A Rotten Swizz!

Good afternoon all.  I am writing this having a sofa day, with the central heating on, the log burner lit and a cup of hot Earl Grey.  For followers from the UK I don't need to say how ghastly the weather is.  I have one daughter snowed in at Cardiff (Centre of the Red Alert area yesterday) - she had to stay over with a friend last night and from the sound of things this morning, will probably be there again tonight and maybe Saturday too if we get the freezing rain they are threatening (which will turn the roads to solid ice).  T'Other daughter is working from home up in Yorkshire, as they have had a lot of snow too.  Our "Lucky" son can walk to and from work so just gets cold.

The forecast has been dire - the Beast from the East was going to meet Storm Emma, bringing blizzards our way.  Most of the country was under a yellow or amber alert (with red highlights in areas, poor souls).  We did a small, non-panic shop on Monday and got anything we might get low on.  Cat food, milk, fresh fruit and veg, and more birdseed.  We only went as far as the bird feeders (to top them up) yesterday and bring wood in, and sat tight in the sitting room listening to the wind trying to break the windows.  We went to bed fully expecting to wake up to 10 foot of snow.  (I don't really MEAN 10 feet of snow - it is a family expression, but we were expecting 8" or so).  When I woke at 4 a.m. for the loo, I twitched the bedroom curtains, but there was just the lightest frosting of snow across the paddock.  The wind, however, screamed around the house all night long, and we kept being woken by it - and the rather worrying noise of metal sheeting being yanked by the storm.  We were both hoping it wasn't the Back Place roof . . .

When we came down this morning our roof was still there - but Next Door's straw barn was missing 10 panels of wriggly tin - which had been whisked away to the bottom of the hill and which had been deposited down by the river.  They were just returning home in the bucket of the JCB when Keith looked out of the window. 

Anyway, I am rather peeved to have all the coldness and unpleasantness (and that bully beast of a gale-force wind) without the prettiness of a good fall of snow.  It's a rotten swizz!!!  The ponds are frozen solid and the poor wild birds are desperate so we are out topping up feeders several times a day.  As there is meant to be freezing rain on the way (which would turn our steep hill into the Cresta Run and render it impassable) we thought we would venture into town today and do the shopping for the week.  We went and bought some cheap apples at Abergwili too (just for the Blackbirds - there were 16 out there this morning, desperate for food).  Then on to Charlies where we bought another sack of seed - but just a cheap one for the ground feeding birds, which include the Blackbirds. 

As I write this the strong gusts of wind are tearing into the flowering bush just outside the window and breaking off leaves and twigs, making it thrash as it if is in torment.  It was putting out flowers - I think they have thought better of it now!

So, no snow pictures (and my external hard drive is upstairs so I will have to add snow pictures later).  I hope all my UK followers are safe and warm and haven't been trapped in the blocked roads about the country (M62 near Rochdale and A31 in the New Forest ) today.  We hardly ever used to get snow when I lived in Hampshire and it is unheard of for the Army being called out to rescue people.  Even a train has broken down near Christchurch and the occupants spent a most unpleasant night trapped on it with no heating or lighting.  I think we have escaped lightly here.