Where I may need to get a life

Well, Game of Thrones is over. The final season came and went and, with it, a lot of people got upset. They didn’t like the ending, they didn’t like who had died or who hadn’t died, they didn’t like the lighting, they wanted a different ending…the reasons abound. I too was upset. But my reason is…well, let’s call it unique, shall we?

I didn’t like the lack of winter.

From the very first time Ned Stark warned us that ‘Winter is coming’, Game of Thrones kept warning us about an imminent and dire winter. If you read the books, they even warn that, during said season, the weather was so terrible that mothers would kill their babies rather than let them live in such conditions.

I read that and thought: wow. This must be winter like we’ve never seen before. It must be abominable, worst weather than exists in even Pluto (check it out, that is one frozen dwarf planet).

So, I was super pumped when Arya and Sansa announced this season that Winter was here. I thought: this is it! Ice storms, blizzards, frostbite, snowsqualls, darkness, sleet, ice here we go!

Well…yeap. So that didn’t happen.

Forget blizzards, there simply wasn’t a single bad snow storm in sight. In fact, except for the dusting of snow that covered the ground, it was hard to tell that it was winter at all.

Okay, they did have snow, but there wasn’t any windchill factor, or frostbite in sight. I don’t even remember any of them wearing gloves.

I get that this was a movie set in Ireland and that the producers weren’t Canadian, so no one around there knew what winter can be like…but, that was it? That was their version of a tough winter? Man alive! They should come over here to the Lovely Frozen Country of Snow (aka Canada) and spend a couple of days in January. Just a couple of days.

I bet they would all discover the need for gloves (or lose digits to frostbite) and I bet they would fall in love with hats (or lose earlobes). I bet they would drop those long discussions outside quite quickly and text someone instead and I bet they would develop a sudden fondness for the dragon that can breathe fire.

What? What’s that you say?

Oh yeah. I know. This is a completely ridiculous gripe with what’s obviously an incredibly successful show.

But, see here’s the thing. While you can stop reading this post and get away from my silly whining; I live with this brain. This stuff is rumbling around my head constantly.

Obviously, I need to get a life…or possibly medication.

 

If we were having coffee

(credit:Church Designer Magazine)

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that it’s still freezing here. In fact, we have freezing rain in our forecast. Lovely, isn’t i? A couple of days ago, the Polar Vortex was among us giving us incredibly frigid temperatures, snow squalls and the promise of frostbite if we dared to venture outside.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that my husband’s patchy, duck-tape ‘fix’ of our dogs’ beds is over and they both now have new beds. This is good news for both doggies and people, since the old dog beds were a complete eye sore.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that Groundhog Day promised us an early spring and I, for one, can’t wait.

A huge thanks to Eclectic Alli for hosting our Coffee Share and to you, my lovely reader, for reading!

Something wicked this way comes

My ridiculous beef with Game of Thrones

It’s almost the end of Season 7 in Game of Thrones. It’s a series that’s been hard to watch for me mostly because of the violence. But this past episode just sent me over the top and for a very different reason. The lack of realism with winter.

Living in Canada, I can tell you that the very first thing Jon Snow and his band of Men should have worn when they walked north of the Wall was a hat. Your head loses something like 30000% of your body heat and it’s super important to flatten your hair during the winter. No, seriously, you need a toque or bad things are going to happen.

(credit:reddit)

I stared and stared but there wasn’t a single hat among the lot. These were brave warriors alright, but were they fighting the enemy or hypothermia? They were chatting away as they walked and no one winced at the cold, or put a warm hand over their ears. I can tell you from personal experience that uncovered ears will scream in pain as soon as the temperature dips.

Frostbite should also have been on their minds. They had pretty solid clothing which included mitts but those ears would have been in trouble and so would their cheeks. Their heads and faces should have been covered.

Most importantly, they should at all times keep dry. And good old, Jon Snow…fell into a frozen lake.

(credit:ew.com)

By all rights, even if he had made it out alive, most of his digits would have been goners.

Yeap, we do a Polar Bear Dip in Canada but we have First Aid and support right there and are only in the water for literally seconds. Plus, we’re Canadian…we’re pretty nuts.

And don’t get me started about how cold they would be riding on a dragon through the air. The wind up there would have made the windchill something that would kill much faster than the Night King.

(credit:ABC Safety Mart)

Honestly, doesn’t anyone have a snowsuit in all of Westeros? Sheesh.

(credit: pinterest)

If we were having coffee

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that lovely hubby has been sick but is on the mend. This is particularly reassuring for yours truly because I’ve been fetching, getting and buying him everything from remedies to mythical British drinks that don’t exist in Canada.

I’d tell you Spring is starting to show its lovely head and it’s absolutely beautiful out. Yesterday, it was sunny and not below zero, so we took the fuzz-balls for a walk. It was like we had emerged from a long period in jail or something because we both had amazed, bewildered looks on our faces wondering at the fact that we could show our skin to the elements without fear of immediate frostbite.

Our dogs, on the other hand, are sad that their beloved blizzards are over. They try to sit on the little bits of remaining snow in the yard and ignore the dry, grassy ground around them.

In other words, they’re nuts.

Credits: Weekend Coffee Share is a meme developed by Part Time Monster and now hosted by Nerd in the Brain

Signs of the season

What? Do I have something on my face?

I’m super clean and ready to come inside!

Wordless Wednesday

Silent Sunday

Snow is coming…and I’m not happy.

A year ago, I clearly remember writing a post titled: Waiting for snow. I’m not waiting for snow this year. In fact, unrealistic as it may be, I’m hoping it passes us altogether. After the never-ending freezing nightmare that was last year’s Winter, I was hoping to have a short, brief, warm season (or as warm as you can get in Canada).

Notice the ‘was’? Yeap. The farmers are already predicting a long winter. And a cold one with tons of snow and freezing temperatures. That nasty Polar Vortex is supposed to be wrecking havoc all over us again.

Nuts.

This is not a Canada-only phenomenon. Check out this post by HalfEatenMind.

On the other hand, the akitas around here couldn’t be happier.

(credit: kimballstock.com)

 

A Canadian summer

Canada is a country of extreme weather. We get super-cold winters–that last waaaay too long–but then we get these incredibly hot and sunny summers.

It’s really unbelievable. The same place that was covered ( and I mean covered) by snow only a few weeks ago is now green and full of flowers. Don’t believe it? I have the evidence to prove it…in bad pictures.

First, of course, the snow. I remember this quite well.

Now, though, we have this,

And this,

And finally, this,

Isn’t it beautiful? I can’t believe it’s the same place…except I live here, so I can tell you. It’s the same place. It’s truly beautiful. You should come visit.

In the summer.