The big freeze

After a comparatively mild Christmas and New Year period, the thermometer took a sudden nose-dive.  We had snow on Monday, although only about an inch or so, but a lot more fell yesterday and I spent most of the morning looking out of the window at the white-out developing.  Predictably it caused the usual travel chaos, and I learned at lunch-time that my Italian class this week had been cancelled.  I don't really have any clear recollections of the famous last great freeze of 1963 except that I was at school: we at the time only lived just round the corner so I didn't have any great difficulty getting there and I don't remember that we had classes cancelled or impromptu days off - although I do have a dim recollection of makeshift timetables for a while.  I'm sure we were all hardier and made of sterner stuff in those days!  This morning I swept the path clear despite a forecast of more snow later in the day, which in the event didn't materialize, although I see there is likely to be some tomorrow.  Well, I know someone who's going to be pleased.... Woof!   

That was the week year that was

Christmas has come and gone. I did my customary Santa act on Christmas morning with the obligatory stocking! Raggs is working her way through the treats as fast as we'll let her, which to her way of thinking is s-l-o-w-l-y! She ran round excitedly with the little white snowman-thingy before losing it on Boxing Day, probably under the bed or somwhere. The red squeaky cracker has so far survived, and she retrieves it from wherever she's temporarily hidden it to have a little game every now and then.

The remaining snow thawed during the week, leaving a damp misty trail behind it to mark the end of 2010. For all its ups and downs, it's turned out better than at one stage I thought it was going to - perhaps proving the truth of the old adage that you have to experience a few upsets and moments of despair before you fully appreciate your good fortune in life. With that in mind I might even make a few New Years' Resolutions. I always used to, but I suppose like most people I never kept them - though that's hardly a good reason for not even bothering to make the effort. So, with about five-and-a-half hours left to go of the old year, I'll perhaps see what I can come up with?

White Christmas?

After a bout of bitterly cold weather including an inch or two of snow last weekend, the prospect of a white Christmas now seems unlikely (if you judge that as getting fresh snow on Christmas Day, that is). Compared to some people we've had it relatively easy here: deliveries have still been getting through and I did all the Christmas shopping easily enough without feeling the need to stockpile bread or milk. I remember that although they didn't bulk-buy as such, my parents always used to keep a stash of tinned food in the house as well as things like toilet rolls. In the days before freezers were a common item of domestic equipment, it was a sensible precaution I suppose to make sure that if we got snowed in, we wouldn't starve!

Raggs as usual has been delighted with the blanket of snow to snuffle around in: it's been slow to melt off the garden and it's fast turning to ice instead, making it decidedly slippery underfoot. For the second winter in a row she's getting quite used to it, in contrast to all those people who seem reluctant to adapt to the reality that if it's likely to snow, then a certain degree of preparedness might be in order! All the same, while I can just wrap up warm with my knee-high winter boots, I can afford a certain element of smugness by virtue of the fact I don't have to trudge off to work in it any longer. If I did, then I'd no doubt be moaning about it like all the other hapless commuters.


Enough of that. With my little tree on the window sill, and a plate of sausage rolls to nibble at, I'm all ready for the "big day". Coincidentally, this is my 100th blog post, although it wasn't my deliberate intention to mark the occasion, as it were. Anyway.... Happy Christmas!

The brass monkey is back

After a slow thaw of sorts at the weekend, hard overnight frosts and a brief flurry of snow have left it feeling as cold as ever tonight. Raggs thinks it's absolutely wonderful even though there's not *yet* quite enough to roll around in properly. It's already looking set to eclipse last year's cold snowy winter, having started somewhat earlier, though fortunately it's still easy enough to get around in - nothing like the infamous winter of 1962-63 (for those of us old enough to remember it!)

And with that particular point in mind, I do wish those pundits on TV who are referring to the current snowy conditions as "unprecedented" would learn what word actually means before they use it!

So, sue me.

The snow's started early this winter. An Arctic cold spell had produced a light dusting by the time I woke up this morning, although we've only had just under half an inch compared to the heavy falls in Scotland and the North of England (after all, it's known as the "frozen North" for a reason!). Anyway, with my boots on and armed with a brush, I swept our path clear in a matter of a few minutes. It's a not a particularly steep slope up to our house, but the path is on an incline which makes it tricky to negotiate when it's icy.

I remember when we first moved in, everyone would be out doing the same, almost vying with each other to see who could clear their bit of the street first. Nowadays, we don't seem to bother overmuch, and certainly when I popped out to the shops just after nine, none of the shopkeepers had swept their entrances clear - partly down to the 'elf an' safety muppets who've decreed that it's a hazard to do so (in case anyone slips over on it!). I daresay that only half-doing it is arguably worse than not doing it at all, especially when the remaining snow gets packed into solid ice, but that shouldn't really be used as an excuse for just leaving it and moaning about how long the council take to come round with a gritter.

The forecast, I see, is for more of the same, so it looks like I shall get plenty of practice in!