The big snow

Only a few days ago I learned that in the last 10 million years the earth has experienced a series of ice ages, and before that we were hotter than we are now. And rather weirdly I learned that currently we are in the middle of an ice age. Me and Laura were laughing about that fact - which I learned watching a UKTV History documentary.



... Then right on cue: The BIG SNOW.


Yesterday it snowed. Today we thought we were over the worst of it. By gum were we wrong!

I walked to work and back today and yesterday. This picture was taken at 4.30. No grit had been put down on Lifford lane and it's a hill so the cars were slipping and sliding around like crazy. They were taking it one at a time to travel a few metres at a time. You can see the lights of an ambulance in the far distance, struggling to make headway through the traffic.
A few metres further and one of the cars was not able to move forward through a particularly slushy bit. So I asked the driver (it was a taxi) if he needed a push. For about 15 metres I pushed the car up the hill, slush going everywhere!
The radio reports that on 1 section of road in the midlands 250 cars have been abandoned. I'm not surprised! Anyway I pushed and it was going well, then we hit another really slippy bit and I couldn't get a grip on the road. We started slipping backwards, bit scary! A really nice man jumped out of his truck and helped me push the taxi up the crest of the hill - he was going the other way in the opposite lane, but they weren't moving either so I'm really glad he helped me! Thank you, whoever you are!

The car you see swimming its way through the snow is one of the few brave ones to leave the close. Ashbury and Keynell is under snow - you can't see our pavements, paths or gardens. It's all under the blanket!

Poor pads. She doesn't like the thought of digging 5 inches in order to have a poo. Not a fan at all.
"I sit at the door sniffing the air. I slipped out once today, I followed the girl. I could only stand it for a few seconds.
Unhappy with the condition they're forcing on me I thought I'd try and dig my way out. I thought I'd start upstairs where it's warmer. That didn't work. The carpet is thicker than I'd thought. I'll try again tomorrow.
Perhaps the front of the house might not be so cold? Alas.
After all, the only half-civilised thing there is to do is to sleep through this dratted weather. purrrrr...."




One the plus side the Ashbury Covert boys and girls are very happy indeed.














I got home from work today covered in snow - I mean I hadn't been that wet and white since I went skiing with the school in Canada!
Poor Alex though was not to get home until 8pm. He'd walked 4-5 miles in the snow. We have watched a few Ray Mears programmes about how explorers have survived avalanches and being trapped on mountains and Alex learned a key trick: refuel. So he stopped off for a saveloy and chips. Then, when he was not far from home he popped into the offie for a crate of beer; after all the greatest explorers motivate themselves with a goal..!
So, drenched and freezing he made it home with a 32-pack of beer and the weekend has officially begun!
Brave man...!








In our front garden I was really happy to see our bluebells poke their heads out of the ground a couple of weeks ago and begin to flower.
It was almost like the start of spring..!

A Scary fact

The current period of rapid global warming is accelerating the rate of polar melting and increasing rainfall levels in temperate regions. If all this fresh water disturbs salinity levels in the Atlantic Ocean, we could shut off the North Atlantic Drift (The Gulf Stream) again, and Europe could be ice-bound in as little as 10 years.