My dear family & friends
It’s been snowing! I have to put the exclamation mark in to show the intonation of my voice whenever I say the phrase. You can see the pictures in the usual spot at http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/llewellynijones. It snowed first on Sunday night and a little during the day on Monday. I drove Lucia to work in the CRV on the theory that one needs a 4X4 to navigate the treacherous road conditions. But the real hazard came when I fetched Lucia in the afternoon; most of the businesses in the area let their staff go home early to beat the snow. Unfortunately, they all decided this at exactly the same time causing gridlock in Leamington Spa and a perceptible rise in my blood pressure. It took me nearly an hour to drive two miles. The sun came out again on Wednesday just to tease us before the really big wodge of snow fell overnight on Wednesday, leaving a carpet more than 20cm deep outside our front door this morning. I drove Lucia to work again and this time we really were thankful for the 4X4. The roads were slippery and tricky and turning to dirt coloured slush. I only clipped the pavement once; gently. Thereafter I drove with extra caution.
I took the dogs first to Victoria Park in Leamington Spa for a romp in the snow after dropping Lucia at work. They absolutely love it. Given how Edgar isn’t particularly fond of rain, I had expected that he would object to snow even more. But he loves it; his favourite is leaping for snowballs. (See pics.) At a guess, I would say that he can clear around 5ft from a standing start. With a little run up, I think he would be able to jump right over Lucia without touching her. We haven’t tried this yet. I haven’t mentioned the idea to Lucia either. From Victoria Park I walked in to town for my usual morning cappuccino only to find most of the cafés and coffees shops closed. A little bit of snow seems to be an excuse for everybody to stay at home. So instead I drove to the Pastelaria Portuguesa in Warwick via Homebase to buy a £10-snow shovel to clear our driveway. £10! For a broom handle and a piece of plastic. That’s outrageous.
The rest of the morning, when I finally got home, was spent clearing the driveway. It’s a lot harder and sweatier work than it looks. It took me a little longer than expected because I ended up making snow people (see how PC I’ve become) with the snow I cleared. (See pics.)
On Tuesday evening I went to the symphony in Birmingham where the Halle Orchestra were playing works by Grieg, Sibelius and Nielsen conducted by Sir Mark Elder. I went alone because Lucia had work to do. I was quite surprised that the Symphony Hall was only half full given that it was packed to capacity the last time Lucia and I went to a concert there. Perhaps the works were a bit obscure other than Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite No.1. But I enjoyed myself nonetheless.
Apart from the usual requirements of walking the dogs, our adventure over the weekend was a drive down to Oxford on Sunday. We wanted to visit Waterperry Gardens which is a favourite of my sister Barbara’s. I got the postcode off the website, typed it in to the satnav, and off we went. All went according to plan until the satnav told us we had reached our destination. The only indication that we were in the right general area was a hand-written notice on the side of the road which said: “No matter what your satnav tells you, there is no access to Waterperry down this road. Nearest access is via Wheatley.” So I typed Wheatley into the satnav and we eventually found road signs to Waterperry Gardens. Given that it was lunch time and we still wanted to go to Oxford, we just strolled around the craft shops and garden centre before enjoying a lunch of toasted sandwiches in the tea room. We plan to go there again either this weekend or next for the annual display of Snowdrops.
From Waterperry we drove around Oxford to Farmoor because I wanted to buy some Lunch Bars and Bar Ones from the shop which stocks South African goods. I was most peeved to discover that they closed at two o’clock on Sundays. Well, actually, I was a little more than peeved, but we’ll leave it at that. We drove into Oxford and parked the car in one of the overpriced parking lots and walked off for a stroll. We didn’t stroll very far. Oxford Castle (a pedestrianised restaurant and entertainment precinct) had an outdoor exhibition on called “Earth from the Air” which quite captivated us. It comprised giant blown up photographs of scenes from around the world. The pictures really were stunning. We would have spent a lot longer admiring the scenes, but it was getting really very cold in the arctic wind that eventually brought the snow down on Britain that night. We escaped into Carluccio’s for a warming cappuccino before heading back to the car for the 50 mile drive home. It started to snow as we got to the M40 motorway, but the light flurry soon turned into a blizzard. Most of the traffic slowed to a crawl except for the occasional death merchant who came whizzing past at 70mph. I wished them a fiery end ... but far away from me.
And it was raining the weekend before, so we didn’t do much. Well, we did go for a muddy walk along the Grand Union Canal near Knowle, but it wasn’t really that pleasant. The outing was saved by a good lunch and a beer at pub called the Heron’s nest; but I still had to bath the dogs when we got home.
Sorry I didn’t write last week; my muse was hiding.
Love, light & peace
Llewellyn
It’s been snowing! I have to put the exclamation mark in to show the intonation of my voice whenever I say the phrase. You can see the pictures in the usual spot at http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/llewellynijones. It snowed first on Sunday night and a little during the day on Monday. I drove Lucia to work in the CRV on the theory that one needs a 4X4 to navigate the treacherous road conditions. But the real hazard came when I fetched Lucia in the afternoon; most of the businesses in the area let their staff go home early to beat the snow. Unfortunately, they all decided this at exactly the same time causing gridlock in Leamington Spa and a perceptible rise in my blood pressure. It took me nearly an hour to drive two miles. The sun came out again on Wednesday just to tease us before the really big wodge of snow fell overnight on Wednesday, leaving a carpet more than 20cm deep outside our front door this morning. I drove Lucia to work again and this time we really were thankful for the 4X4. The roads were slippery and tricky and turning to dirt coloured slush. I only clipped the pavement once; gently. Thereafter I drove with extra caution.
I took the dogs first to Victoria Park in Leamington Spa for a romp in the snow after dropping Lucia at work. They absolutely love it. Given how Edgar isn’t particularly fond of rain, I had expected that he would object to snow even more. But he loves it; his favourite is leaping for snowballs. (See pics.) At a guess, I would say that he can clear around 5ft from a standing start. With a little run up, I think he would be able to jump right over Lucia without touching her. We haven’t tried this yet. I haven’t mentioned the idea to Lucia either. From Victoria Park I walked in to town for my usual morning cappuccino only to find most of the cafés and coffees shops closed. A little bit of snow seems to be an excuse for everybody to stay at home. So instead I drove to the Pastelaria Portuguesa in Warwick via Homebase to buy a £10-snow shovel to clear our driveway. £10! For a broom handle and a piece of plastic. That’s outrageous.
The rest of the morning, when I finally got home, was spent clearing the driveway. It’s a lot harder and sweatier work than it looks. It took me a little longer than expected because I ended up making snow people (see how PC I’ve become) with the snow I cleared. (See pics.)
On Tuesday evening I went to the symphony in Birmingham where the Halle Orchestra were playing works by Grieg, Sibelius and Nielsen conducted by Sir Mark Elder. I went alone because Lucia had work to do. I was quite surprised that the Symphony Hall was only half full given that it was packed to capacity the last time Lucia and I went to a concert there. Perhaps the works were a bit obscure other than Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite No.1. But I enjoyed myself nonetheless.
Apart from the usual requirements of walking the dogs, our adventure over the weekend was a drive down to Oxford on Sunday. We wanted to visit Waterperry Gardens which is a favourite of my sister Barbara’s. I got the postcode off the website, typed it in to the satnav, and off we went. All went according to plan until the satnav told us we had reached our destination. The only indication that we were in the right general area was a hand-written notice on the side of the road which said: “No matter what your satnav tells you, there is no access to Waterperry down this road. Nearest access is via Wheatley.” So I typed Wheatley into the satnav and we eventually found road signs to Waterperry Gardens. Given that it was lunch time and we still wanted to go to Oxford, we just strolled around the craft shops and garden centre before enjoying a lunch of toasted sandwiches in the tea room. We plan to go there again either this weekend or next for the annual display of Snowdrops.
From Waterperry we drove around Oxford to Farmoor because I wanted to buy some Lunch Bars and Bar Ones from the shop which stocks South African goods. I was most peeved to discover that they closed at two o’clock on Sundays. Well, actually, I was a little more than peeved, but we’ll leave it at that. We drove into Oxford and parked the car in one of the overpriced parking lots and walked off for a stroll. We didn’t stroll very far. Oxford Castle (a pedestrianised restaurant and entertainment precinct) had an outdoor exhibition on called “Earth from the Air” which quite captivated us. It comprised giant blown up photographs of scenes from around the world. The pictures really were stunning. We would have spent a lot longer admiring the scenes, but it was getting really very cold in the arctic wind that eventually brought the snow down on Britain that night. We escaped into Carluccio’s for a warming cappuccino before heading back to the car for the 50 mile drive home. It started to snow as we got to the M40 motorway, but the light flurry soon turned into a blizzard. Most of the traffic slowed to a crawl except for the occasional death merchant who came whizzing past at 70mph. I wished them a fiery end ... but far away from me.
And it was raining the weekend before, so we didn’t do much. Well, we did go for a muddy walk along the Grand Union Canal near Knowle, but it wasn’t really that pleasant. The outing was saved by a good lunch and a beer at pub called the Heron’s nest; but I still had to bath the dogs when we got home.
Sorry I didn’t write last week; my muse was hiding.
Love, light & peace
Llewellyn
