Keep Safe and Warm

Hello from a wintry, cold, white North Eastern England in the UK. This is the first time in their lives our young cats have experienced the snow. Curious, they dashed straight into it without thinking of course and sank up to their bellies which was a bit of a shock. Jill wasn't too fussed and found high ground on the back of the garden seat which had no snow. Jack however was a little more adventurous leaping from footprint to footprint that I had left.

Within a few minutes Jill had had enough and came in to watch procedings from the warmth of the house. Jack however thoroughly enjoyed the experience and stayed out for ages. Needless to say, they both spend the next hour asleep curled up in front of the fire!

Above is the view from my office window at daybreak this morning.

I kept my eye on the forecast as I always do but with extra interest. I've got up an hour and a half earlier than I normally do for the last three days (for me that's a big deal - I hate getting out of bed too early) and set off for work early hoping to get there for 7 am before the rush hour. The roads had been cleared and gritted and no-one else has been venturing out much at that time so I got to work really early and was equally home early too!

Lots of good people turned out for work - many walked (in some cases about four miles) others sat on buses for two hours, queued at bus stops, sat in rush hour traffic jams to get to work. Well done them for committment and dedication. A selected handful perhaps open the curtains, see the white stuff and roll over back to sleep. For goodness sake, at least people should make the effort and if they can't get off the drive, or off the estate, then that's fine, but at least try. The world goes on despite the snow.

My son drove from East Yorkshire to York to work as he does everyday and it took him three hours and today was the worst trip - he doesn't know how he got there, however others, including those who live in York didn't turn up! Makes me angry and I hope that at least they made the effort!

The garden looks the tidiest it's ever looked, mainly because all I can see is white - suits me - no leaves to pick up. Today the wind has arrived with a vengence so not only is it drifting out there, it's now colder than it's been all week with snow falling almost horizontally.

The late Sammy Cahn penned the lyrics:

Oh the weather outside is frightful,
But the fire is so delightful,
And since we've no place to go,
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

True bloody true!

Keep warm and safe

Chat soon

Ta-ra!