Sunday, March 24

Today Irma went out into the garden before breakfast and came back with the news that the spirit of the air had changed and Spring was here. I went out and came back agreeing with her. We checked the thermometer. It is plus five, and the first day in months where the weather seems certain to get warmer.

Yesterday we had watched the neighbours sitting in the snow in deckchairs drinking beer. Today we sat in chairs in the garden, without beers, watching the snow melt. Eventually we decided that it was not melting fast enough, and started helping it. We are digging at the edges and encouraging the ice to break off. Then we are throwing it into the street. We will carry on doing this for two hours or more, and by the end almost half the drive will have been cleared.

Irma will take Auo to collect Niilia and then take them both to Alva’s twelfth birthday party and I will go indoors to do some vacuum-cleaning.