I have always been fussy about chocolate.

The ME hasn’t helped with this. When I was younger, I found chocolate too sweet, apart from that with a 60-70% cocoa content. But as I have got older - and as the ME has let me - I have developed a sweeter tooth.

It is only really since we left England that I have developed a weakness for Cadbury’s: a case of ‘can’t have it, therefore want it,’ if ever there was one. On our travels passing through UK airports, a Crunchie, bar of Dairy Milk, or a Creme Egg (or, on certain occasions, all three) is thrown in with the magazines and newspapers at WHSmith. 

This desire only extends to Cadbury’s though; I am still not keen on Nestle, Mars, or Galaxy.

We had planned to venture out of Montreal on Saturday and go for a walk in one of the national parks nearby, but we woke up to quite a bit of snow. The way it was snowing, it looked as though it was set in for the day. As much as we love a snowy walk, we didn't want to get stranded and therefore decided to leave our exploration for another day.
The walk could still happen but it was just going to have to be closer by. There are still many many streets we haven't explored yet, we decided we would go and investigate some of them. We had spotted a nice-looking coffee shop a while ago (it was just after we had drunk a horridly strong coffee at another place...we walked a minute down the street from that coffee shop and stumbled upon across this one - always the way.); and decided to make it our goal to find it once more. 

We set out in our ski trousers and winter boots thinking it would be similar temperatures to the previous day, but it was (plus!) 1 degree and not the minus double figures it had been just sixteen hours previously. To our dismay, we were the only people wearing such serious clothes; everyone else was in jeans and 'normal' clothes. Spot the foreigners.

T and I went out to dinner the other night; for a meal which we had to dress up for. This was dressing up of a different kind though: no little black dress and heels needed; rather ski trousers, hats and gloves...

I remember my first Autumn in Munich, towards the end of the season when the cool air was beginning to get it’s harsh edge of cold. A friend who had lived there a little longer than me and so had therefore witnessed winter there asking me if I had bought my winter coat yet. I shook my head, explaining I already had a winter coat; in fact it was the one I was wearing. She looked me up and down, eying up the long black wool coat and burst into laughter; “That is not a winter coat!” A month later, the weather had chilled even more, and I went and bought a ‘proper’ winter coat.

I still have that coat, and it has served me through two Munich winters and a Sevillian ‘winter’. Once, again though, my thick coat is not up to the job and I have had to venture into the more industrial strength of the coat world: This winter calls for a duvet coat.

One of the first things we were told, and then told again, and again, was that to survive the winter pain free, invest in a good coat and a decent pair of boots.

Boy, has that already turned out to be good advice!!

We received a delivery on Saturday:

After more than four months without our belongings, they finally arrived yesterday! The poor removal guys had to carry 37 boxes, 2 surfboards, and a bike up two flights of stairs. But they did it without any complaint - not always the case!

We have left the mild and mostly wet Britain, instead finding ourselves living in some places with temperature extremes.

In Sevilla, we experienced 40+ degree heat for days on end. We were considered to be lucky – we were – but it is one thing going on holiday and experiencing that temperature; sitting by the pool sipping iced drinks, or wandering around shady city centres stopping every couple of hours for coffees in air-conditioned cafes and eating meals in an air-conditioned restaurant, before heading back to an air-conditioned hotel. However, it is quite another thing to actually live in it. 

It would be somewhat of an understatement to say there was a fair amount of snow lying around after the storm. The 45cm that fell in 24 hours had smashed a record that had lain untouched since 1971. (We were hoping for snow when we came to Montreal, so it was nice of it to do it properly…). 
That amount of snow does not disappear overnight!
The city was methodically clearing the roads and pavements, but T and I are responsible for the patch of land outside the front of the building, as well as the area at the back where the car is parked.

We successfully managed to put it off for a couple of days, but the time finally came to do our bit of clearing.
The car and surrounding area was first, but where to start on this giant snowball??