Morning whiteness

Here's the view out my window at 8h30 this morning:

Did someone drop a bucket of snow on us during the night??? There wasn't nearly that much when I went to bed! The campus is 150m higher up, so is probably going to look like a ski resort! :p

Maybe I will get to make my snowman after all... :D

It's BAAAAACK!!!

File this under the category "Be careful what you wish for"...

When I got up to Campus on Monday for my first class of the week, I was complaining how ugly everything looked with the snow all gone (melted with the *slightly* warmer weekend temperatures and rain) and how it was no fun dealing with below freezing temperatures if you couldn't at least have pretty snow!

Yeah well... several hours later it started snowing! Not much, just a few centimetres to make the place all white and shiny the next morning. But then Tuesday evening... aye! aye! aye!!! When I got up Wednesday morning: snow in town, so even more snow up on the hill! Plus it started snowing again during my first class, and I had to cross the whole bloody campus while it was snowing! (if it had been raining I would say pouring!)

Not that I minded all that much as you can tell from the grin on my face:

keep reading!

MORE snow?!?!?!

This is utter madness! This is my 10th Fall in Li�ge and I've NEVER seen anything like this, never before Christmas, and never even this much or this long during "real" winter (although I missed the 2 worst ones of the past ten years).

What am I going on about? You remember me complaining about the "slushy snow" that was raining down on the city all day Sunday? The stuff that melted all the snow in town and has stopped me from making a snowman in my back yard? Well it never occurred to me that up on campus the situation would be any different. Silly me, I forgot that the Sart Tilman - our "hill" - is about 150m above the city (Li�ge is only 68m above sea level). And what was rain down here was probably snow up there! So basically it snowed all day Sunday, stayed freezing Monday, snowed again a bit yesterday... and here's the result:

You think that's white? Take a look at this!

keep reading!

Feathered Visitors

A cool thing about this cold snap and all this snow, is that there have been a lot more birds hanging out in the gardens on the other side of my window! They're so cute hopping about and eating the last berries on the bushes, they make everything come alive! :o)

Allow me to introduce them to you (clicking on French names takes you to a bird website in French with distribution diet and more photos; Latin names takes you to Wikipedia in French, but I think you can change the language), and remember to click on photos for a larger view:

• Tourterelle turque or Streptopelia decaocto (Eurasian collared dove) some kind of dove that go released in the city "years" ago and has adapted quite nicely, in part probably thanks to friendly neighbours providing food during winter. These are the most abundant I've seen out of the window:

They particularly like the big fir tree: 

•  A male Merle or Turdus merula (common blackbird),  always with a bright and shiny plumage!

closeup:

who had quite a feast on berries like these!

• And finally, surprise one morning, a M�sange charbonni�re or Parus major (great tit) lovely little thing!

Apparently they're all a lot more visible now with the snow because they come closer to the houses seeking refuge from the cold, and looking for those fatty seed balls some people put out to feed them. Lucky me! But they'd better be careful, they're not the only critters hanging around in the backyards...

miaow! ;o)

I've been trying to get a shot of the large crows up on campus... but unlike these guys, they seem to have disappeared! :s

Ramo de Sunshine Award

Rafa Rosa, desde su blog Obras y Reformas, hace llegar un nuevo Sunshine Award a Bajo un Sol errante. �Muchas gracias Rafa! :D

Sunshine Award

Los requisitos a seguir se mantienen:

1. Guarda la imagen y post�ala en tu blog.
2. Pasa este premio a 12 bloggers.
3. Pon un link a los nominados.
4. Haz saber a los nominados que han recibido este premio comentando en sus blogs.
5. Comparte tu aprecio y pon un link al blog de la persona de la que recibiste este premio.

Como muchos ya sab�is no acostumbro a nominar a tantos pero, como poco a poco la familia blogger sigue creciendo, s� quisiera premiar a:

1. Pilar por Abalorios
2. Goibniu por Postales desde el sur
3. Marita por Contando Cuentos
4. Andri Alba por La escribiente mariposa

�Muchas felicidades a todos! ;)

Ramo de Sunshine Award

Rafa Rosa, desde su blog Obras y Reformas, hace llegar un nuevo Sunshine Award a Bajo un Sol errante. �Muchas gracias Rafa! :D

Sunshine Award

Los requisitos a seguir se mantienen:

1. Guarda la imagen y post�ala en tu blog.
2. Pasa este premio a 12 bloggers.
3. Pon un link a los nominados.
4. Haz saber a los nominados que han recibido este premio comentando en sus blogs.
5. Comparte tu aprecio y pon un link al blog de la persona de la que recibiste este premio.

Como muchos ya sab�is no acostumbro a nominar a tantos pero, como poco a poco la familia blogger sigue creciendo, s� quisiera premiar a:

1. Pilar por Abalorios
2. Goibniu por Postales desde el sur
3. Marita por Contando Cuentos
4. Andri Alba por La escribiente mariposa

�Muchas felicidades a todos! ;)

Snowy week!

It's been crrrazy here in Li�ge this past week! Snowing almost every day, snow up on the hill (on campus) and snow downtown (which almost never happens! or at least it doesn't "stick"). And temperatures below freezing for 10 days straight. This is my 10th Fall in Belgium, and I've NEVER seen this much cold and snow this soon!!!

I cancelled my evening sports activities due to being worried about being stuck up on campus at night if the snowing increased and the buses stopped running (they do that some times, nightmare!), but I enjoyed myself like a 6-year-old kid all week long goofing around in the snow and taking pictures! So here go some snowy shots and the tale of last week. ;o)

This what I woke up to on Tues Nov 30th:

Snow and the cars and the street:

made some things irresistible!

(and yes I know I'm early... 3 weeks to go!)

keep reading!