From Rain to — Snow

When S left for work it was pitch black, before sunrise, rainy and cold.  Hard enough to leave for work in the dark, but then it has to rain too?  Transport was crowded, because nobody--even though Russians are great walkers--wanted to walk in the rain.   Then the rain turned to sleet.  Russian doesn't have a word for 'sleet.'  They say 'rain mixed with snow.'  Or 'unpleasant'.

Then about 11 am, it started snowing.  Off and on all day, but mostly damp, slush and rain by the time it hit the ground.  The girls didn't go outside all day.  Too cold to get that wet, too wet to get that cold.

But after dinner when we -had- to take them out on an errand, they were so delighted to see some white stuff on the ground!  Sorry the pictures are so dark, it was 7 pm.

This is K (left) and E (right), just delighted:

 And this is baby A, delighted:

 

And everybody who lives with this white stuff knows what damp, slushy snow is good for:

This was just an amazing trick of the wind and the flash, but it looks cool:

This is snow angels by K and E:

And this is E tracing out their names in Russian letters in the snow:

Hard to tell whether baby A was happier about the snow or about being let out of the stroller (which like hurricanes in Hertford, Hereford and Hampshire) 'ardly ever 'appen….):