A Cold Weekend

Enita and I have just returned from a cold weekend in Brezovica. A significant weekend for Enita since it marked the first time she has slept in the house since before the war in 1998. But it was cold - I would guess well below minus 10 at night, possibly closer to minus 20. Even with two very effective wood burning stoves it was hard to thaw the ice on the inside of the windows. We both woke up in the early hours with very cold heads and had to find hats to get warm again.

There was also still at least 60 cm of snow around the house - frozen and crisp. Every tree had captured a wonderful lining of frozen snow on each and every branch. This was particularly beautiful at night when the light of a near full moon reflected off the snow.

It proved difficult to work very much. Most of our energies were directed to bringing in wood and continually refuelling the stoves. Between that and preparing meals in a very unfinished house there isn't much time for getting to grips with the internal finishing work that needs doing. We have one bedroom complete and the bathroom is more or less functional - but the rest of the house is a building site. Since we don't have any furniture yet its more of a camping experience than comfortable mountain living.