Sunday we got 16 inches of heavy wet snow. Up until now it has been an unusually mild winter. Monday school was closed and most people stayed home from work. Now it's Tuesday and snowing again.

Our neighbor trying to get his car out on Monday.

We will never get used to seeing umbrellas used for snow, though it's the norm here.

View of Neive from Bricco San Giuliano. The snow is very good for the vines as the water melts slowly into the ground compared to rain which runs off too quickly to be absorbed deeply into the soil.

The Christmas markets "Mercati di Natale" are happening in all the medieval hilltop villages throughout the Langhe, our town Neive's was this last Sunday.

Our town/city hall was open (rare on a Sunday in Italy) for a nativity art show in the council chambers.
The local take on making christmas wreaths is to use the pruning from grape vines.

It's not a Christmas market without some animals!

We did some scouting this weekend for our spring trips to the Franciacorta
wine region,which is about 3 hoursnorth east of Barbaresco.
Was fun but way too cold.

Our first snow arrived on the 17th of December, only 2 inches but enough for a
white Christmas.The garage is packed full with fire wood so Robert parks under
the bedroom balcony to maintain his recored of never scraping the car here in the
Langhe. He does not miss that old MN sport of scraping and shoveling snow.

Testing out the new stuffa, made it to 93 F

Treiso covered in snow.