13 January 2017 (Friday) - Icy



I had a frankly terrible night’s sleep. When "er indoors TM" came to bed “quietly” she woke me up. Just as I was nodding off again so the puppy started crying so "er indoors TM" went down to her. I nodded off again just as the puppy was brought upstairs to run riot all over the bed. When the puppy settled, "Furry Face TM" decided to jump onto the bed and march all around it. And my phone was beeping with Facebook and email notifications all night long even though both the mobile data and wi-fi were turned off.
er indoors TM" got up when her alarm went off at 7.30am and I got half an hour’s sleep before "My Boy TM" phoned. Because of the snow they were walking Lacey to school (rather than driving); did I want to divert my dog walk to go meet up with them. They knew I’d be out with the dogs already because I’m always up early (!) They were twenty minutes’ walk from home, so I suggested they picked us up on the way past the house. I made up some story about not quite having set off on the walk; I didn’t want them to know they’d woken me up.

And so twenty minutes later we were walking up the road. Loads of people were walking too; as usual half an inch of snow had brought England to a standstill. Mind you for all that everyone says this sarcastically, I don’t. I realise that some of my friends are used to serious snow. In Milwaukee, Ohio and Goteborg there is regularly seriously deep snow for months on end. But we don’t get this in Kent. When I was first transferred to Canterbury in September 2011 I was rather concerned about driving in the snow. And in the five and a bit years that I’ve been working in Canterbury we’ve had snow once. When I was a lad we had snow every year; often several times. We *really* don’t get it any more and so the country is unaccustomed to the stuff.

We had a rather good walk this morning; however we hadn’t been walking for more than twenty yards when the puppy fell over after slipping on some ice. This worried me; if she fell over with her low centre of gravity (and four legs) what hope did I have? And then there was an almighty wallop as a passing teenager fell off of his bike as he hit a sheet of ice. We picked him up; he seemed OK. I didn’t say anything but what kind of twit tries to cycle on ice?

Dan had to get some shopping from the local corner shop; Cheryl and Lacey went on to school as time was pressing. This suited Dan as he wanted a sausage roll and Cheryl has told him that he’s on a diet. We devoured sausage rolls then caught up with the girls. With Lacey delivered to school we then took the dogs for a walk through the park. Rolo seemed to enjoy being with my dogs; apparently he shows off and is lippy with bigger dogs when he is with the family wolf-pack.
Viccie Park was quite pretty in the aftermath of last night’s snow. There had been enough to make the grassy areas appear white, and enough to make the paths icy. We stayed off the paths as much as possible, the little puppy again fell over on the ice.

Once home I popped both dogs in the bath and ran some warm water to wash their paws. The ice that they pick up can be gritty and salty and I didn’t want them licking it. And with paws washed both dogs were soon sound asleep.
I had planned to go for a substantial geo-walk today. I’ve got a garden which needs working on. And the shed needs a serious spring clean. But once I’d had a late brekkie I looked out of the window to see more heavy snow falling. So I abandoned all plans and slobbed about. I considered putting in a formal complaint to “Pets at Home” about the attitude of their staff last night, but what would it achieve? Instead, I put the telly on and watched an episode of “The Darling Buds of May” that I’ recorded on to the SkyPlus box. It is now twenty-five years since that series was first broadcast and I’ve never watched it before; I quite like it.

With the dogs still sleeping I then spent a little while working on my latest Wheri-project. I’m creating a virtual Crystal Maze game set in the co-op field. I got it mostly all mapped out before the dogs woke. I got myself a sandwich and shared it with the dogs. They both went back to sleep; I thought about going to see my mum, but the roads were still icy, so instead I watched more telly. Brideshead Revisited, Chariots of Fire, even more Darling Buds until "er indoors TM" came home. She said most of the ice and snow had gone. I hope so – I’m off to work early tomorrow morning…

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