Winter - Oh how cold you have been...

From "Ski Day" at school this week - I learned how to backcountry cross country ski though 3 feet of loose snow!

This winter, which feels like it is drawing to an end, has been COLD. Not as cold as some places but cold for Norway. We have had two different 7-10 day spells of -25C (-13F) highs since returning from the US. Here are examples of how cold it has been:

• Our area is completely out of firewood for sale. Many people use this as a main source of heat in their homes.
• During the last cold spell, Jason's colleague found out the hard way that Trondheim was completely sold out of car batteries. Not just the type for his car but ALL batteries. I guess car batteries die when left at a certain temperature?
• We got an email today from our electric company bracing us for a very expensive bill for the last quarter (January - March). I heard from another person they are saying it may be three times more then last quarter - FYI we paid almost $1500 last quarter.....can't wait for this one! Evidently Norway has had to import more electricity then expected since most of the waterfalls they rely on in winter for hydroelectric power are frozen solid.

I did say it feels like winter is drawing to an end. We have had three days of straight rain and temperatures above 0C. Today it was a balmy 6C (42F)! That being said the snow and ice are melting like gangbusters. The picture below is on our street - even after 3 days of rain you can see there is at least 2.5 inches of ice on the side of the road....that is what happens when you don't plow. We expect another day of warm weather and heavy rain and then.....snow and more snow and more snow - they are predicting it for all next week. But my snow globe flowers are starting to peak through - so maybe Spring is almost here!