in it...

And now, as promised, for those library snow-characters.  From the top, left to right:

(Top row) Dorian Grey, Pippi Longstocking, the Cat in the Hat, Hester Prynne, Sherlock Holmes, Lisbeth Salander;

(Bottom row) Captain Ahab, the Invisible Man, Madeline, Hercule Poirot, Miss Haversham, Oedipus.

Slippery slope

It was a little warmer today, more comfortable for doing snowy/icey stuff.

We went sledding down the Hill of Death in the park.  Hop aboard and virtually join us!

 

We also squeezed in a trip to the library, which reminds me, there's still time for you to enter the snowperson quiz.  The Exile has four right - any advances?  Think Dickens, Christie, Melville and Wells for a start...  I'll post the full set of answers tomorrow.

Now, that's what I call winter

At last, we've caught up with Britain and got ourselves a decent amount of snow. Around 13 inches we reckon - it's hard to tell for sure on account of the strong winds and drifting. Plenty enough to get out and jump around in, anyway. Quite a lot for the Man to shovel off the driveway, too. (He would like to point out that this video is in no way speeded up):

It's too cold for making snowmen or effective snowballs - it just turns to powder - but excellent for snow angels.

White on cue

We had the Exiles round for lunch today.  They came bearing mince pies - hooray - and we enjoyed their company, too.

They left mid-afternoon and for the rest of the day we kept eagerly checking for the arrival of snow, promised in all the forecasts.  We've had to wait until after dark, but it's definitely with us now and falling fast. 

Yay!  

Happy Crispmas

It has been a long but happy Christmas Day here in Albaniana-land.  The kids, as they traditionally do, woke us up rather early and opened their stockings in our bed this morning.  Then we all headed downstairs to find more presents under the tree.

It wasn't the paper-ripping frenzy that we've seen some previous years.  Girl and Boy both spent time enjoying each new thing, and made the process last.  Everyone seems pleased with their gifts.

We had no visitors and no-one to visit (though we did enjoy skyping with my parents and the Man's family), so there was no pressure to get anywhere or even (in someone's case) out of pyjamas.  The Man and I made it down to Five Rivers for a brief and bitterly cold hike, leaving the children assembling a cardboard model of Club Penguin.  They've played with it for hours - "live action" turning out to be at least as much fun as the online version.

I cooked salmon for dinner as we're none of us out-and-out vegetarians except for the Boy, whose culinary treat of the day was a bowl of crisps (chips) and a generous amount of fair trade chocolate.  We pulled imaginary crackers (I'd forgotten to buy any) and found that the jokes inside them were just as corny as in the real thing.

So yes, it has been a good day for all of us here.  We hope also for you, wherever you happen to be.

That Santamental feeling

Christmas Eve again - would you believe it?

The kids are full of anticipation.  But after the Girl's little essay last week we can't seriously expect the Guy in Red to visit us this year - well, would you? Nope, it's got to be a do-it-ourselves Christmas. I've been accumulating suitable gifts all week, and this afternoon the Man had a go too, for good measure.

The Man regrets he hasn't had the time (or frankly the skills) to make a nice Christmas video with music, but instead has provided a link to a video which he says is of him as a student in Switzerland in the late eighties.

Presents all wrapped?  Hah!  I wish...  But we'll get there, even if only just in time for everything to be unwrapped again.

At dinner tonight we all drank a toast to our friends and family near and far - especially the far ones.  We wish you a very merry Christmas, or, if you don't celebrate, just a very happy day.