Hello everyone!
Disclaimer - this is my first post and I am conscious that it might be against the rules to start a new topic for something like this, but I thought I'd give it a go... Mods, please move/delete as you see fit
Now that it seems we can all feel confident that proper cold is on the way, with decent snow opportunities likely to appear all over the place, I thought it would be fun to share some of our traditions that we may have ahead of cold and snow arriving. That is of course assuming that you all have traditions - I certainly have a few...
I first started reading these forums (fairly non-stop) after the snowfalls of 2 and 5 February 2009, which from memory each resulted in about 10cm of snow here, just outside Reading. The first fall was very dry, powdery snow, and the second was more sticky. That week was the first significant snow I can remember seeing in my lifetime (I was 15 at the time) and I was hooked from then! I remember desperately scouring the forums (as a lurker) for possible future snow opportunities, and luckily I did not have long to wait...
Overnight going into December 18 2009 saw another 10cm fall (dates and depths are just from memory so might be a bit out) of powdery snow, which was the last day of term before Christmas when I was in year 11. The night the snow arrived - 17 December 2009 - I watched a Simpsons episode called Skinner's Sense of Snow (a quick google shows it was first aired on 17 December 2000 - what a coincidence!), in which snow causes lots of school closures on the last day of term before Christmas (apart from Springfield Elementary!). I thought it was the perfect episode for the occasion, and the tradition has now stuck - I'll watch it the night before any major snow event is predicted to take place!
Unbelievably, we got a 15cm fall of sticky snow on 21 December 2009, and then about 25-30cm of perfect snow on 5 January 2010! For me, Feb 2009 - January 2010 was the pinnacle - obviously December 2010 and Feb/March 2018 were amazing and cold, but the snowfalls were definitely less impressive here specifically. We also had a very decent fall of about 12cm in January 2013. I'm hoping that February 2021 will be memorable for both cold and snow!
So anyway, here are some of my traditions pre-cold spell / pre-snow.
Watching the Simpsons episode Skinner's Sense of Snow the night before snow arrives (as detailed above)
Watching Groundhog Day a couple of days before cold sets in
Enjoying BBC News coverage of various correspondents standing around the country by motorways, piles of grit etc as the snow starts to fall
Lamp post watching for evening/overnight falls (the best kind!!)
Meanwhile having about 1 million tabs open with radars, forums, forecasts, news etc (similar to my General Elections night - is my nerd nature shining through??)
Late night/early morning snowy walks - because let's face it I probably won't be sleeping and it's so pretty and quiet!
A few days in advance, chopping up lots of wood for the log burner (that's today's job!)
Making a big lasagne (Delia's classic recipe - 4 hours in the oven, incredible) just at the start of the cold spell
Ordering a domino's (winter survival deal!) at some point during the cold spell
Lots of red wine, scented candles and nice hot baths
Of course the standard snowman building, sledging (although not this year ) etc
Scrapbooking! My phone is currently crammed full with forecast and chart and forum screenshots, which I plan to make into some kind of scrapbook
Some kind of video compilation of all the snowy pictures and videos
Feeding the birds constantly and breaking up the ice in the bird bath
I'd love to hear yours, so please do reply to this and share them! Looking forward to hearing all about them!
Quozzle