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Hello, Elle!
The snow here won't melt today.
It is too cold.
You seem to have more snow than us in the North!
Lindsey Vonn is probably the best ever woman Alpine skier.
Her body is "broken" she says.
I was out for my paper and I showed the girls the photo I took of my "Hannah" book.

Good morning, Malone!
A great word, indeed!
It is in my vocabulary, too, though I use it infrequently!

Rusty, glad you like the word. I haven't heard it used for years.

Elle, I can cope - just - with being English for one day.

Hi, Rusty!
No, at an effective minus 3, the snow up in the park is not going to melt, either!
In fact, what has already fallen is fast becoming very hard and crunchy underfoot.
Nice still at this stage , but not so, once it becomes dangerously slippy.
Speaking of skiing, my friend in Calgary is off on a ski trip.
She says her local temp is minus 14 today, but will be minus 26 tomorrow!
Did the Asda girls like your photos?
I had thought you were going to take the book itself to show to them?

Hello, Elle!
Crunchy snow here, too.
Now, I had the impression that one of the girls was off until Tuesday and was going to bring the book then, but....she was working today and I had my 'phone (with photos of the book) with me, so took the opportunity to show them.
They all work different shifts and I can't keep up with them!
Good puzzle today.
23d is new to me.
And fingers crossed I have 14d correct.
I think it is a plural, d'you think?

Update, Elle.
14d is a plural.
Can be spelled two ways according to Collins.

Hi, Rusty!
We have had a power cut!
My computer went down...and I have had the Devil's own job reinstating it!
Yes, a nice puzzle ...but then the Saturday one usually is, I find.
Always far easier than a daily crossword!
For 14d, I have "culs - de - sac" = "dead ends" (def)
cu - copper
LSD - drug
case (reversed) - affair
Interestingly, yes, our new Collins gives the plural of "cul- de- sac" as both "culs-de -sac" and "cul de sacs", but my 13th edition of Chambers offers no plural form at all!
I cannot lay hands on my French dictionary to check!

Hello, Elle!
What caused the power cut?
Snow?
Well, my French is very much limited to cycling terminology but I thought that "culs-de-sac" looked the better option and fitted the parse.
I have not seen the plural used before, though.
I like the Collins Dictionary.
I give it more use than Chambers now, I think.

Hi, Rusty!
I have no idea what caused the power cut.
It is not snowing in our immediate vicinity, anyway.
But it had gone very dark...and so we had switched on the lights....
I was reading, when suddenly the lights started flashing rapidly...... and so did the computer screen......
Then everything electrical switched off!
The "cut" didn't last long...and all appliances except the computer appeared fine afterwards.
But it took an age to get the computer back on track.
Touch wood, all seems well now though!
Yes, I like the Collins..... it is set out more clearly than the Chambers, and it is easier to find what one wants.

Hi Elle and Rusty!

Thought I would pop in and say "hello", which I have not done for
a long time.

First, let me confirm that, in French, Cul-de-sac does make its plural
as 'culs-de-sac' .

Hope your power cut did not do any other damage as yet undiscovered Elle!

I too like Collins dictionaries and have always done so - all my
bilingual dictionaries are also Collins, and one is in two volumes -
one English/French, the other French/English. I used them a lot
when doing translation work.

It has been, and still is, dismal here! First the weather is dull and
miserable, not too cold nor really mild, but constant grey sky which
brings my moral to sub-zero! and then my friend left last Tuesday
and after almost 5 weeks of his presence in the house, I feel rather
lonely - he was always busy doing something or other and we
certainly were not in the same room all the time, but I knew there
was someone else in the house, and of course the evening meal
was much more pleasant! Anyway, he shall return sometime in
March, perhaps mid to end of the month.

What have you both been up to? Anything exciting?
Hope the snow has not created problems for either of you?

Good evening, Pigale!
Nice to hear from you!
I had not seen "culs-de-sac" before, but I thought it looked right.
Collins is an excellent dictionary, and the one I bought was an excellent price and in practically new condition.
I have always been a Chambers man, but Collins is every bit as good.
There is snow lying here and minus 4C outside tonight.
Yes, you will miss having your friend there.
Hope your aches and pains are easing?