Snow day

 My wife reminded me of the wisdom saying that Snow Days are God's way of telling you to slow down. In warmer climates, the siesta could do the same thing.

Anyway...

It has snowed a lot the past few days here in Southwestern Ontario. January was unseasonably warm and un-snowy. February hit hard. Friday night, I was home while Beth went out to a display event as a fund-raiser for the local hospital's special new-born ward. She came home cold and snow-covered. I pretty much decided then and there that I wouldn't be going to the Games Group on Saturday, despite the fact that Martin and I had scheduled a game of Pike & Shotte, a favourite period of mine. Saturday kicked off with an early phone call from Andy, telling me HE was not going to make it either. A Facebook post I saw a while later told me that Martin was hors de combat with some variation of the Creeping Crud.
It became the sort of wonderful day I looked forward to all throughout my school days - the amazing Snow Day! It's unexpected so no plans have been prepared. I had to go out and shovel some snow and clear the car in order to pick my daughter up from work; making her walk in such weather would be cruel and unusual punishment. 8 inches/24cm of snow and temperatures of -15°C/5°F is serious weather. (As I write it -12°C, but it's -33°C in Inuksuit School, Qikiqtarjuaq, Nunavit, so why am I complaining?)

Our driveway and front yard after our neighbour used his snow-blower to clear things.
Everybody's gotta have a hobby!

The street. It looks cold? It was.

The deck and backyard before I got out the snow shovel.

Beth and I had made crepes a few days ago and some dessert batter was left. Beth decided to make it up as crepes she could freeze and use later. She said Katie and I could eat a few with our lunches. Well, the crepes became our lunch and Beth ate a few too. Since these were crepes made from a  sweetened batter, we filled them with peanut butter, Nutella, and some home-made strawberry jam given to us by a wonderful lady in my congregation. (Danke, Oma Frieda!) 

We were going to stack the crepes up with waxed paper in between, but... we ate 'em all!

Strawberry Jam and crepes

Beth cooks crepes in our kitchen.

Nutella and Jam -  prior to folding by Katie

Katie was picked up for work by a friend, and was sent home early since no sensible people were out in the cold. Beth and I and the dog went down to the family room to relax and watch movies. I got to choose! John Carter first, then Ant Man. John Carter is a better movie than many will allow and it's one that I enjoy from time to time. Ant Man is enjoyable, satisfying, and quite tongue-in-cheek although it'll never be a classic. So I painted during the movies until I cleaned off the van to go pick up Katie at her work. The time available allowed me to clean up some projects I'd been working on for a long time.

Snow Day Afternoon - Wife with laptop, tea, and blanket.

Beagle as still-life

A fighting bishop and his wife for the ECW or TYW
Unknown Manufacturer

Thirty Years War Swedish high command stand
Old Glory 15's

Another stand for the ever-expanding Hail Caesar! Gallic army.
Wargames Factory figures

15mm Scots for a Montrose Scots ECW Royalist army I've been working on.
Old, old, old Essex figs

Napoleonic Austrians (IR #28 Wartensleben) for my Austrian army
unknown manufacturer picked up at a Hot Lead bring-and-buy.
I've always liked the Austrian troops in helmets.

SYW Russian artillery
Old Glory 15mm

SYW Austrian artillery
Old Glory 15mm

Dinner was quite interesting - fried chicken with Texas-style milk gravy, and mashed potatoes. I don't remember having milk gravy when I lived in Texas, and I enjoyed the meal and the new experience.

Sunday, I'm off to church for a Service of the Word (straight from the Evangelical Lutheran Worship hymnal). When I came back, Beth had made biscuits and gravy with the milk gravy left from the last evening's dinner. She added some more salt and pepper which added more flavour to the mix. Putting it over freshly baked biscuits was great. 

My daughter's photo of my wife's plate

My plate of biscuits and gravy

Well, this bowl of biscuits was full at the start of lunch.

Sunday was bright, clear, and cold as (insert favourite cold-related phrase here.)

My daughter received this photo from a friend. She is fascinated by these T-Rex costumes and she wants one herself.
Well... so do I.

Pooka appears to be saying "You're not going to make me go outside, are you?"
Early this afternoon, he went out and came back in limping, He had snow/ice between his toes on one foot.
We towelled him down and warmed him up and he much happier now.

So I didn't get to game this weekend, but it was quite relaxing and refreshing in its own way, Next week, the plan is to join with some other gamers from Cambridge and the Niagara area to have a huge ACW game using the Black Powder rules. I'm looking forward to it. The Weather Network is predicting temperatures of +4°C/39°F. 

Such a strange winter.