Certain years go down in recollections as particularity bad winters. 1947 was legendary in the UK coming amidst postwar austerity. I remember my mother saying how worried she had been at keeping my baby brother warm, in a house where the only heating was a coal fire in the living room. Onto 1963 another bad year, when my father, returning from a business trip to London, was stuck overnight on a train in the Border hills - and no means in those day, pre mobile phones, to let us know why he had not come home that evening.
Here I feature family photographs mainly from 2001, 2011 and 2018, all taken in the Scottish Borders where I live - along with some occasional snowy quotes.
BEAUTY IN SNOW
A country road out of Earlston - this same view was the lead view in my recent Autumn post.
The Leader Water at Earlston
Trees on the A68 - the main road from Edinburgh through Earlston
"Jan-u-ary brings the snow; Makes our feet and fingers glow" (Sara Coleridge) 
| Granddaughter exploring this new world of snow for the first time, 2010 |
"When it snows, you have two choices - shovel or make snow angels" (Unknown)
Somebody' s idea of fun! Playing at snow angels, 2018.
FRUSTRATION IN SNOW
2011 was a blip in all the talk of global warming, when we had some of the worst snow for years, and Hawick where we then lived was cut off for three days. I could not get to work, with no buses running outside the town. I
We lived at the top of a hill, and no way was I venturing downhill to the shops. People, were were being resourceful going down to the supermarket with backpacks and toboggans to bring goods home.
"Winter, winter, cold and ice! A mug of hot chocolate would be nice"
(Nicolette Lennert)
The joys of having a dog in winter weather - though not too sure about the owners 
| The postman in Earlston trudging along in the snow |
.I have now reached the stage of rather favouring winter hibernation! to escape snows, unlike this heron - a familiar site on the River Slitrig in Hawick.
Snow when it first falls can be a wonderful magical experience
transforming the landscape. But when it changes to an icy, slippery
danger, I prefer not to venture outside, and when it ends up as grey,
messy, slush on pavements, it is a depressing, wet task trying to
negotiate pavements and cross roads.
So let's end on a positive note with more of my favourite snow pictures.
"Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone" (Christina Rossetti)
The frozen River Teviot at Hawick
Cowdenknowes Wood, Earlston
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12th century Melrose Abbey, five miles from my home. 2018
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