A Little Bit Of Snow!

 Saturday. 8.10 a.m. I was up and about later than usual this morning. At least I'm sleeping better.

The digital thermometer currently reads 21ºc. Apparently, according to various weather forecasts, we're in for a cold spell, with snow, frost, ice and all that goes with it. The media always makes such a big issue on this sort of topic. When I was growing up in the 1960's, you just got on with it. We went to school. No such thing as 'Health and safety' then. Now, schools close down, and the children get a day off. I remember having to shovel snow off the playground at school. Trains are prevented from running because the lines are blocked by snow, or more likely, the drivers won't work because it's too cold!

Sunday. 7.30 a.m. I was awake at 7.10. That has to be the latest for a very long time.

The digital thermometer currently reads 21ºc. No sign of snow here, but I expect there to be some further north, in Yorkshire and Scotland.

Monday. 8.40 a.m. I am currently experiencing a really unpleasant cough and feeling totally drained. I'm not sure what this thing is. It's not the flu, but it could be. On Saturday, I got some cough mixture in Sainsbury's, which does help, but I'm coughing up phlegm, which is unpleasant.

I would have thought that having the , flu vaccine would have protected me, although, as I say, it's not like full-blown 'flu. I don't have a high temperature. It would appear that I'm not alone with this 'thing,' because so many people in church yesterday morning had the same ailment. It's something you just have to put up with and it will eventually pass. Well, I hope it goes soon.

A light frost over the grass and covering car windscreens this morning. I may have to put the heating on in the flat.

Tuesday. 3.00 p.m. We had a very brief flurry of snow this morning. It left a sort of sugary coating to the lawn and road outside, but by now it has more or less evaporated. More like, melted.

I dismantled my tiny Christmas tree. I divested it of its decorations. It is still in its pot, and I moved it out into the garden, but then I managed to lock myself out, and someone had to let me in. Stupid, I know, but once the door closes, that's it. You can't get back in.

Thursday. 3.15p.m. We started back with the Thursday morning life group at the Oaktree Centre this morning. It's great to have got Christmas and New Year out of the way, basically because my routine is thrown out. I had a coughing fit in the middle of the meeting, but it did settle down. This is something which comes back every year. 

Chloe asked me if she could have information about my heart condition, which I imagine is for her doctor of maybe insurance, Anyway, I put a message regarding this on the Central Milton Keynes Medical Centre website, and I was really surprised how quickly I got a response, and after the Thursday Morning group, I drove over to Bradwell Common and the recptionist printed out the information. Now I can post it off to Worcester. I can do that tomorrow. From there, I drove to Sainsbury's to do a shop.

Deep and Crisp and . . . It's gone!

 Tuesday. 7.35 a.m. I was somewhat shocked, when I opened the curtains this morning, to discover snow, not just fluffy bits falling from the sky, but covering the road and the garden outside. My car, which I can see from the window, was covered in a fairly thick blanket. I thought it only fair to find Alfie's Regatta jacket and put it on him before we went out, and I put on my hooded jacket. I don't think he appreciated the cold when we eventually left the building. As I write this, it continues to snow, and it doesn't appear to be stopping. I don't ever remember snow this early in the winter.

Thursday. 8.15 a.m. As I said in the above post, the snow came and went just as quickly. This morning we again have snow, but it's left a rather thin layer of the white stuff on the grass in the garden.

Yesterday morning I was about to drive to the Oaktree Centre, but had to spend around 10 minutes scraping ice off the car's windows. I have antifreeze spray, which I had the foresight to buy in Sainsbury's a few weeks ago, so I shall use that in future.

Saturday. 7.10 a.m. This morning there's rain and it's a good deal colder. I have just been watching BBC Breakfast, and there's a weather warning in place. Storm Bert is on the way. There's snow falling in the north of England, and it looks as if Scotland will be covered in the white stuff.

Sunday. 6.30 a.m. I awoke, due to needing the loo. I could hear the wind howling around the building. There was no way I could get back to sleep, so I decided to go online. I have a new family research site membership, My Heritage. It has more details of people as well as pictures, so I can at least see what some of my ancestors looked like. The new fibre broadband is working well.

Wednesday. 1.05 p.m. I have now got a second online genealogy subscription with something called MyHeritage. I have got back 40 generations, which is amazing. I have uploaded the Gedcom file from Ancestry which makes things easier and quicker and I have many new people on my family tree. I have one of Henry VII Is wives in my tree, Catherine Parr. 

A really typical November day. I went to Sainsbury's earlier and couldn't believe how dark it seemed. It has turned really cold and wet, and we have yet another storm coming in and Milton Keynes is on flood alert. This one is called 'Storm Connal'. Apparently, the name was given by the Dutch Met service.

Thursday. 8.00 a.m. Cold and frosty this morning when I took Alfie out. I reckon the car will need defrosting when I go out later. I have a new bottle of antifreeze spray ready, which I got in Sainsbury's a few weeks ago.

It's 'Sno' Surprise!

(Sunday) I watched church on-line from Milton Keynes Christian Centre, which is actually only a short walk from where I live in Oldbrook. I can watch via my Firestick in my Hitachi television and it has a YouTube app on it, so it has widescreen and sound through the sound bar connected to the television. At the end there was a Zoom hang-out which was a first, but seemed a good idea to get a chance to chat. I'm beginning to get the hang of Zoom. Afterwards I had to take Alfie out. I was somewhat surprised when I looked out of the kitchen window later to find heavy snow falling, and the garden below my window covered in a fairly thick layer of the white stuff. I got dressed up which included the dayglo yellow Regatta raincoat and got Alfie togged up in his Regatta jacket and we proceeded to exit Dexter House. I don't think he was particularly bothered by the snow, although, as I've mentioned on here before, he doesn't like rain and getting wet, but we walked towards Oldbrook Green and did our usual perambulation all the way round.

But it was really no surprise that we got snow over night because of the weather forecast yesterday which made sure people knew what was coming. I imagine there will be people who don't bother to watch or even listen to the weather forecast, rather like those who say they never listen to any news, particularly about the pandemic, and are surprised when they get fined for breaching the various regulations which have been bought in by the government.

(Monday) There's still snow on the ground. It's quite slippery on the path leading to Oldbrook Green. It is actually sunny as I write this, but still quite chilly out. It could be worse.

(Tuesday) Just wish I could be going to Camphill, as I would have been if things were normal, whatever 'normal' is with this confounded pandemic. I really miss those guys in the drama workshop. I just hope that it won't be much longer now there's a vaccine against the virus. I hope they are alright at Camphill. I have an idea they've all had the first vaccine injection.

It's another snowy morning, but it looks to me as if it's thawing. Still a bit slippery on the path towards Oldbrook Green.

(Wednesday) The snow is . . . gone! Not that I'm sorry to see it go. Scraping ice of the car is a real chore, generally getting the car going for example. Slipping and sliding all over the place as we walk along the path towards Oldbrook Green, getting togged up. Looking for hats and gloves. Well, there are worse things but snow is just a nuisance. Alright for children I suppose. Lovely to see my three grandsons, George, Eddie and Arthur, having fun building snowmen and other creatures, as Chloe sends me photos and videos of them.

(Later) I've been to Sainsbury's to do a shop. Virtually no other shoppers at 9a.m. on a Wednesday. That suits me. Having written a list, it means I don't waste time thinking what to buy which definitely speeds things up.

I have got the bolt and other bits which were missing from the coffee table. There was a package on the doorstep when I came back home from taking Alfie for a walk. I have also bought an electric screwdriver from Argos. I wasn't sure if such a thing was available and I was surprised to find it was. I had some of the voucher left on the Argos website so I ordered it. I then went to Argos to collect it before I went to shop in Sainsbury's and when I got home I charged it up as it comes with it's own charger as well as a set of interchangeable screwdriver heads. I was going to say drill bits, but it's not a drill. I have been able to put the drawer together and tighten up the screws, which was the whole point of the chargeable screwdriver. You can do it far more efficiently with this piece of kit rather than attempting to do it with an ordinary manual screwdriver. And I have completed the drawer with it's metal handle as well as finishing off tightening the screws holding the coffee table together. I have to say I'm really pleased with the coffee table. It's a good deal wider than the old IKEA coffee table I had when I first moved in, and came with me from the house in Eaglestone. I now want to get a replacement for the table next to my armchair which houses the wifi modem and telephone. 

I've managed to do a bit more writing. Been lazy really. I have a sort of storyline written and it's been on my computer for goodness knows how long, probably long before I moved out of the house in Eaglestone. It's just a matter of sitting down and making a serious effort to write, using the storyline as a sort of framework or even the scaffolding of a piece of writing. Glad I have as it went better than I'd hoped and the style is how I want it, if that makes sense. It may not to anyone reading this, but it does to me.

Arctic Conditions

The wintry weather continues. It didn't snow over-night, but looking out of the window at the road in front of the house, it has the appearance of a Siberian wasteland. Not that I've been to Siberia, you understand. The car has a pall of snow across it. Alfie rushes out into the garden, but doesn't hang around for long, as you can imagine. Being a little dog, he doesn't take to the cold very well.

If I did want to go out in the car, I'd have to negotiate around a very annoying van which is parked in the immediate space behind the car. It's going to be quite difficult to get out and so avoid this van, made even more troublesome with the road conditions being so slippery. I don't think the grid roads in Milton Keynes are going to be too bad, but the roads in Eaglestone, the inner ring road in particular, are likely to be hazardous, with hard-packed ice. I just hope we get a decent thaw and the snow goes completely. There will be trouble if we get a hard frost and the surface of the roads around here become like an ice skating rink.

Saturday morning. There's been quite a considerable fall of snow over-night. The road at the front of the house has quite a layer of snow on it. The large van is still parked immediately behind the car as I mentioned in the post yesterday. I went out earlier to clear the snow off the car with a broom and cleared a path from the door down to the car. Quite a thick carpet of snow around the car, but it's not really a problem, you just have to be careful how you move about so to avoid slipping over.

I eventually managed to manoeuvre the car out of the drive and onto the walkway to the side of our house. I did this just to make sure I could actually get out of the house, because there was quite a deep layer of snow immediately behind the car and I wasn't sure I'd be able to get out. I had to get out to go to Sainsbury's as we were slowly running out of food, although we had some bits and pieces in the freezer just in case. The snow is making all sound very muffled, a bit like having something, such as material that absorbs sound in a recording studio or concert hall. There is a man further along our road clearing snow with a shovel.

 I drove out of the estate, leaving via the exit near the shop. The road surface along the inner ring road was covered in snow, so I had to drive very slowly as I didn't want the car to slide as it might have done if I'd braked suddenly. The grid roads going towards the centre of Milton Keynes was relatively snow-free, but you can't trust other drivers to drive at a reasonably slow speed so it was necessary to drive at less than the normal speed. The underground carpark at Sainsbury's looks like a lake. No doubt this is caused by snow that has come in via car's tyres. Just one huge mass of water. The actual store was very quiet and the carpark was virtually empty, do doubt because most people didn't want to venture out in such bad conditions. Who can blame them? Fortunately I was in and out of Sainsbury's fairly quickly.

Unless we get a further fall of snow, conditions should remain fairly reasonable to drive in. That being said, people need to reduce their speed when driving and just take a bit more care as well as respect other people. It's those who drive too fast who are responsible for accidents, running into other vehicles, sliding all over the place and possibly ending up in ditches and hitting innocent people. I just hope that we don't get a hard frost over the next few days and then we will have to contend with flooding when the thaw happens. Gary next door has been clearing snow at the front of his house. At least people are making an effort to keep going, regardless of the snow. On the television news this morning, people are complaining that there is too much coverage of the snow. Why does it have to be described as 'The Beast From The East'? Just a sort of tabloid journalism term. People being stranded in the snow, in cars on a motorway somewhere, I'm not entirely sure where, and some passengers on a train near Christchurch, Dorset. Did they not listen to the news? We had been warned about the current weather conditions, so why so surprised when things grind to a halt? Just don't go out and then expect others to risk their necks to be rescued. Although there was a more positive piece on BBC Breakfast about people who have four-wheel drive vehicles helping to ferry N.H.S. staff to various hospitals, somewhere in the West of England. It's good to see that some form of community is thriving, however small it might be.

We had a delivery from Very. We weren't expecting it until Monday at the latest. A Tassimo coffee machine and some clothes for Carol. The instructions for the coffee machine are quite complicated. It didn't come with coffee pods so we couldn't try it out, but we had to fill the water tank and flush it through so it is now ready to use. We have ordered some of the pods through Amazon which should arrive sometime before 8 this evening.

Later. It seems that the thaw has begun. By the look of things, a lot of the snow seems to be disappearing. The road at the front of the house is beginning to clear and you can see the tarmac surface. I'm just wondering whether all the snow, or some of it, will be gone by the morning, although if we get a sharp frost over-night I doubt if will mean the end of the snow.

Arctic Blasts

We've been promised snow, so it was something of a disappointment to wake this morning to find just  a mere dusting of the white stuff. Mind you, I had to walk across to the Academy around 9.30 to deliver a revised medical certificate and, by goodness, it was cold! My face almost froze solid. There's bright sunshine, but it's deceptive. It's just as well we don't have to venture out today, although I'm going to have to go to Sainsbury's later to do a bit of shopping as they're forecasting more snow around here for the rest of the week. Mind you, watching BBC Breakfast this morning, they seem to be milking the 'snow' bit for all it's worth. Hardly more than a few centimetres in places, mostly East Anglia and the North East of England, but is it really necessary to cancel train services and have schools closed for the day? A few weeks ago I wrote in my blog post about how people have become wimpish in response to the merest flurry of snow. Everything seems to grind to a halt when it falls. How come, in years gone by, schools managed to stay open, the railway system kept running and roads were kept clear? Now it's just an excuse to moan constantly about 'snow on the line' or 'ice on the tracks' or something really pathetic. Come on, where's the good old British resistance gone to? 'Health and Safety' gone mad! Just get out your shovel and broom and go out and clear the snow if it's stopping your getting to work or whatever.

When I drove to Sainsbury's mid-morning, there was signs of grit being put on the road. No doubt the Council workers had been gritting the roads around Milton Keynes last night. I personally don't see the point of putting down grit unless it's on top the ice or snow. Surely it doesn't melt it when it's already on the road surface. Who knows?

I've just bought a Kindle Fire tablet. I'm really pleased with it. Carol already has one, and finds it really easy to use. The price is very good, when you compare it with an iPad. It's already set up and working. I'm waiting to receive a case for it, from Amazon, which is expected to arrive sometime on Thursday. The Kindle Fire was ordered on Sunday and arrived yesterday morning.

Later. It's 2.05 p.m. It's snowing quite heavily (if you can actually have snow that falls heavily. Does it actually 'fall heavily'? I think not. Looking at it, through the window in the lounge and into the garden, it looks a bit like feathery bits, which wouldn't fall heavily. Feathers are light, so couldn't fall heavily. Infact, I doubt they actually fall, more likely float, depending on whether there's a breeze. Anyway, back on the subject of snow. If it continues as it is, it's very likely to settle. Then we'll be unable to get out in the car. Important tomorrow, as we need to get to the oncology department at Milton Keynes hospital to have the pump removed from Carol's arm as part of her chemotherapy treatment.

Even later. The snow stopped falling. As I write this, at 5.15 p.m., it's bright and sunny and there is absolutely no snow falling. No doubt we are going to get the full force of the cold weather with a fall of snow which covers the country, causing havoc with all transport. But it is February and we should be used to a cold snap in this country. It just annoys me that the media treat it as if it's totally unexpected.

Snowed Up

Sunday morning. I look out of the bathroom window to discover the road in front of the house is covered in snow. It looks like we're in for some cold and ice. I don't think we've had snow this early in the winter. So, the next question will be, what are the chances of a White Christmas? More than likely I would imagine. I just hope the Council gritters have been out on the Grid Roads across Milton Keynes, otherwise driving is going to be difficult. When we went to the hospital on Friday it would appear that the inner ring road around the site had been gritted, in preparation for snow.

As the morning developed, the snow has got heavier and thicker. This is a photograph I took on my iPhone at about 8.30 a.m. Church is off this morning. I know M.K.C.C. has cancelled their services but Shenley may have services but it's not such a good idea to drive anywhere as it's too risky and I need to be on stand-by to take Carol to her various appointments tomorrow and I can't risk having the car out of action. There is an Amber warning for most areas of the country. It's expected to be heavy until at least midday. 

Alfie not sure what to make of the 'white stuff.' Poked his nose out of the patio doors and went outside but soon came back in. I'm not sure what he thinks of it, but I think he prefers to be tucked up under our duvet where it's warmest.

Snow Flurries

We've had a surprisingly mild winter so far. We have had a couple of days of snow, but not enough to cause too many problems, such as ice on the roads or drifts blocking the main highways or incommoding such things as airports and railways. We have had a couple of mornings when there has been frost and the car's windows have been iced up so we've had to scrape it off. But we were prepared and got a can of deicer as well as a scraper from the supermarket. Problem solved. The car has a good heating system which soon melts off any ice. Unlike the old car, which was so antiquated I don't think they had such refinements in them when they were built back in the days of the Ark. But this morning it was considerably colder and there was a small amount of ice on the windscreen. Strangely it was not on the driver's side but it was easy enough to scrape off. There was a flurry of snowflakes, so are we to be whited out? No, I expect not. I said to Carol, as we sat in the car waiting for it to warm up, "So, the kids will be out building snowmen in the playground then at break time?" To which she replied "No. Because they're not allowed to." How miserable can you get? When I was at school we couldn't wait to rush out at break time and have snowball fights and build snowmen. What is it with today's kill-joys? Health and safety have gone mad. I remember all sorts of things we did when it snowed when I was a child; sledging, walking on ice in ponds (dangerous, I know, thinking about it now.) and particularly making snowmen and even igloos out of snow which was made by rolling snowballs in the snow and making really big blocks of snow/ice, when it froze on thick snow. We made some fantastic igloo-constructions which seemed to last for ages. At school, we had to go out and help clear the playground of snow when I was at Rushmoor School. There was a large pile of snow up against a wall at one end of the playground which seemed to remain there for days on end. It must have frozen hard to such an extent that it began to push the wall at a rather dangerous angle. I'm not sure now whether it actually pushed the wall over, but it would have been quite unsafe. None of this nonsense with health and safety in those days. I think it was the winter of 1962-63, or thereabouts when the snow lasted what seemed like months. So much so that the roads were blocked but it didn't stop people moving about. And school went on regardless. I think we must have been much hardier then, no fussing about it being too cold or anything. And certainly no shortages of food, lorries or trains not getting through.

Close Encounters of the Feline Kind

It was around 5.30 this morning that I went downstairs as I usually do to make our cups of tea when Alfie followed me. He wanted to be let out into the garden so went to the sliding patio door which I opened for him. I have a small L.E.D. torch which I keep on the table for this very purpose so that when it's dark I can see the dogs in the garden as there is still the possibility of either of them disappearing through  the gaps in what purports to be a fence. As Alfie ran towards the fence to the left I saw the black-and-white form of our neighbour's cat. Alfie ran towards the still form of the cat, somewhat unsure exactly what it was. I think perhaps he was still partially asleep, but then he realised what it was and began to bark aggressively, at which the prone form of the cat began to spring into life and bounded across the garden and over the fence, being angrily chased by the still-barking Alfie. I don't think he's been so close to either of the two cats. They have a habit of coming into the garden and sitting on the roof of the shed and peering into the window, with a look as if to say 'we know you can't get his if we sit here. Come and get us, if you dare!' Which only has the effect of setting both dogs off on a barking frenzy. You only have to say 'pussycat!' to Alfie and he's fully aware of what you're saying, very much in the same way that if you pick up either of the dog's leads he starts on his loud barking and getting quite aggressive as he knows we're about to go for a walk. Strange how he becomes a sort of Jekyll and Hyde type-character, his personality changing from quite a placid little dog into a raving little nutcase!

It was snowing quite heavily earlier this morning. Carol wanted to go to Tesco in Oldbrook as she wanted to buy a sandwich for her lunch as the canteen at the Academy seems incapable of providing decent snacks for staff or at least have any left when she gets there to buy something at lunch time.  It had slowed down considerably by the time we had driven into the Academy carpark for me to drop her off. Most of the snow from the other day seems to have thawed but there is some left behind. The car had a slight dusting when we first went out to drive away from the house.

600th Post! . . .And A Fall of Snow

Here we are, this is the 600th post I've written on this blog!

What marks this somewhat historic and some might even go as far as saying- awesome? Well, we woke this morning to find that there was a considerable fall of snow. Carol wasn't entirely sure that the Academy was going to be open so we went of the Milton Keynes council website and by around 7.15 there was a post which said that the place wasn't going to be open for the children until 9.30 and people who arrived by car weren't to use the main carpark as it was still not clear of snow and were to use the Woughton Leisure Centre carpark behind the Academy. I spent some time clearing snow off our car which had been on the drive all night. Quite a thick covering on the roof and the windscreen. But as we weren't driving over to the Academy it was somewhat unnecessary as it turned out. We walked over at around 7.30 and found the Redway was quite thick with snow and walked along with one of Carol's work colleagues. There is a good chance that if there is a further heavy fall of snow as the weather forecast suggests for the remainder of the day the Academy with be shut early. I suppose there is a safety issue with people slipping over and generally keeping people safe although I remember when I was at school we seemed to go in to school regardless of whether it was snowing or not.

Snow- No Show!

The snow we were expecting never materialised. We had a slight shrinking on Saturday morning but it didn't settle. Certainly not the great drifts we had forecast. Poppy loves snow and she was racing around the garden like a young puppy. Meanwhile, Alfie wasn't in the least bit interested. Carol was hoping that there would be enough of the white stuff to have the Academy closed for a couple of days, but it's not going to happen. As I write this it's over-cast, but not cold enough for show.

We were kept awake until gone 2 a.m. by our neighbours. We don't know what they were up to, whether it was someone's birthday, but they came home and there was loud music playing and laughter and goodness knows what going on in their garden, but it not only kept us awake but the dogs started barking and very unsettled.

Even deeper crisper and more . . . even

Walked Carol to the Academy this morning. Well, it didn't seem worth the effort to defrost the car and drive over.  Probably safer in the long run to walk at the moment rather than drive as there's the possibility of shunting into other cars if the road surface is too slippery. The snow is very crisp and even under our feet. I don't think 'even' is a very good description, actually, as most of it has been well trodden my many passing feet and the wheels of cars. The inner circle road is relatively clear but the pathways are inches deep in snow. It's a bit like walking on crunchy salt or even sugar icing. Infact, the whole scene crossing the footbridge looks like the classic Christmas cake decorations. Cars moving along Saxon Street with their lights on and a fog over all Milton Keynes.

Unexpected Snow and Ice

We woke this morning to snow and ice. The weather forecast on BBC 1 didn't predict snow this far south, mostly rain. Carol looked on the Academy website to check if the Academy was going to be open, as it seems that it doesn't take much to close that place.  Alfie and Poppy are somewhat surprised by the 'cold white stuff' which has taken over the garden. I think Poppy likes it, because last year, when we had snow, she seemed to relish being in it. Alfie's not so sure, as he doesn't like extremes of temperature, either very hot of cold. He's quite content to get back under the duvet until things warm up.

This photo was taken around 8.15 and shows snow in our garden. Not particularly heavy fall, but enough.

This next is showing the street outside our front door, again at around 8.15 this morning.

Yesterday when I went over to collect her at 3.30 I couldn't work out what was going on. Apparently they'd had an incident with a burst water pipe and there were firemen walking about the place. She later told me that the children had been sent outside as alarms were set off.

Overnight Snow, but a sunny morning

It has snowed overnight, although it can't have been much. This morning it's quite bright and sunny out. It's really rather beautiful, a hazy sun on snow, giving a sort of muted light. I really should go out with the camera and try and capture this somehow. 

The dogs reaction to snow is intriguing. Poppy seems to love it, and she prances around in it happily. She's got a really thick coat, so she can keep warm. Alfie has a rather thin silky coat and suffers from cold terribly. Infact, at both ends of the temperature range. We took him for a walk at the Marston Millenium  Country Park a couple of years ago on a rather hot day and he was reacting badly, trying to lay in the shade and we feared it might result in fatal results, so we came home quickly, with him making horrible noises in the back of the car. I'm not so sure how he takes to snow. He will go out into the garden and run around, but I don't think he likes it much. You have to keep an eye on hi. He starts to shiver so I am reluctant for him to stay out for long.

Snow still . . .

The gas ran out on Saturday (Christmas Day). It was to be expected, as we have had the heating on constantly since the cold weather has been with us. I had to put the emergency credit on, meaning I had to go outside in the cold and snow and balance on the chair and attempt to put the card in the meter slot. This emergency ran out yesterday morning, so it's been cold in the house. I walked to the local shop in Eaglestone (the nearest place to top up gas and electric credit.) It was easier to walk there rather than defrost the car, which would have taken longer than the time it would take to walk to the shop. The paths there were thick with snow and ice and on several occasions I nearly slipped over. The dustmen thought it necessary to block the way with piles of rubbish bags, which was rather unnecessary. People have been shopping in town, as I saw a couple unloading their car with John Lewis bags. It's amazing that it's a day after Christmas and people are out buying the same sort of things they could have bought a few days ago for a good deal more. I got to the shop to discover that I  couldn't top up the gas as the machine they have their wasn't working. It meant another day without gas. It didn't actually run out until this morning.

We decided to go across Milton Keynes to Budgens to top up the gas card, as we weren't sure where the nearest place is to do this. On the way back we visited Carphone Warehouse to look at new mobiles, as we both want to replace ours. Mine gave up on me ages ago, unfortunately. The battery will no longer charge, and it will cost around £20 for a new one, and for that money I may as well buy a completely new model and top up the credit for £10.

Milton Keynes under snow

It's been snowing continuously all afternoon. As I write this post (4.10 p.m.) and I look out of the window of this room it's getting gradually darker and darker and the garden is several inches under snow. It is still snowing, but not as heavily as it was earlier. The car, which is parked on the drive at the front of the house, has a thick blanket of the white stuff on it's roof and bonnet. By the morning we are going to need a shovel to clear the drive and a snow plough to get out of this estate. The whole of Milton Keynes appears to have completely disappeared under snow. I'm wondering if there are going to be any gritters on the road tonight or, indeed, any snow ploughs clearing the major roads around here. It's as well we don't need to go anywhere important in the car tomorrow.

Overnight Snowfall

We've had quite a bit of snow falling on Milton Keynes overnight. The car had a blanket of the white stuff on it as I walked Carol over to the Academy. She's still not completely over the throaty bug she's had for the last day, but if she stays off work much longer she will need to go to the doctor's for a sick note. Another case of burocracy. When I got back to the house I scraped the snow off the car windows as I need to go out later to do some shopping. We're down to 68p on the electric meter. The gas ran out yesterday and we had to use emergency, so that will need topping up too. According to the B.B.C. weather forecast we can expect more snow, but it can't be as bad as Scotland, which has had something like two feet of snow over the past week or so.

During my last doctor's appointment the other week I mentioned some of the side effects of the drugs I am taking for my heart. I have changed the times I take the Isosorbide Mononitrate, from 4 and 9 p.m. to the original 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. I have some slight headaches (these were really bad when I was originally prescribed this medication, but it wore off after about a month.) I have found that I wake in the night and cannot get back to sleep. I was informed by my doctor that it wouldn't be the Isosorbide Mononitrate that cause the sleeplessness, but the Bisoprolol which I have been taking since I had the original heart attack in May 2006. I have done some research on the internet and one site has mentioned 'sleeplessness' as one side-effect. Certainly, I can say that at times I have the opposite, I get very tired, usually during the afternoon, but at the moment I am finding that I do wake in the night and cannot get back to sleep. I am currently trying other things to help me sleep, such as having a bath before I go to bed and sometimes having a warm, milky drink, such as hot chocolate to help me sleep. My dosage of the Bisoprolol have been halved, from 10mg to 5mg, but I cannot say I have noticed any difference as regards my sleeping pattern. The other side effect has been muscle cramps, which was the chief reason for halving the dosage, and the muscle cramps seem to have subsided, although at times they can be fairly mild. 

Wintery Weather

It's relatively mild this morning, but still quite nippy nevertheless. We are being warned that we can expect the temperature to drop mid-week, and with some possibility of snow in some areas of the country. I just hope that it's not going to be as bad as last winter and the winter before that (read my earlier posts.)