Saturday, 11 January 2025

The inconvenience of winter!

Shall I do a Facebook moan, where all these "privileged" people think they can talk others down and that They Know Best. They appear on nearly every post these days.  I follow (amongst many others) the Dartmoor Public Group where there is - almost daily in this cold spell - a big spat between the people who live up on the moor and know how it is up there when it snows, and those people from the towns who see it as their playground, and then block narrow lanes when they park up, get stuck and demand help, or even - for heaven's sake - have to be told to shove off when they come up after dark and build snowmen on the plot in front of people's houses in a certain moorland town, making so much noise that the occupants have to come and tell them where to go as they are waking their toddler!


We're above the snowline here.  Looking out on my slightly slippy walk this morning, you can see the snow is still laying on the hills and all the local lanes.  Pretty though it is, I want it GONE now! I do not need daily updates from the news telling me that we are all in for temperatures "up to minus 20".  Well, some poor devils up in Scotland are, but not this part of mid-Wales.


This is where I turned round on my walk - a big ice slick on the pull in to a barn.  When running water, it had also gone along the lane and it was dodgy in parts so I had to be careful where I stepped.


Icy splinters.


The lane was clear here, but had a border of icy chippings thrown up.


This is the track to our house, still a bit snowy/icy/slippy. Most inconvenient!!  However, I did go down to the town today to visit the Library, and get the Saturday paper, and draw some money out for Malvern tomorrow (Fleamarket).  I may leave a bit later than usual though and will avoid my slightly-shorter-cut along the lanes to Glasbury and stick to the main roads instead.  Will see how it warms up today.  Even with the windscreen cover on the car, I had to put the blowers on full to unfreeze the wipers which had stuck-to on top of it and the windscreen, and de-ice the other windows. I shall take bread and cheese, a flask of  Mulligatawny soup and I'm about to make a Chocolate Apple Cake.

I didn't go out to the Heritage (history) Society Christmas meal last night, as I didn't trust our slippy track and knew there were areas of ice along the lane in, having walked in on Thursday to collect the car from its MoT.  I just wasn't in the mood, and also had slight worries about being hugger-mugger in a tightly-packed room of folk for several hours, and catching the flu which is doing the rounds.


You can guess which one is for Tam to look at!


The last of the light coloured fabrics for the William Morris quilt.  On Monday I shall start cutting out the fabrics.  Executive decision has been made to leave out the square in the Ohio Star block.  Why make things even more testing for me?



Talking about things testing me, I pushed my nose to the grindstone yesterday and MADE myself work on the repairs to the Victorian quilt.  I knew it wouldn't be easy but persevered.  I shall try and do at least one little diamond a day, but it's hard when you are sewing through the cardboard shapes and trying to make any stitches on the back lining invisible and most of all, desperately trying not to rip any of the other VERY fragile silks.  Fortunately, I have a box of Japanese silk remnants which I think it was Elaine (Tales From Parsonage Cottage) kindly sent me a couple of years ago, finally they have come into their own.

Having searched frustratingly high and low in this house for a book I was more than 3/4 way through over Christmas and thought totally lost, I picked up my handy little shopping bag today to take my Library books back in and there it was.  I'm glad about that. (A Whisper of Sorrows, by JD Kirk).  So there was just the gilt cream to finish the frame on the horse picture which I needed to hunt down - again, I had seen it but thought I'd moved it somewhere.  When I looked properly just now, it came to light.  I'm a devil for not looking properly, or making piles of things (WIPs), or putting things off till tomorrow.  That is something I am attempting to put right in2025.  No procrastination!

So, completely fed up with being cold, not being able to get out, not being able to make proper plans, having the weather an unknown and rather worrying factor for future events (including the February Fair) and until today, not being able to get out for a walk either, I shall hold hard to the notion that winter is blardy Inconvenient!  Roll on spring.



18 comments:

  1. Oh dear. I cannot tell you the number of times in my life that I have "Just had something just yesterday..." and now seems lost and gone forever. Most exasperating! Glad you found it!

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    1. It's normally scissors. I have lost count of the number of times I have lost scissors, searched everywhere, finally bought another pair and then put my hands straight onto the missing ones the next day! Putting Something Somewhere Safe is an even worse happening -we once bought Danny a watch to learn to tell the time with, put it away safely (!!!) and found it four years later . . .

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  2. A helpful hint or two that I use to keep wipers free during freezing/snowy weather:
    1) if you can reach them, lift the wipers in the up position before bad weather is predicted, then lower them only when ready to drive away (perhaps, after the windscreen has defrosted); or
    2) slip a couple of old, long socks over the wiper blades prior to bad weather (just remember to remove them before driving away :) ).

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    1. I think I will use the socks idea, as I have to have the wiper blades down to hold the windscreen cover in place as it only has a string on one side of it to hold it in place.Thank you.

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    2. Another idea is put fairly warm water in old plastic pop bottles and set them on the dash...if you have one where they won't roll off...and that gradually defrosts the windscreen before you set off.
      Next time I get the chance I'll be trying the long microwave heated cushion that is meant for aches and pains ..easier than pop bottles!

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  3. Not too bad weather wise here in Suffolk, as usual we've missed the snow so far.
    I stayed in today and made cheese scones - better than being out in the cold

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    1. It has been bitter here. - 2 to - 6 each night for over a week now. I have had cabin fever good and proper. I have a chocolate apple cake in the oven and really enjoyed making it, more so as I popped down for a natter with Ed the new neighbour's friend Dave who is doing some work for him at the moment and said I would take him down some cake (I'd already given him ajar of jam as I made too much for presents at Christmas). There was a proper purpose to making it. I think that is one of the things I miss now I'm on my own.

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  4. It was -3 when I drove to the station this morning in the fog at 8.30am and has remained hovering around freezing point all day. I am keeping the house warm so that I can at least have some comfort. I am wearing a hat indoors as ever. I went out for an early appointment and came home at midday. Very foggy still inland and temperature hovering around freezing point. Everywhere looks nice but that is about it, all white and frosty! Ah well, it is January and we expect this sort of weather.

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  5. -5 here in Belper. Sent OH out to defrost car 15 minutes before we were due to go out. Even the car door lock had frozen and there was ice inside the windows. The windscreen covers though are a big help. Miss Sheva went out to do what was necessary for about 5 minutes and has spent the rest of the day on the bed. Supposedly getting warmer from tomorrow but will not hold my breath on that. Veggie curry and chips for tea tonight. Hugs Xx

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  6. I am of the putting something somewhere safe family and then actually never, ever finding it again. I hope your weather improves so that you can take your lovely walks once again.

    God bless.

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  7. It has stopped snowing but I've not been out to walk other than wallowing to the cat litter dump. Outside temp reading at 3 degrees above freezing but with no sun all day it is bleak and chilly.
    I'm curious re your comment about the square in the Ohio Star block. I've made a large quilt and two smaller ones that featured Ohio Star. I found the challenging part of the block to be the quarter-square triangle units as specified in the pattern directions. Creating them on a grid made them very accurate. Do show us a photo of what you are cutting out.

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  8. Still bloody cold here m'dear but the snow has not returned though still unable to work as yet. You will always get 'entitled folk' who think that the world is about them, I have given up worrying about them, well unless they really piddle me off that is, and then it becomes their turn to worry or be gone

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  9. just could not get warm today at all, coldest day so far! high humidity is what did it!

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  10. I was shocked to read your first paragraph. My mother's family all came from Widecombe in the Moor. Wonder if that was where it was happening. Your pics are lovely to look at but it will be nice when the temperatures improve!
    Wendy (Wales)

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  11. The weather is SO cold at the moment. I only ventured out briefly to feed the birds. Hope you can get to Malvern tomorrow and the main roads are ok. The Mike Salter book looks good - I have some of his and we have one of those Old Ways books for Herefordshire and the Marches. Thanks for recommendation re J D Kirk - I checked his books on Amazon and will definitely try one. Let us hope it gets a bit milder soon!

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  12. I do love that picture of splintered ice. As far as people walking up to build snowmen in front of someone else's house...I am a bit shocked that people would do such a thing! It is -5 c here today, but at least it is not snowing. We got four more inches over night.

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  13. I do understand about the piles of WIPs. When I did my City & Guilds we had to produce about 10- 20 samples a week, and also work on samples, or the final thing, for the major pieces. Loosing WIPs was a nightmare! I ended up with a 3/4 pool table with a flat partical board top, organised by sections ... and I used, and reused, ziplock bags with labels of Painters' Tape, identifying what was in each. It helped keep on top of the chaos! We also had to properly mount the final selection of samples for each module on black board, which look ages. C&G was the most wonderful thing I have ever done, but, oh boy, it was a lot of work. And of course, I was caring for family, and had a teaching job at the same time. Not sure where I found the energy!

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  14. Winter can certainly be frustrating when it brings both beauty and inconvenience in equal measure! It's tough when those unfamiliar with the area don't respect the local space, especially when it leads to problems for the people who live there. Stay safe on those icy paths, and here's hoping the snow clears soon for you.

    I just shared a new post; let me know what you think. Have a lovely weekend ahead.

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