Snow!

 

 

The horrible reality of winter arrived this morning.  I rose from a warm bed to find a cold floor inside and snow inches thick outside.  Snow, horrible, cold, dangerous stuff is not what I want at 7:40 in the morning!  I at once complained to the council and demanded it be stopped, cleared away and replaced by Spring sunshine.  I have to say that the man on the other end was somewhat unhelpful in my eyes.  Having no need to leave the house I was satisfied enough that others would be 'enjoying' the event, although I suspect the postman and all those delivery dfrivers that ring my bell to deliver to my neighbour will not be one of them...

Looking at the stuff falling cheerily from the gray skies above I considered upping to Portugal for the warmth.  It was then I remembered watching Portugese football the other day and the rain was pouring down!  Portugal is on the Atlantic also!  I mean it may be the 'Bay of Biscay' or some such but the effect is the same.  At least the rain is warmer there.  They chances of such luck are fading fast so I remain here, feet stuck under the radiator, awaiting Spring.

 

Scots Parliament

 

The Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament, one Ken MacIntosh, has announced that the proposed 5.1% increase on MSPs salaries does not go ahead.  With the struggling economic position of so many in the country and with the added problem of Covid, he tactfully omitted to say 'Brexit next,' it was felt that such an increase would be 'inappropriate.'  MSPs are paid £64000 or so a year and that incudes last years 1.4% increase.  Cabinet ministers, paid more, have had their salary frozen since 2008/9.  We await the situation with the £3000 a year MPs in Westminster have been awarded and have yet to accept or reject.  Some Bookies will make a mint on that decision!

 

 

Spring is on the Way!

You can tell Spring is on the way, Snowdrops and Daffodils begun to sprout, Bluebells appear and snow lies on the ground for an hour or so bring the entire locality to a halt.  The rain welcomed us today, soon to be followed by thick lumps of wet snow drifting down casually and for a short time leaving a thin white layer on the ground.
I remained indoors.

As is normal, with the snow littering the ground the clouds disappear and soon the sun comes out.  It is indeed Spring.  Therefore, I am able to cross the park and dump a brown envelope into the council offices.  I don't know about you but each time a brown envelope comes through the door fear rises within me.  Even if it is good news it also means lots of figures to be worked out, possibly forms to fill in, sometimes a rebuke, sometimes a mistake, sometimes lots of money.  This, I must say, is rare. 
I wonder who dropped the OHMS from such envelopes and replaced it with DWP?  It happened a long time ago but the second class remains the normal fare I note.  For reasons of keeping people in employment all such mailings come from Belfast.  The poor postman there must have a huge sack of incoming and outgoing mail to collect.  I hope he has a strong bike. 

I see Boris is playing games with the EU again.  "Do what we want or we walk away."  I know what the EU will say to that.  A 'No Deal' Brexit is what he has been told to go for and that is what is coming, or is it Cummings?  The futures bright, It's in Boris's capable hands!  
Begin hysterical laughter now...

Tuesday Lack of any Other Heading.

BBC

I suppose we ought not be surprised that politicians, including Prime Ministers and Party Leaders, police and the CPS have covered up the sexual abuse by politicians in the House.  This is the normal way for most organisations.  The BBC covered up Jimmy Saville, the BBC and the people who earned large wages together forgot to mention similar activities in case they lost their jobs, cash and credibility.  Banks, civil servants, churches and any large organisation found it easier to keep the dirt quiet rather than blacken their good name by offering up the deviant for prosecution.  Is it any wonder people believed a deviant sex ring was to be found in the house?  Clearly there are still many there with such ambitions or desires, will their name leak out?  Will the police hide the facts, especially if it is a senior member?  Well yes, of course!
The kids don't matter, and anyway they might wish to be paid off!

 SKY NEWS

Expect lots of news stories re snow, traffic problems, train delays and general mayhem in the next few days.  It might snow in the south of England!  
This is a disaster that the world must know about, the floods still flowing 'up north,' through Wales and leaving government environment individuals muttering about such areas 'may be abandoned' will not get much coverage, what counts is 'US,' the media people, the politicians, the folk who matter, 'US' here in the south east!  London matters, the rest of the country is there to support London and Londoners and where they choose to reside.  Snow here can be dangerous, irritating, hinder the lives of the important but will still not see Boris Johnson emerge to state his opinion on the matter.  He has 'more important' things to consider.  
Anyway, Dominic will not let him out. 

B&W Times

PANIC!
Someone is thought to have the Chinese Flu. (we must not call it that in case China gets upset. I get upset at China burning churches, arresting Christians, forcing Muslims into prison slave labour and killing pets in case they pass on this virus (Animals cannot catch it) and yet we are to consider the Emperors feelings?)  The surgery, whether doctor or administrator I know not, closed at first thought of the virus was in the area, in the end it was declared safe, the patient did not have the Chinese virus, possibly just an English one?  
Clearly the virus is deadly, clearly authorities are correct in taking precautions, clearly we need to take care but I wonder if this is panic instead of responsible actions?  Just asking.

Snow

Late last night as I coughed and sneezed I read online that snow had arrived.  Sure enough from the kitchen window I had a good view of falling snow, snow thick enough to begin to lie.  I had not noticed as falling snow is always quite unlike rain that likes to patter or beat against the window.  The field opposite began to gather the horrid stuff and I was not too keen.  I suspect drivers were not too keen either as around here are lots of back roads that get ignored while the main drives are kept open.  The dips and bends gather snow and frozen water which make life hazardous.  I suspect few cyclists will be ought late last night.

This morning most had withered away.  The fields retained a covering of white and areas of the roads and pavements had white frosted parts with some frozen water in the many dips in the car park as I passed.  I passed at a few minutes past seven this morning desperate to get in and out as quick as possible!  I was in no mood for the crowds that come later on a Wednesday but the fridge was empty and eating is a requirement I am loath to miss.  So in spite of temperatures below zero and noting few others out as yet I hurried up, grabbed a basketful of needed grub and hurried back in to enjoy the Man Flu before anyone noticed me.  Sadly I was too early to buy whisky as the law says wait until 8 am, even if it is your breakfast!  I care not as I was just wanting enough for a couple of days.  Now I sit while the wee chicken slowly cooks behind me.  This was chosen as it saves thought and will last a day or two.  
Several friends have this cold also, a bug that goes on for weeks rather than days.  It has been making me tired for a week or two and those other sufferers were far from happy when they bore it. However this has happened to me so much in recent years I understand how it works however it is something I can do without.  This however will leave soon but others I know suffer extreme pain from infection on their metal hips or undiagnosed problems causing weakness and pain, I have it lucky really.

  

Only One Topic Sadly.

There is only one topic, others are less important when roads are blocked with snow.  I was wrong about the depth of the snow mind, I expected three or four inches and that is what we got here however the back roads to the south of the town have been filled by snow drifting off the fields and heaping up on the roads.  Council snowploughs and gritter lorries keep the main roads working.  But the back roads in many places impassable.  
Of course some on the M80 in Scotland, who should know better, ignored all warnings and got trapped overnight on the motorway.  Now they are complaining about the Scots government not doing enough to keep roads open but not blaming themselves for not carrying emergency supplies or indeed for setting out in spite of all warnings not to!  We are such selfish people we want everything we want and we want it now, if we don't get it it is someone else's fault!
You note I have little sympathy for them.
Here the museum like many other organisations has closed, schoolteachers as well as kids hide at home for the most part, mums are afraid it is too cold for wee johnny yet others drag the kids round the shops, people are desperate to fill the shelves today, and yet others fling snow at one another or sledge down hills.  I am not one of them!  I went to Tesco for bread yesterday, I naturally run out of everything yesterday and journeyed in a blizzard for stuff.  The blizzard ceased as I got hope and only now a day later has returned.  I think we are nearing the end of this 'Beast.'  
This does mean the football is up the spout of course.  Only one league game might go ahead tomorrow in Scotland though the cup games appear to be on.  It is not just the state of the pitches it is the roads round about, buses and trains cannot get through and teams cannot get to their destinations.  This after a mid term shut down in January which we all knew was a daft time to stop as snow always comes in February!  This time at least all suffer together rather than in dribs and drabs.
There is a bit of a fuss about the temperature.  These days we record this in Celsius which means the weather at the moment is recorded as minus two, however if we record in Fahrenheit the temperature is a mere 29 degrees which is much better to my way of thinking.  To reach Zero F we would see a recording of Minus 17 C and that would look good on the charts.  It is when the minus is Fahrenheit we need to worry I say, mind you with the wind chill it was probably  close to that as I walked down the slippery roads this morning.  In Siberia, you may wish to know, the kids do not get off school until it is Minus 37. Fahrenheit I believe.  Do you still consider it cold...?

The 'Beast.'

I awakened this morning to the sound of slow moving traffic, the sound deadened implying that the 'Beast from the East' had arrived.  Indeed three inches of snow has brought the nation to its knees!  Schools close, people 'work from home' whatever that means, and snowmen arise from back gardens here, there and everywhere.  
Only an idiot would venture out early in the morning to take pictures of snow similar to the snow seen in the past.  Therefore at 6:45 am this morning I, wearing the old Royal Mail boots I found under the bed, waiting until the council gardeners tractor with snow plough fitted raced by, I sauntered out Ernest Shackleton style across the park.

  
My hope that I was the first to cross in the snow was quickly disappointed, not only feet had trod this way before but some clot on a bike had cycled across heading for work and an accident somewhere along the road.  

Few others were seen, none spoke as I might be dangerous.  Quite how dangerous someone can be in three inches of snow early before seven in the morning does not strike me that clearly, though I can understand misery at that time people being unwilling to work on such a day.  Who can blame them?  I wonder if any postmen will arrive?  It is one thing to drive a van around the main roads but the back roads will not be cleared.  Those forced to push those barrows will be unwilling to go up the hills with them, difficult and dangerous I would say, so I suspect mail will be hindered understandably for a few days.

    
The town is covered in snow and I hear that London is also suffering.  This is good as it is about time they endured what the rest of the nation has to cope with.  If however it lies then a disaster will be called and troops will be out on the streets.  Poor Londoners.

I will do my bit for the nation while under this terrible blizzard, I will remain indoors drinking tea and laughing at those wandering abroad.  I suspect it will all have gone by tomorrow...

The snow having stopped I cleared the short path to our front door considering that if I didn't the snow underneath would harden in the icy night and become dangerous.  Naturally five minutes after I did so a passing thirty minute shower of heavy snow fell and covered it all again.  I suspect this will continue on and off all day.  I'm not doing it again....

The cheery weathermen, well the not so cheery lassie standing on the TV roof freezing to death, inform us there will be two more days of this stuff.  I might go out and panic buy a loaf of bread later. I wonder how they survive in Norway without difficulty as we strive valiantly against two or three days of the stuff every five or ten years or so?
Is it just me or am I the only person who suddenly wishes to eat ice cream...?

     
Maybe we ought to have a competition, who can come up with a better name than 'Beast from the East?'  I suppose the name originated in the tabloid media though some suggest it was in the Met Office itself,who knows?  However the people who name storms Suzanne or Geoff are well capable of such things I suggest.  Personally I would prefer 'Storm' or 'Gales' as to names on such things likewise 'Severe snowstorm' to 'Beast from the East.'  I would think those out in such weather may have their own name for such snowfall of course, none of which ought to be seen on here. 
How boring it is when there is little to say but "It snowed!"  Nothing else is happening, football is off because of snow, politics is off because of politicians, TV is off because of the programmes.  So I am off to finish lunch and go back to bed, it's warmer there...

 

The Family Shrinks.

Our family, just six of us when I was a lad, has shrunk in recent years.  First of all died died from cancer, too much smoking over fifty years in 1969 when I was too young and stupid to comprehend. Then to our shock some 15 or so years ago my sister also had one of these things but of a different order and she too left us. My ageing mother complained that my sister expected to look after her and not the other way around!  Then some eight years ago mum joined them leaving us three only.  
Now my brother, who managed to get bits cut out of him last year and was still rather shaky, has gone and died rather surprisingly to us early this morning.  His son managed to get him into hospital via an ambulance early in the day yesterday and spent a while frantically calling his sister, the one with the brains, who was working in Austria.  
This morning we were told my brother died, possibly in his sleep, and now we are left wondering about arrangements and what will happen to the family there.  The problem is my niece lives in London and while her brother lives at home (both are in their 30's) their mother has begin dementia of some kind and life in the house looks to be a difficult one as the son is not the wisest.  Just imagine me without the intellect!  Hopefully soon my niece will get things organised, then we shall see what we shall see. 
Of course when I imply only two of us are left I ignore the nieces, nephews and their kids also but you realise that.  There are plenty of them at Christmas time and all very capable of looking after themselves these days.  However it does me my sister and her 82 year old husband along with myself are the oldest and she is drawing lots to see who is next!  I have not indicated to her that I am not feeling very well... 

The 'Beast from the Eats,' surely a name coined by a tabloid hack, arrived today but most of us did not notice.  It was certainly cold and while some snow fell even lying for around an hour or so it soon faded.  Snow showers fell and while leaving  for the short trip back to the museum from Tesco I walked into one and looked like a Nannook of the north for a few minutes, I got no sympathy just grinning workmates.  
The sky is now blue edged with pink as the sun goes down behind the trees, one day it will get stuck on top of them.  The weather gets chillier, minus 4 (28 F) last night and my feet are turning to ice as I type but this is nothing to get excited about, especially as I will jump into my bed soon where it is warmer!  Jack Frost was on my window a wee bit last night but most of us can cope.  The kids managed to get themselves into Victorian costume and into school today without fuss and I don't think they cared about the possible snow one bit.

I have ignored the news for a while and feel it has done me a lot of good.  No arguments on comments pages, no stress from slanted news coverage, no worries caused by fretting re the snow on the roads/rails/schools etc which lead to screaming paper headlines and mean little in reality.
My brain is stimulated instead by the Radio iPlayer and programmes found thereon.   This is much better and puts the shambles of this government in perspective.

The 'Beast from the East' has not hindered the dying sun from lighting up the trees around here wonderfully.  I will look out my boots for tomorrow just in case it arrives a day late.

Panic!

Social media as well as other media is alive with warnings re the forthcoming snowstorm that will hit us tonight and tomorrow.  Panic is ensuing as police offer driving advice, weathermen gives constant updates and we are given the impression that a storm of untold magnitude will arrive.
It might offer three or four inches of snow.
Now I appreciate warnings as to such weather, I understand information from the police re roads, railways re services and other helpful news will enable life to continue in the difficulties but there is in my view a sense of needless panic in the air caused by this storm.
We have had them before, I grew up with them as they happen every year, usually around this time, yet we continued to live as normally as possible.  Schools closed then as now in spite of old folks grumbling that they never closed in the past, roads get slippy and blocked, trains services are delayed and within a day or two everything is back to normal.
It may well be this will be a week of snow and cold nights, minus 4 around here probably tonight, but most folks will survive and the world will slowly continue.  The panic, the warnings the neurosis which comes with every weather occurrence is however a new phenomena which reflects badly on a nation which is not able to cope with anything that upsets their equilibrium. Maybe we have as they say become soft and cannot cope, maybe we are just more obviously selfish than we once were as a nation.  After all we have long since dumped the 'all together for one another' attitude that saw people through two world wars and a depression or two, that created the NHS and organised the nation to work for the common good.  All that is gone and the self is the most important aspect for most people, politicians have a lot to answer for as have the media.
I must go out in this tomorrow, I suspect I will survive unless frostbite gets me...

Snow Sunday

The walk to and from St P's this morning was enlightened by snow which began as I went down the road and thickened happily as I made my way back via the green bits.  Now it lies thick and unsettles those poor car drivers who have to struggle around in it.  The traffic was queuing up as I came home but none offered me a lift of course.  Hard hearted lot!

I fear this man found it all a wee bit confusing. Rain and seawater he understood but snow was a puzzle to him.  He and his mate sat there staring into the distance looking askance at the snowfall.  I hope he is not still there as he might be covered by now. 

Why do we have seasons?  Why did the good Lord not even things out a bit so we had more warm days and no snow days at all?  Why do the weather patterns change?  Where I sit was where the last ice age stopped some 8ooo years BC and man and beast then followed the green stuff that arose after the ice left and settled down.  All that ice melted creating the North Sea and since then the world has continued with the four seasons and a wide variety of changeable weather.  The snow reminds me we were threatened with Global Warming not so very long ago, is this still a possibility?  
It appears remote today.  Weather patterns do change the Sahara contains rock carvings that reveal how the whole area was once covered in vegetation, including Hippos and Lions and so on, today it is somewhat more arid.  The Sahara still creeps south each year, slowly but surely, will it ever stop?
I am not one to complain but while I enjoyed the walk home I would find it irksome if I had this for months on end.  There again hot sun for months on end also would be too much also.  

   
I managed, after much struggle, to find the Heart of Midlothian Scottish cup tie against the wee Hibernian team and must say how much I enjoyed this.  Not only did we play all the football and win the game by one mere goal but the banter with Hibs fans afterwards was excellent, none of them speak to me now!  I have not enjoyed a game so much in years and was totally exhausted by the end.  Not long after half time I began to wonder if a defibrillator might be required!  Justice was done and the Heart of Midlothian remain the big team in Edinburgh, as we all know.  I didn't need to shout at the referee in anger either, that shows how well he ran the game, apart from siding with them too often of course.

Having been at church for an enjoyable service this morning and then in Tynecastle via the laptop with almost 20,000 others I feel lonely now.  This place appears so quiet with the occasional passing vehicle and raindrops bouncing around here and there sweeping away the snow and leaving puddles for the workers early tomorrow.  There is little on telly, other football appears tame in comparison, the radio is not worth listening to tonight and even the late night dog walkers are staying inside.
Silence is a strange thing after noise.

 
Only one brave soul, or possibly daft soul, crossed the park when I was here.  A young female looking for friends I suspect and finding no-one about soon returned from whence she came and disappeared into the blizzard.  No dog walkers were to be seen.

Warmest Year 2017 They Say...?

I glanced at an item in the paper the other day regarding statistics indicating 2017 had been the warmest year since whenever.  I thought of this as the man on TV informed me it would be snowing all day and winds up to 40 mph would bring that same snow through the cracks in my windows.  It was impossible to disagree with his forecast.  Today we reached a 'warmth' of one degree 'C' which must please people who normally live in Siberia, they would consider this tropical, we living in the outer reaches of soft southern England find it means a lot to us!  While I am told constantly I should be used to this having been brought up in a nation that is often 'colder than Moscow' it must be remembered that having been on this difficult mission field since 1975 I have become somewhat accustomed to the constant high temperatures that prevail, tomorrow they claim it will be 13C near this area, we await such high temperatures with expectancy.  Mind you I notice the setting sun has left a noticeable pinkness in the sky so maybe we need not be too expectant.

Snow Still

The fearsome snow that caused panic in all media and led to vocal attacks on gritter lorry men might be coming to an end.  As always the terror lasted a day or two and by tomorrow most snow will have evaporated, all will be forgotten by Friday.
Certainly it snowed again today, again this caused closed schools and shopping centres.  I informed the facebook lot that the local Freeport was open and when I got there desperate to see one specific shop found that today's snowfall, which had ceased by the time I arrived, had led to the closure of Freeport!  I was miffed!  This meant a trudge around the shops I trudged around on Saturday and there was nothing I wished for there.  This town has all the basics but nothing fancy apart from what the museum sells, and as I was buying for someone at the museum I could not use that.  Knackered and disappointed am I.
Tomorrow we will freeze, it will be minus 2 tonight, much colder up north, and I must trudge through sludge again tomorrow for the museum.  If the boiler fails we will be in big trouble.

It is becomng common these days for people, mostly women, to fill the media with pictures of themselves, 'selfies,' showing off their scars and boasting how this will not affect their 'confidence.' (Why are women and footballers the only ones with problems of 'confidence?')  Why are these women shoving their sickness down our throats?  Why are these self publicists allowed house room? Local and national papers appear full of people suffering a sickness, leg break, scar or whatever and demanding we pay them attention, why?
I sent many years in the NHS and have been treated several times as a patient and found no-one then interested in running to the media nor did I wish to do so myself.  Why then are these folks so often filling the pages?  Are their medical problems news?  Give it  a rest folks.

   

Snow and the World Ceases to Turn.

For a week now they have been threatening snow, this usually ends with a smattering of flakes similar to the other day, however this morning we awoke to a white landscape with large snowflakes happily floating down hour after hour.  
Naturally being Sunday many people remained indoors, I was one of them, but some have to be out and about and a few cars slowly slugged their way along the streets.  Before the snow began cold rain had fallen and the gritter lorries work was being washed away.  This meant the snow lay thus giving the moaning minnies an excuse to grumble that there were no gritter lorries on the roads.  
Any excuse for a moan and usually with no idea of how to operate a gritter service.  
Of course I don't have a car and don't need to go out.  

Having decided to remain closeted beside the heater I ventured to open the window sufficiently to photograph the effect of the snow on bare tree branches.  Apart from flurries in my face I took a few shots and returned about an hour later for more as the snow had thickened considerably in that time before beginning to thin out. 

Thick snow meant many were indoors however the tailwaggers of this world were not inclined to sit by the fire like a cat would, the park was full of people being pulled along by dogs of various sizes, tails wagging, the dogs not the people, while they chased across the park delighting in the new experience and meeting their mates doing the same thing.  Most dogs here appear to get on well. The owners, wrapped up like Nanook of the North,' followed obediently discussing hot Bovril and firesides. 

Also to be seen were several children who had not experienced such an event before.  It might be seven years since the last deep snow fall, I don't recall too much last year, and sleighs pulled by dad were enjoyed by many, but less so by dad who will now be grumbling about his bad back.   

After a while it calmed down so I opened the wee window for air and returned to my important lazing around on the laptop and after a while i heard a clattering noise.  At the window hang the bird feeders and a Robin had foolishly come through the small gap, deliberately small to stop this happening.  I think he might be youngish and not experienced enough to avoid such things but there he was above the, closed, big window.  

I tried gently to persuade him to venture towards the wee window but he remained determined to aim for the big one.  This is not easy to open or close and I wished him to follow orders, he would not.  Up on the curtains, on the wall, on books, papers and even when tired for a moment on my finger the scared and tired wee lad was constantly aiming for the high points and refusing to duck low and head for the wee window.  Several times he could see it, and by this time I drew the curtains on the big window to stop him, but he could not comprehend that was the way out.  Eventually I managed to get him trapped near the right window and forced him on to the windowsill.  His escape was clear, the window was open wide, the air was cold and what to do now?  He sat on the bar holding the window open and considered his options.  Possibly he realised it was warmer inside?

He flew off, glad to escape and with adrenalin pumping.

A wise woman claims he sat on the bar rather than fly off because he was male, could this be true?   

  

As always with a couple of inches of snow the roads are blocked, daft people crash cars, trains cease, runways are closed and the minnies moan about it in the usual fashion.  A similar but weaker day will follow tomorrow I hear, a working day and many will find the roads slippy early on.  I have food, heating, a laptop and the door firmly closed to notions of walking in snow.   

I feel sorry for the birds in this weather and rather wished Robin had settled down until it was clear to fly again, he would have been well fed.  However many birds sat through the storm, the starlings were constantly at the feeders today showing that few other options were open for them.  You can just make out a wood pigeon sitting towards the top of this picture facing to the east into the snow as it falls.  No hiding for the birds in this weather.

Soon of course it will be slush, then wet, floods here and there and more reason to grumble.
How often we faced this in Edinburgh?  Yet today there was frost up there and no snow whatsoever!  It is a disgrace that we get their snow, it belongs to them up north.  I watched the game at Airdrie on BBC ALBA and by six in the evening as the game finished the BBC weather claimed the temperature was minus four!  Colder than Moscow as the tabloids like to boast.  It is merely zero here now.

Light Snow

Light snow this morning, freezing cold night.  Snow has returned as we speak so I am wrapped up indoors watching poor English football on the laptop.  It is zero degrees at the moment but they claim that buy Wednesday it will be 10% here!   What has trump done to the weather????  I'm taking the laptop to bed...