Life goes on...The United States of Canada

Bonus post!
My parents have been over in Canada visiting one of my sisters for a few weeks to soak up the cool, clean air. The middle week included a trip to Canada’s 2nd State, i.e. America. Vermont to be exact. I don’t know the details of the trip, but no doubt they will return talking of backyards, sidewalks, Mount Rushmore etc. (Tee-hee it’s my blog so I can write what I want. It’s my geography lesson now!)
Anyway they have been visiting historical sites and landmarks. Amongst the sites was Lake Placid.
My mother reports that although they did see some lakes, they did not actually see Lake placid. Perhaps someone pulled the plug on it, or it is not as big as it used to be? Yan sent me some photos of their trip.

As you can see, quite a culture-fest. My family know how to get right to the centre of “where it’s at”

The props look suspiciously home-made to me. These were probably shot in my sister's back yard. Doh!!!

Snow school like an old school

I collected S from the airport last Wednesday and we enjoyed good weather for a few days. This has now changed
From this

To this in the last two days.

There is even less going on than usual, which is probably due to it being school holidays. Perhaps everyone has headed to the slopes for a bit of skiing?
After a night of heavy rain, today at around noon the rain turned to snow.
Yesterday I spent the afternoon at my institution of learning, where I sat at my small table and started from the beginning of the French text book. I have many days of orthographie ahead of me before I even get to the grammar. Yesterday the room was almost full to capacity, but today it was just me for at least the first hour and a half.
The Monsieur is obsessed with hunting. He also seems to be looking to change his car, and spends his time phoning and receiving calls and telling them that they are charging too much or that he has no intention of buying a diesel car. He is also due to be in Paris tomorrow and changed one of his flights, ending up with a cheaper one as a result. It should be much quieter at “school” if he does go tomorrow, as the husband and wife team who preside over the establishment burst out into vigorous arguments over the slightest things. For example he had not received any faxes, perhaps the fax was broken. She said something along the lines of so what if it is. He was then able to tell her in lots of loud words, including some merdes, why it was important that the fax worked.
I walked into town in my big walking boots which was a good move, as my feet would have got soaked in the slush on the way home. Some of the cars were wearing their snow chains on the wheels of their cars which finally slowed the traffic down to a reasonable town speed.
I got a couple of new front door keys cut at the LeClerc supermarket. Of course they do not work, so I will have to take them back once the roads resume a more normal texture. The lady grinder did not give me a receipt but I have kept the bag that she handed the keys to me in. Has anyone ever got non-Yale keys cut that work first time?.
Tonight would have been choir practice but the choir is also on school holiday. However the ladies (alti and soprani)are having an extra practice tonight and I suspect that it may be cancelled due to the weather. The men are not to be outdone and there is now a practice scheduled for tomorrow evening at someone’s house outside the town. I will wait to see what the weather is like tomorrow before I make a decision whether to go. One can have too much of a social life you know! There is even the English language version of that Benjamin Button film (starring my lookalike in the lead role) coming to the cinema early in March.

For those who enquired whether my sister from Canada ever reached Scotland after being stranded by the snow in London. Yes she got a flight the next day. After staying with my parents for a few days, she was due to go to stay with sister no. 2 and family in Aberdeen 60 or so miles away. When the day came to leave my parent's the roads were not easily passable so the plan was to go by train. Of course being the UK it was probably the wrong kind of snow and the trains were going nowhere. She caught a bus which eventually got her to her destination.

After a day or so in Aberdeen she managed to catch her flights to London and Canada. Now she is back in the land of cold and the right sort of permasnow. There is nothing quite like a relaxing week's holiday!