Pause in the 24 day siege
Jan. 10th, 2010 01:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Thaw! Well as the subject line suggests more likely a temporary reprieve. Anyway, the icicles are gone, along with part of next door's guttering which has been brought down by snow sliding off their roof. This is what happens when you don't use proper slates; the ones they've got are too slippy and didn't hold the melting snow so it came off in one fell swoop. Mine is just melting. Hah!
Out to check the car which has been under its blanket of snow since a week past yesterday. Door opened first time and the snow swept easily off the windows. Tried the engine and it fired first time. What a good car!. It was 36F in the car, which is as warm as it has been for a fortnight. Managed to get it half unparked when it stuck so I did a bit of shovelling and then next door neighbour and downstairs son in law gave me a shove and I got out onto the estate road and thence to the actual road. This was single track largely due to the numbers of cars parked so that people can get to work.
So to Morrisons, which was relatively busy, for essentials likecigarettes dumpling mix and pizza. Shock horror, no dumpling mix to be had, but I didn't panic and bought self raising flour and vegetable suet to make my own. Pah! This will go well with the broth I have been defrosting since yesterday. Today will be some of the broth with sausage, onions, mushrooms and sliced potatoes baked in my casserole tin to form that miners' standby: panackelty (posh name Pan Haggerty), filling, warming and cheap.
Got back safely and was able to throw the car into its parking hole with a minimum of sliding and looking stupid. Jimmy (neighbour) took a broom to the remaining snow on the roof. There must have been a foot depth. It's a lot of years since we've had that much snow down without it melting. Now the wind has got up and a further 20cm are forecast for today and more especially tomorrow. With the wind, drifting is the major worry along with the lack of grit nationwide and the ice on the roads. The Army is on standby in Kent. Such wimps in the south of this country. Bah! Meanwhile, checking the BBC travel news pages for the local roads I see that vast areas of Cumbria are cut off. Doesn't count if you live in the north you see. One stretch that is closed to Kirkstone Pass is called The Struggle. I think that says it all really.
The sun is shining now and we have had no snow since yesterday morning so people have been able to clear drives and take dogs for walks. The wind means that the trees are now bare of the snow that has been stuck to them since New Year's Eve. It's always picturesque when the air is so still the snow lies where it falls. In that sense we have been lucky not to have had the wind because, with the amount of snow that has fallen, we would have been buried in 20 foot drifts like 1963. Actually, you only have to go back to 1980 for drifts of that proportion up here when cars were buried behind the school and ice was inches thick on the roads. I was trapped in Stanley for two weeks that year thanks to a Council workers strike leaving the roads untreated. Good times.
Also this morning I watched The Searchers, the best western ever made in my opinion. My favourite scenes all involve Ward Bond. John Ford made that film beautifully from the opening shot through the open door of the homestead to the closing one that bookends it with Wayne standing in the frame and then turning and walking away as the door closes. Just perfect and the song at the start always makes me cry. Lah!
Out to check the car which has been under its blanket of snow since a week past yesterday. Door opened first time and the snow swept easily off the windows. Tried the engine and it fired first time. What a good car!. It was 36F in the car, which is as warm as it has been for a fortnight. Managed to get it half unparked when it stuck so I did a bit of shovelling and then next door neighbour and downstairs son in law gave me a shove and I got out onto the estate road and thence to the actual road. This was single track largely due to the numbers of cars parked so that people can get to work.
So to Morrisons, which was relatively busy, for essentials like
Got back safely and was able to throw the car into its parking hole with a minimum of sliding and looking stupid. Jimmy (neighbour) took a broom to the remaining snow on the roof. There must have been a foot depth. It's a lot of years since we've had that much snow down without it melting. Now the wind has got up and a further 20cm are forecast for today and more especially tomorrow. With the wind, drifting is the major worry along with the lack of grit nationwide and the ice on the roads. The Army is on standby in Kent. Such wimps in the south of this country. Bah! Meanwhile, checking the BBC travel news pages for the local roads I see that vast areas of Cumbria are cut off. Doesn't count if you live in the north you see. One stretch that is closed to Kirkstone Pass is called The Struggle. I think that says it all really.
The sun is shining now and we have had no snow since yesterday morning so people have been able to clear drives and take dogs for walks. The wind means that the trees are now bare of the snow that has been stuck to them since New Year's Eve. It's always picturesque when the air is so still the snow lies where it falls. In that sense we have been lucky not to have had the wind because, with the amount of snow that has fallen, we would have been buried in 20 foot drifts like 1963. Actually, you only have to go back to 1980 for drifts of that proportion up here when cars were buried behind the school and ice was inches thick on the roads. I was trapped in Stanley for two weeks that year thanks to a Council workers strike leaving the roads untreated. Good times.
Also this morning I watched The Searchers, the best western ever made in my opinion. My favourite scenes all involve Ward Bond. John Ford made that film beautifully from the opening shot through the open door of the homestead to the closing one that bookends it with Wayne standing in the frame and then turning and walking away as the door closes. Just perfect and the song at the start always makes me cry. Lah!
(no subject)
Date: 2010-01-10 04:42 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-01-10 06:02 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-01-10 05:32 pm (UTC)Unfortunately we are set for heavy snow on Tuesday. Pah!
Glad you made it to the supermarket for all those essentials - dinner sounds YUM!
(no subject)
Date: 2010-01-10 06:04 pm (UTC)Sorry to hear of the forecast. They altered ours to less chance of snow and more chance of thaw. Yes please. Dinner - delish!
(no subject)
Date: 2010-01-10 05:42 pm (UTC)We actually got a bit of snow here-- nothing at all like what y'all have been dealing with-- but the inch of snow and ice on the ground was enough to shut us down here for a few days. We're supposed to finally go above the freezing mark on Thursday-- woo!!
Anyway, stay warm and enjoy the sunshine!!
(no subject)
Date: 2010-01-10 06:09 pm (UTC)