Winter Wonderland 3

Hi Rita, Lovely to hear from you - good luck with your attempt to reach the bank - but do hope you do us a little post later to let us know that you are safely home! I'm a 'cowardy custard' waiting until about 3pm to go to local post office (thankfully we do still have one) as I understand thats usually about the warmest time of day. We are now at 0', the ice has melted off my kitchen window, but still can't see through upstairs windows! And still not a single snowflake here! :cry: Good to hear from you again girl! Do keep in touch, love Van XX

Hi Rita,

Lovely to see you posting and to know that you are still doing okay.

Lots of snow here too but our trouble is not the amount but the fact it is impacted and frozen. My daughter has just had to call the garage to come and check her brake cables as her back wheels are frozen and won't turn. Don't ask me????!!!!!

I am hoping that the weather will get a wee bit warmer over the weekend so that I can breathe easily outside and the ice melts to make it safer to walk BUT I agree with everyone about how magical it all looks.

Hope you managed to complete your mission to the bank and that you got home safe and sound,

Love Ann xx

Hi Rita, Ann and Van

Hope you got out and safely back Rita. The temperature here today was -6. Brrr. As I have said before, lovely to look at but........................

Jacee

x

Well I've certainly learned a lesson. I live in one of the flattest places in the world and even the slightest gradient causes chaos when there's a bit of the 'white stuff' around. Yes, I got to the Bank and even decided that I'd make the most of my outing and have fish'chips at the local Morrisons cafe which was next door. Sounds great, aye? On the homeward journey the elf'n safety people had decided that the bus could not manage the very slight incline on the road towards my home and so I was unceremoniously chucked off. It could have been Mount Everest for me. I thought I was going to pass out. Couldn't get my breath at all, and of course ended up breathing in all that icy air in great gulps. I had to keep stopping to get my breath, very embarrassing, but hoped that those motorists crawling past thought I was stopping to admire the view.

I've had 3 days indoors and was going stir crazy, but I shall have to learn to adjust, after all, they say that this is going to last until at least Christmas! :o :o

Hope that you've all been more sensible than I

Hi Rita,

How b***dy disgraceful that you were turfed off the :bus: ! It made me feel very angry on your behalf. :steam: I think I would either have refused point blank or broken down and sobbed at the thought of having to walk - and uphill - and in this weather. :blue:

How come Siberia, Finland, Iceland, Norway, etc, etc, carry on during an ice age every year and we splutter to a standstill if we get 5\" of the wrong snow?

Lesson learned? Unsure how we can guard against this happening other than just staying in all of the time. Taxi's are expensive and friends not always available to pick us up. Will need to think it through.

Meanwhile....well done you for getting home. And don't worry, of COURSE all the motorists thought you were admiring the view! :!:

Jacee

xx

Metermaid, I think I passed you - Short of breath? No, I was covinced that you were looking at the beautiful vista around you.

:wink:

:choc: fa

I did have a little of the Garbo \"I want to be alone\" look about me didn't I?

It's a beautiful sunny day here today and we're going to have a go at clearing the 4ft of snow off the drive. I've got two sons: one of them has metal plates in his arm following a motor accident several years ago and the other one had a spinal operation for a slipped disc just last year. It's the slipped disc one who insists on having a go. I was on the verge of phoning (and paying) someone to do it and wish that this younger son would let me as I'm worried about his back. What a state we are all in.

Just as an aside here, does anyone else have one of those condensing boilers? Mine is in the garage and during this cold weather, it's on 24hrs a day. Apparently this is programmed into the boiler in order to protect it from frost. I've been awake half the night, throwing the duvet off because of the heat! It's no good turning the thermostat off/down as the boiler over-rides everything! So, despite the promotion of this type of boiler as being more efficient, it is actually going to cost a lot more to keep it running during the night when it would normally be quietly resting and waiting for its wake-up call at 6.30am

Hi Metermaid/Garbo,

How did your snow clearing go? We have also had quite a mild day and quite a big thaw, though there is still snow it is nowhere near as deep as you had it. :brr: I hope your sons were able to do the work without damaging themselves? Good on them for wanting to try it though.

I also have a condensing boiler, and whilst it was explained to me how it worked (something about condensing the steam that is produced in heating the water so that none of the heat is wasted) and how this is much better for the environment :mrgreen: I have no idea how that works in practice. I do seem to remember that things are pre-set though. I have mine on 24/7 anyway. My family think I am secretly trying to cook them and are often found having a sneaky hang out of the window to cool down. They say that is one reason why they are still smoking - so that they can go out into fresh (?) air every few hours. I just find that the less I can move the more I need the heat. Anyway, does this prove I am \"cool\" and \"chilled\"?

Jacee

xx

Well, the job isn't finished - far too much to do in a day, so one of them has a day of leave tomorrow and is going to finish it on his own. The snow is stacked at either side of the drive, making walls about 5ft high and I rather like these new temporary walls. It's been decided that tomorrow Paul will finish it off with a hot water brine mix to get rid of the last of the ice, then a top dressing of rock salt which is for sale at the local garage. In the meantime, I've been warned that should it snow during the night, I must be out there sweeping fast and furiously to keep it at bay :shock: :!:

I did nothing today, other than make a traditional Sunday dinner but I'm worn out and glad to see the back of them. Their exhuberance wears me out. Why do the young people seem to shout at each other rather than holding a normal conversation?

I forgot! That bl**dy boiler!!! How on earth can it be cheaper to run when my normal Winter programme is from 6.30am until 10.30pm. These times are now a work of fiction, as the boiler is on constantly - just to keep itself in good order. My last boiler (28yrs old) did as it was told and didn't explode or freeze up once!