It's a Foehn Wind...

(Anna starting the clean-up on Sunday morning)

So the big wind storm on Saturday had a fairly dramatic effect around town - although thankfully we only lost a few big branches from the trees around the chalet and one small, young birch tree, the rest of the town wasn't quite so lucky. Quite a few roofs were damaged, and there were a lot of trees down, mainly old pines. The skating rink is now closed for the season because it lost part of its roof. Mum, Dad, Zoe and I did a little hike up behind our chalet yesterday afternoon, and had to climb over about 6 or 7 downed trees just on that little path alone. See the pix for some of the more dramatic losses. It's called a 'foehn' wind here, a warm wind that comes over the Alps from Italy, and it's supposedly like the famous mistral - you're allowed justifiable homicide if the wind blows for more than seven days or something. I think Toby's safe for a little while - one day and a night was enough, thanks.

 A young birch came down

The big tree in front of our chalet that I was worried about - thankfully, only some branches came down

This tree wasn't so lucky - quite a dramatic break

 

Lots of trees were just blown completely over

We're enjoying having my mum and dad here for 10 days. The weather's not great - quite a lot of cloud and rain - but it's not stopping us from having a good time. We took a little trip to Megève for a lunch out.

 With Zoe on a walk

 What's not to love about having the grandparents in town? The girls are lapping up all the attention, games, songs and stories.

 And a few concerned readers did write in to ask what had happened to the blog during my long silence (hi Andrea!), and it was nice to know it was missed. I was also asked if I take requests, and the answer is: Yes! Bailey (long-time reader, first-time writer) wanted to see what the girls' room looks like. They are all sleeping in the one dormitory in the little attic of the chalet, and here is a picture of Zoe's and Indie's beds. Anna has announced that she wants to move into her own room when we return to Canada, so this could be the end of the three-girls-in-one-room. Maybe that's a good thing. Keep the requests coming, Bailey! Always nice to hear from you.