h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

What can I say? That's what you get in the bargain when you want children, the fathers I never layed an egg, so I cannot share any experiences on this subject with you.

Minus 8 already? I wonder what your gasbill looks like at the end of the season ... must be enormeous.

Well, usually the temperature here gets down to -25...-30C. And I don't use gas for heating. The hardly ever do here. Most people have central heating with water, I have oldfashioned stove heating. Four stoves and piles of firewood.

It sounds romantic and like hard work. First cutting down the trees into pieces of firewood during summer. In winter up every morning in a chilly house with iceflowers on the windows going downstairs and stirring up the fire in the stoves, feed it with fresh firewood before going outside through piles of snow for getting some more wood from the firewood shed.
What about water? So no shower I assume, just an old big wooden bathtub. Do you have a lake nearby that gets frozen up and you have to make a hole in it for getting fresh water? Or do you use the snow from outside the house?
What about groceries for breakfast, lunch and dinner? Do you go on the motorized snowbike every morning to the village for fresh supplies or do you have a larder stocked up with deepfreezed, dehydrated and pickled food?

No! I buy my firewood cut and chopped and I live in a town, also I have the plumbing in the house though I have to admit I don't have a bathroom. The shed is 20 meters from the house so nowhere to ski but my son loves to ski in the backyard.

Hati, I don't understand! With temperatures like that, minus 25 or minus 30, how come you have water in the house? The waterpipe leading to your house must be frozen! Or not?
So live in town. No big brown bears that frolic around in your backyard, apart from you son? No wolfs howling in the forrests surrounding your territory?

Do you keep chickens?

No, I don't keep chickens. We have a dog and some rodents in the cages. As about the pipes, those are under ground and we don't have frost indoors.

I see, you're very well prepared for winter. As soon as the temperatures drop below freezing point overhere, the waterpipes freeze up, train traffic stops, massive traffic jams on highways because of multiple car crashes and so on ...

I do hope you do have ice flowers on your windows when you wake up in the morning.

In some rooms, yes.
Right now we have snow up to the knee and nice weather. It's -7C but no wind atm. Wind is the worst.
It's almost 2 am, so if you excuse me - I need my beauty now.

It's Christmas Eve, at last!
The wind is howling around the house and the doesn't want to go out because as usual in Swamp Country it's raining cats and dogs and she is very scared of the booming and crackling noises the young boys in the neighbourhood are making by trowing their fireworks around at random.
Luckily I've been spared the chores of doing the shopping and cooking. I'll be spending the next few day with my feet up in front of the telly or lying on the coach re-reading Wuthering Heights and Wilt on High.

Merry Christmas, Hati.

Merry Christmas, Krabatt!

We got a nice fresh snow for this week. Tonight the weather is excellent, only couple degrees below zero.
My last few days were quite a mess but I hope by now everything important is done. Tomorrow I'll sleep no end. Erm, today - it 00.50 here.

AGH, sleep. Yes, that is a good one as well! But first I have to finish watching this movie on tv and drink a couple of more beers.

Good night

Hati, that smiley is UGLY! Since I've seen you're picture, you're not. Please don't use it! It really doesn't suit you.

HAPPY NEW NEW YEAR.

I Do not know what wishes you have for yourself, I just hope they will come true. if I may make a good advise.

Happy New Year, Krabatt!

Does look better to you?
And frogs... Well, that's a whole another story.

Whatever. It does look nicer, and more my choise.
Nevertheless, you do what you want to do.

Sure. Right now I'll go to sleep, whatever it takes. It's 3.30 here and I am falling over.

You'll be fine.

Don't worry about it. She'll be fine.

Are you sure, old woman?

No problem there. She will be fine.