"Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow"

Now this isn't a lot of snow, but it's still way too much for this time of year. We have had real summer temperatures for the past three weeks and most people have put their vege gardens in - I wonder how many tomato plants have survived this arctic weather. You can tell it is unseasonal snow because that is summer gorse flowers that it's covering in the foreground.

I know this isn't a pinch on the Canterbury/West Coast snow - my father was stuck for the night in Arthurs Pass. He drives an overnight truck carting the mail from Greymouth to Canterbury where he reloads and heads back to Greymouth, and was unable to get over the pass last night. But "the mail must get through" and he made it home to bed eventually. When my sister went over the pass this afternoon it was still snowing from Otira to Arthurs. Brrrr.

I had to be in Nelson by 9 this morning, and that is way too early for a weekend - it meant leaving home at 7.15 which I didn't appreciate on a Saturday. The weather was lousy at home but cleared as I headed up the Hope valley. Still, I didn't expect to get half way up the Hope saddle and see snow. By the time I got to the top everything was covered - but I'd already stopped further down and frozen myself to take this photo, so I wasn't stopping again.

When I came back through at about 3 this afternoon there wasn't a flake of snow left. The wind and sunshine had taken care of it all so it's just as well I stopped in the morning, I'd have no proof otherwise!

Of course I left a beautiful Nelson afternoon and as soon as I got over the Hope saddle the temperature plummeted back down to 8 deg celsius and it's miserable here.

I guess that's a good excuse to rug up in a mink blanket and pretend I'm reading my book - with my eyes shut.