Blizzards!

Last night it snowed solidly from the start of my last post and throughout the night. At 9.30pm we got a call from our brother in law asking if we could put him up for the night, of course we told him yes and he brought with him tales of woe. Hundreds of cars blocked the motorways, with people just leaving their vehicles on the hard shoulder and walking to the nearest exits. Blizzards and snow drifts brought traffic to a standstill, leaving so many cars unable to move. A nearby supermarket stayed open as a drop in center and this morning we heard stories of people being taken in by kindly souls, but many more spent a very cold night in their cars.

This was the hill out of our village to the West,


and to the east. Cars left all over the road made a slippery hill harder to negotiate, even with 4wd!


This is the hill down from our lane, with happy children compacting the surface to an ice rink consistency.


Up the lane towards our field is the little church, pretty as a chocolate box on any day, but today, so gorgeous it almost hurt to look at it!


The magical tunnel of trees in the lane heading towards the field.


The trees were so heavy with snow and then just around the corner, outside our field


one of our trees was down and across the road.



It was almost enjoyable working together in the snow to remove the obstruction from the lane. Although, I did have to stop to take some photos of our progress!


Merlin really appreciated his bucketful of warm mash and apples.



Horses nearby were having quite a yar around, and Merlin was very watchful. Our field is about 3miles away from the house, so getting there was quite stressful and wading through the drifts was pretty tiring.


After a slightly nervous drive home through falling temperatures, we settled down with a small whiskey and began to prepare dinner. That was when the power went out. Thankfully I keep a large supply of candles and matches and within 10 minutes cooking resumed. My kitchen looks soooo messy, but in the candlelight I could hardly see it, but the flash shows it up now!!!


We all sat together in the kitchen for a very jovial meal and afterwards the children played board games.


It's been a very tiring, but actually wonderful day. It was almost disappointing when the power came back on, but at least I can now have a hot bath and prepare for another adventure tomorrow.

A lot of people, however, aren't as well prepared as we are, and I'm wondering how long the goodwill will last when food supplies run low. I have one friend cut off, and in the middle of nowhere with only enough food to last a couple of days and our village shops were rapidly selling out of bread and milk as people panicked and bought anything they could grab. The veneer of civilisation is a thin one and actually more fragile than many of us realise. I hope the strength of it isn't tested any time soon!