Tag Archives: snow

Change is Easy, Improvement is Hard

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We had vegetable soup last night. Those of you who are familiar with my methods won’t be surprised by this, as we had vegetable stew the night before. The difference is a couple of minutes with a hand blender. As usual, I got the quantities slightly wrong and it looks like we will be having soup for lunch too. However, there are worse things.

Biscuits – slightly overcooked and slightly too festive for my tastes

The snow is still here, as are the low temperatures. I am sitting here typing in multiple layers of clothing, wishing I’d made a different choice of home thirty six years ago. It was only ever meant to be a temporary stop on the housing ladder, but somehow it became permanent. We could, I admit, have found better built houses with more facilities in better areas, but it was hard to find one that improved in all areas, and which had decent schools, good transport links and good local shops.

That’s life, I suppose. It was too good to improve on and not good enough to feel settled.

Grantham Gingerbread

It’s a bit like the new place. The house is better, the heating and garden are great improvements, but it can be busy and noisy when the steam railway or parkrun is on, the chip shop is not as good and, in general, the local facilities  aren’t quite as good. Plus the neighbours are a bit posh. Some of them have electric BMWs and a number of the women look like they need regular maintenance from nail bars and bleach bottles.  I expect that we will become known as the odd couple at the end of the row. My ten year old VW with the bent wing and odd mirror is already quite distinctive amongst the shiny new cars on the rest of the street.

However, even if I won the lottery I wouldn’t change. I’d add an extension to the bungalow so we could access the garage without going outside and I’d probably have the wing fixed on the VW, but apart from that I have everything I need. You’d never believe that I used to be hard-working and ambitious, would you?

Gingerbread Men

When I move I am going to start baking again.

Time to Hibernate

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The Beast from the East – Nottingham

As last night’s forecast firmed up it became clear that Nottingham was going to get some of the threatened wintry weather, but even as it fell we were told it was sleet. It wasn’t, it was snow. The advantage of sleet is that it doesn’t stay. Snow stays. Then, if it doesn’t thaw, it freezes. On our street we don’t see much sun in winter and that ice can stay for days. The temperature is just hovering a whisker above freezing at the moment and nothing is thawing.

It is nothing like the snow experienced by many of my readers, but as a nation we generally have so little snow that we are never properly prepared.

Buses have been cancelled locally and schools across Nottingham are closed (though it is very patchy and many remain open). I suspect this is more to do with where the staff live, rather than the conditions round the schools. There’s no point opening a school if you have no staff.

Snow in Sherwood – though not much

Julia did some shopping yesterday so we have plenty of food, despite running stocks down for the move. I say “running stocks down” but as long as we can do without bread and milk I think we probably still have enough for two weeks. When we get our new freezer at the bungalow I intend freezing bread, so even that won’t be a problem. I may get some long-life milk too, or look into freezing milk.

In fact, I just did look up freezing milk. You can do it, but it may separate, and can only be frozen for a month. It’s easier just to buy long life milk and put up with complaints about the flavour. Personally I don’t mind it, but I know some people do.

The header picture is one Julia took from the front window at 9am. Other pictures are from past years.

Snowy Detail

Still No Snow

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It looks like we’ve dodged it for the time being. It isn’t even raining at the moment, though it is grey, damp and cold. No, not as cold as those of you who live in Canada and the northern US, or many other places. I watch Aussie Gold Hunters and am constantly amazed at the amount of snow I see on that. Actually, I’m amazed to see any. Australia in my mind is a desert surrounded by beaches. It’s beyond me why anyone would live in a bit where it snows. If it happened to me I would load up the car and drive somewhere warmer.

The main anecdote of the day. A mother and son with limited English entered the shop. It got off to a bad start because we were (a) busy and (b) working to a deadline. They didn’t have an appointment and they left the front door open.

Silver Britannia coin

Then they took a load of rammel out of a bag and heaped it up on the counter, wanting us to bid on it. Even from several yards away I could tell that the cameo was plastic – shells don’t come in bright red – and plastic is not usually mounted in gold. The ones in the link are exceptional – a normal average cameo brooch is more like £75 – £100. Sometimes, though, it’s nice to look at a bit of quality.

They actually had nothing we wanted to buy, a most of it was either base metal, fake or very low value. Eventually the mother pulled her ear ring out – it had a coin mounted on it and was bent and worn. It was probably also a jeweller’s copy and they are generally 9 carat gold copies of 22 carat originals. It definitely wasn’t a collectable coin.

I suppose I should have admired their enterprise, but instead I felt resentful that they stole half an hour from us. It’s probably time I retired . . .

Silver Britannia coin

Fried Rice Leftovers

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Rice, people say, is dangerous to eat as leftovers. Fortunately I had been eating it for years without being ill, so when I was told about it I already knew it was perfectly safe. All you have to do is cool it and store it in the fridge after cooking. That’s what you should do with everything, apart from the parts of a rocket. That’s because it’s not rocket science. (Add a couple of drum beats and a clash of cymbals after the punchline.) There is no advice on what to do when your kitchen is colder than the fridge, as mine often is in winter, but I’m pretty sure all options are safe at that temperature.

I’m going to look foolish if I’m suddenly seized by a bout of intestinal Armageddon (which could start in as little as 30 minutes according to the NHS website) but I will at least look thinner by the end of it, so it’s a risk I’m willing to take. Think of it as salmonella chic, rather than pale and haggard. It’s actually Bacillus Cereus rather than Salmonella but Salmonella fits better.  One of it’s side effects, according to an article I just read, is death. This is a bit strange, as I’ve never seen death listed as a side effect before. It’s usually considered to be quite serious.

Magpie in the snow

I’ve been away with the fairies this afternoon – starting with a search for the Sitwell family and continuing with Nancy Cunard and Edward Tennant, amongst others – a fine bunch of people to pass an afternoon with.

I always wonder why some people listed as war poets are on the memorial in Westminster Abbey and some aren’t. It seems unkind, after all they went through, to suggest the quality of the poetry might be the reason, particularly as some of the poets on the memorial wrote a few clunkers. I’m particularly thinking of Rupert Brooke, who is not a favourite of mine, but there are others. Here is a selection from Tennant, who is not on the memorial. He was quite clearly a brave and efficient soldier but I’m not convinced by the poetry.

Later, I slept whilst sitting at the computer and was wakened when my leg started to make a ringing sound. It was Julia ringing to tell tell me she was on her way home. She came home with hamburgers, which was nice. As a result we had soup for tea as I have to keep my calories down. It’s hard work losing weight when your wife is determined to feed you up.

Snowdrops at Ruddington

I thought I’d put some snow pictures in, as we move ever closer to the threatened February snow. We often have our worst winter weather in February so I’m not sure why snow in February is news. The December snow never arrived. Nor has the January snow, so far. I’ll be happy to avoid it in February too, as I’m happier to see it on TV than on the ground.

Snow and Disappointment

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I’ve just written 600 words about why world politics stink and why I should stop watching the news. I’m not stupid enough to publish it as this is not a serious blog, but I’ve got it out of my system and feel able to start blogging properly again.

Offer me the right money and I will write anything you want. With this sort of cash behind me I won’t mind becoming embroiled in political arguments.

Boots in the snow

Meanwhile, I have snow to worry about. The weather forecast promised me several frost-free days with no need to cover my car windscreen overnight. This is good, as I haven’t liked our frosty mornings recently – it’s a nuisance to defrost the car and our road, rarely seeing sun in the winter, tends to polish up like a skating rink in frosty conditions.

At three this morning, up and about and heading to the bathroom, I noticed that the night seemed quiet and the world seemed rather light. Peering round the bathroom blind i found, to my surprise, that it had snowed. The day has failed to provide the promised temperatures above freezing and everything is much the same as it was at 3am.

Magpie in the snow

The weather forecasting in this country really is getting worse, and it isn’t because of lack of funding or government ineptitude,  it’s because we have so many people doing it – the BBC for instance, recently moved away from using the Met Office and uses a private company. Bad move, I reckon. We are moving away from science into opinion. The BBC saves several million to make TV, but that goes nowhere when you see the costs, and I end up badly misinformed about the weather. I don’t expect much from politicians, but it feels really bad to be let down by the BBC.

Snow in Sherwood – though not much

Snow, Swans, Superglue

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In the end, the snow settled, even if it was a bit wet and half-hearted. It was less evident by the time I arrived at work (it’s always less snowy at that side of town) and by the time we closed it was a bright sunny day with no snow. We do, unsurprisingly, have a touch of snow remaining round the house – shade and a northern aspect hindering the thaw.

I saw two swans flying over on the way to work this morning, and, on he way back from work, saw a cormorant flying over. Judging from its direction of flight it was aiming for the lakes at the Jubilee Campus. I suspect the fish are growing to a decent size as the lakes become more mature.

Did I mention I got some pension documents through the post earlier in the week? I had some more today. Retirement, which had been seeming quite distant, is now a lot closer. Part of this is that although I have over a year until I retire, my work pension is available in a few months. This is what happens when the government tinkers with systems. In the next few months I will be making some important decisions.

One plan I am considering is gathering all my cash together and sticking it all on red for a single spin of the roulette wheel. If it goes well I will have a more comfortable old age. If it comes up black I’m in deep trouble.

After yesterday’s post we had one of those married couple discussions. We have agreed to add superglue to the list of things I am not allowed to handle unless under supervision. If she reads this I’ll probably find that roulette tables have been added too.

Day 90

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It snowed this morning. The first snow of the year, and only the second lot of the winter. It lasted a minute. The rest of the day was taken up with a mixture of sunshine and precipitation – rain, hail, snow, sleet and graupel. It was the sort of day that a snow connoisseur would love, so many types, falling long enough to show itself off, but failing to settle.

If I say that was the exciting part of the day, you will probably get the general idea that the rest of the day generated little worth writing about. We didn’t have  a single customer enter the shop to buy or sell, and when we started, only had one customer on eBay. That developed during the day  and we sold several more items and had a number of emails asking question.

The Prize Question of the day was “Will you take £1,000 for this?” It was a modern set of silver medallions and is priced at £2,995. We thanked the offeree and said we were unable to accept his offer. I checked online but can’t find any trace of National Wind Up a Coin Dealer Day or International Stupid Question Week.

They say there’s no such thing as a stupid question, but I disagree.

Narcissi

Spring in the Mencap Garden

Another customer, from Brazil, has been pestering us about postage costs to Brazil. He wants us to post him something at les than it will cost us to post and keeps telling us that he buys a lot of coins from British dealers with that sort of postage. It’s been going on for several days with him sending us screenshots of people who charge less postage to Brazil than we do. At least half our parcels to Brazil end up with claims that they were lost, or with Brazilian customs sending them back for unknown reasons, so we aren’t that bothered if he doesn’t buy the coin.

That was one of the first lessons I learnt in selling, apart from the ones about honesty and punctuality, some business just isn’t worth having, so move on. It seems counter-intuitive, but it’s true.

Daffodils at the Mencap Gardens

 

A Tour Around the Internet

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February has a habit of catching me out. Spring starts to drop hints, the birds begin to act amorously and then it snows. Even in years that are generally free of snow February often manages to squeeze out a few flakes. As I’ve said before, it probably wouldn’t be considered snow in many countries that get proper snow, but in the UK a couple of inches for a couple of days brings us to a halt.

It’s a bit like those summer heatwaves we have – we don’t get one every year and they only last a couple of days. We all complain and need a lie down in temperatures that would be considered mild in Australia.

As a result, we have few snowploughs and no domestic air conditioning.

However, that doesn’t stop me complaining that it’s unseasonably nippy this morning. Nor does it stop me becoming a stereotype, British and talking about the weather. Whatever next? I’ll be on to Europe, immigration and capital punishment next.

Talking of which, I’ve just been looking at Albania on Wikipedia. I find that it is a member of two organisations I had not previously heard of – the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation and Union for the Mediterranean. I didn’t even realise it was on the Black Sea. And when I check it up, it isn’t. Quite a few of the members aren’t on the Black Sea, and when you check the “Observer Members” the link becomes even more tenuous – they include Egypt and Israel (which must make for some fun meetings), France, Poland, Tunisia and the United States.

It’s much the same with the Union for the Mediterranean, but the entire EU is in that one – even Ireland, which it’s notably lacking in olive groves and sparkling blue seas. It seems, from reading the Wiki entry, that this is not a particularly effective organisation. One meeting ground to a halt when nobody could agree whether to refer to certain territories as  “occupied” or “under occupation”.  Such is life as an international diplomat.

It’s a good thing I don’t blog about politics or I might be tempted into sarcasm.

There is, it seems, tension between the EU and some of the less progressive states over Human Rights. This led me to checking which countries still executed homosexuals, and then to checking where the UK stood on this.   We last executed men for homosexual activity in 1835. Times and sensibilities were different then, but it was a surprise to find it was so recent.

So there you are, a discussion on the weather followed by world politics and capital punishment for something which isn’t actually a crime in the UK. Only on the internet…

 

An Excellent Apple Crumble and an Amusing Book

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Today started reasonably well and has ended up not being too bad.

That’s probably not the most inspiring opening, but it’s a fair summary. I have managed to get another submission done, have polished up a few bits for another one, tries writing a new form and still had time to cook.

We had shop-bought fishcakes tonight, with roasted cauliflower and cheese sauce (using the remains of the cheese sauce from yesterday’s Welsh Rarebit), potato wedges and sweetcorn. It was tasty, reasonably nutritious, and beige. I didn’t photograph it because the light golden brown fishcakes were the most colourful bit. The sweetcorn had faded to magnolia (it was half a tin left over from the fish pie), the cauli was off white and the sauce was made with white cheese and Dijon mustard, so was light beige.  It would not have looked good on film.

After that we had apple crumble, which is basically a beige topping on a magnolia base. Again, tasty but uninspiring in a photographic sense.

Apart from that, it snowed. Several times. There wasn’t much but as it fell on frozen snow we could have done without it.

I’m sure other things happened in between, but I’m having trouble recalling them. All I want is another 41 words and I can sign this off and go to bed. Then, later in the week, I can have  another blood test. The amount they have been tapping off recently you’d think I was made of the stuff.

Number One Son bought me a book club subscription for Christmas and the first one just arrived – The Diary of a Nobody. If I believed in fate anything like that, I’d think this was a message from a higher power. I am reading a chapter a night and picking up a few tips on diary writing as I go along.

 

 

Writing for a Future Reader

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It snowed, I wrote, it melted. I cooked two meals, Julia returned. We had bacon hotpot for tea, she said it was salty. The night grew frosty then it snowed again. I watched TV, fell asleep, woke up, made sandwiches and, in the early hours, decided it was time to blog. It will be one of those dull blogs written with a future reader in mind and full of dreary detail about lockdown.

There is something wrong with my routine. I am now in a rut – falling asleep in the evening so I am not sleepy at night. I then work into the early hours, have trouble waking, and feel tired during the day.

It is, as a result, difficult to say whether my lack of inspiration in the last week has been due to being tired, or being uninspired.

Julia has still not had the promised test kit from work and I am not working tomorrow because we don’t know whether she is asymptomatic or just healthy. It is an annoying situation, as I am trying to do the right thing but am stuck in limbo. If she’s clear I’m clear. If she’s positive I’m in isolation for 14 days. Or, if I fly in from abroad, I can self-quarantine for 10 days. Not quite sure why the two things are different.

I just looked at the rules. She has been in close contact with someone with Covid so should be in quarantine, but is being told by work that she should keep going in and test. I have not been in contact with anyone with Covid (in the absence of a test) and  don’t have to quarantine. But if I go to work I will come into close contact with someone who has a health condition and two people who have responsibilities caring for elderly relatives. I don’t want to be responsible for spreading it to the parents of other people after what happened to my father.

It’s an annoying situation to be in. However, it’s not appropriate to discuss my views on the way people are managing this, as I may be rude about people who can’t defend themselves.

Unfortunately, her contact came both before and after her vaccination, so it has had no time to work yet. Full protection takes two weeks.

I have been looking at private tests but there are several different tests available and several different prices. One was offered locally but they didn’t name a price. I can, however, have liposuction at the same place. There are at least two different tests and prices range from £65 to £135.

We can’t get NHS tests because we have no symptoms and, according to the website will be taking a test away from somebody who really needs it (we still have limited testing capacity, it seems).

Sorry, it’s a dull post, but in years to come I like to think it will be  an interesting historical document. I keep having visions of  a future PhD student basing a stellar thesis on my lockdown ramblings.. OK, maybe “interesting” was the wrong word – let’s try useful.

I’m off to bed now. I will review and publish this in the morning.