Wild winter weather

Not only does a Montreal winter involve lots of snow, below zero temperatures and freezing rain it also brings strong winds.  Last night was an excellent example of that.  Winds were 60km/h with gusts up to 90km/h!!

There was a lot of crashing and banging but with the double glazed windows we didn't hear this fall...

Luckily it fell into the garden rather than the other direction onto the power line to the house.  Now that would have been a hassle!

It was minus 12 with a windchill of minus 22 when we were taking photos so poor Little Miss D's nose was as pink as her coat!

The trees out the front are the home to many little squirrels so I'm hoping none of them were hurt as it fell.  When we went to investigate we didn't see any but we did see lots of tiny footprints.  We have many squirrels who live around our house.  If you ask Little Miss D she'll tell you squirrels are her favourite thing about Canada.  They are very funny to watch - they move very fast and often play chasey with each other.  When they move from tree to tree it's almost like they are flying.  They spread out and glide.  This little fellow looks pretty cold to me - I'm not very good on the habits of Canadian wildlife but I had always thought squirrels hibernated.  Maybe they should consider doing it...

Squirrel on back fence seen from kitchen window

Despite the cold and wind, we have had a fair amount of sunlight which is really nice.  Last week it warmed right up to plus 2 degrees so with a bit of sunlight the snow began to melt.  The snow started to melt off the roof but before it was all gone the sun went and it became cold again and icicles formed!  Crazy!

You often see icicles on the front bumpers of cars which I think looks like snot dripping!

view from my bedroom window

xx