Merry Christmas!

[Tricia]

Merry Christmas everyone and a Happy New Year to everyone.

It has gone so quiet here I thought a Christmas wish might wake up a few hibernating members.

[alison]

Yes it certainly has been a quiet few months. Maybe all is okay in our garden and ponds that no one wants to post about them
Merry christmas to you all. We have just been watching miracle on 34th street. I love that film. I have tried to watch quite a few over the past week on channel five. They have had them on every afternoon and I bet I have missed the first hour of each one as I kept forgetting they were on. I am so absent minded at the moment. I love christmas films.
I hope you are all having a heathy wintertime as there are so many germs and illnesses going round. I have been ill this past week and not too brilliant still. but my mother in law had a heart attack on friday and a further 4 or 5 angina attacks since reaching hospital. Coming so soon after my mums death I hope all is going to be well with her. She is having an operation on tuesday to put a stent in her artery which should solve the problem. She is 75 but is always on the go.
The grandchildren had a lovely christmas party up at church and loved seeing santa on saturday. They are going to see their other grandma in Wales on tuesday so i will miss them but she doesn't see them often like I do.
The weather is atrocious but so pretty. Having lots of snow takes me back to my childhood. I am sure we had so much more in those days. It was lots of fun, the school playground was full of icy slides which those braver than myself would fly down with such glee. Nowadays they close all the schools and no fun time can be had in the playground anymore. What a shame. Tricia you must have lots of memories of winter in bygone days (not that I am saying you are old by the way ) but you know what I mean I am sure. Richard do you still work in that lovely place that looks like Narnia. Have you any recent photos of winter? I am sure we all have favourite memories of christmas time or winter. Lets get telling tales...

[retropwr]

Merry Christmas to everybody.

Yes I do still work there, for the time being. Would you believe that with all this snowy weather there has been no snow there? Even today a good 4 inches of snow at home, but it was raining when I left the office.
The journey home is 31 miles and because of the snow today it took 6hrs 45 mins, 6hrs 15mins of that was the last 8 miles

[alison]

Wow you must have been quite stressed by the time you got home. How long does it normally take? I can't believe the last 8 miles taking so long. My garden looks like Narnia at the moment. I keep seeing all the birds going down to feed on the bird table but then they can't see any food. It is hidden under a good few inches of snow. At least 4 inches seems to have fallen over night. I will go and put some more out for them.
I was watching a black cat walking over my frozen pond last night. It walked all over and came to a thin bit of ice where there was a small hole and had a drink then walked all over again. I was worried it would get to a thin patch and fall in but it was okay. Even our cat who is the fattest cat I have ever known seemed to get lost in the depth of snow.
My son just text me to say he can't ever remember snow like it and he is 31 now. I think there will be a lot of snowmen being built this week.
My mother in law who incidently didn't have the operation as it appears she is worse than they thought and is now looking at a bypass was saying they were all singing christmas songs on her hospital ward this morning so she is still quite cheery.
I am going to get Sonny to take some photo's when he comes home as everywhere looks so beautiful. A lovely white christmas. It is such a shame that it turns eventually to dirty slush before it goes altogether.

[retropwr]

The whole journey normally takes about 40 mins. The last 8 miles being about 10 mins of that ( I live quite close to the motorway junction), but at least I got home. There were a lot of abandoned vehicles.

Real shame that I had to have two days at home as I couldn't get the car out to go to work

It started warming up overnight with quite a lot of rain so we are fast heading to that slushy nasty stage.