Let it snow, let it snow, let it.....

[RobB]

Well, the forecasters did get it right and the snow did hit this part of Essex mid-afternoon.
And very beautiful the snow looks too.......unless you have to travel in it of course.

So from the safely of the back door, here's a few photos i took this evening of the snow falling on the patio and back garden.

[sound world]

Nice pics RobB. We have about the same amount, 4-5 inches here and the woods hereabouts look fantastic. Meanwhile my Mum in Northampton says there's no snow there...?
Went tobogganing this morning en famille- we have a brilliant field for it nearby, which also happens to be a really beautiful viewpoint over the whole valley. Great fun.

[blue]

Your pics nicely illustrate something that occurred to me this afternoon, watching what turned into a blizzard - namely how huge the snowflakes were!

I was in work today so in constant contact with the public, and it was really nice to see people actually enjoying the snow, even though it was very heavy for much of the afternoon. Everyone seemed very happy about it.

The downside of course is that all the buses stopped running the instant a single snowflake landed on the ground, so I had to walk home. That was 4.30pm and I'd say it was about five inches by that point. More to come over the course of the week. White Christmas again, yay!

[RobB]

We didn't have it as bad as you guys it seems.......a couple of inches possibly but the buses were certainly running.....thankfully,as i would have had to have a three mile walk home yesterday from the shop.
No further snow after last evening and no more is forecast so its just a case to see how many days (weeks?) its going to take for what we do have to disappear.

Its getting lighter now so i'm off out to feed the birds and later to take more piccies as the snow does look lovely.

[RobB]

Just got back indoors from taking a few more snaps:

[blue]

Aww, pretty.

Just looking out onto my back garden and the playing field beyond it, in places the snow is piled up maybe 9 or 10 inches where it's been driven by the wind - it was quite blowy as well as snowy yesterday. There's not a single soul to be seen which is rather sad, I thought the kids would be out there today loving it.

My oldest cat was out in it for five hours! She was crying to go out so I let her, expecting her to shoot straight back in, but no, off she went. It was so funny watching her plow through snow that was up to her shudders, as we'd say back home.

I suspect she went to see one of her old ladies and actually spent most of the five hours curled up in front of a fire somewhere eating cake.

[RobB]

I suspect she went to see one of her old ladies and actually spent most of the five hours curled up in front of a fire somewhere eating cake.

So long as she wasn't eating my birds!

The good thing about the snow is that it provides evidence of nightly visitors from their track marks left in the snow. This morning there were cat, rabbit, bird and fox tracks all over the garden. The foxes paw prints went right across the pond.......so he obviously knows about cold temperatures and ice.

[blue]

Oh they're not daft, animals. I do feel sorry for them though, having to forage in the snow. I can't see many birds about outside today.

Day off today thankfully so I didn't have to go out, but I took a walk over to the local shop to get a few necessities. Nice to see some kids actually out playing, but strangely, with two great big playing fields in close proximity where they could have any amount of fun, they were hanging round the shopping centre. No imagination these days, kids.

Rob, the bird population is safe from my oldest cat, she's a useless hunter. I don't think she'd know what to do with one if she caught one, to be honest. She tends to bring in strange things - one time it was two dragonflies in the act of mating, which I released safely back into the garden, and more recently a bat which I'm sure was already dead when she found it. Amazing little thing, I've never seen one up close before so I took the opportunity to study it - they're really beautiful in fact.

I thoroughly enjoyed having a walk through the deep snow, but I'm concerned about work this week. I'm supposed to be going in every night until Christmas Eve to do the late closing, which is going to be fun if the buses insist on not running.

[RobB]

Funnily enough, i have a playing field behind my place too.
And yes, i've noticed that yopu don't see kids playing over there like you use to.
When i was young all the local kids (the boys anyway) would gather over there to play football or cricket,especially during the summer holidays. Now you rarely see anyone apart from when organised youth football matches are played or with the occasional dog walker.

As for the reasons, it could be a safety issue.....when i was young us kids got everywhere and there was never any restriction as to when and where we could go. It was a case of being told 'either you stay in,or you stay out but you're not going to keep going in and out'.
So we normally chose 'out' and in the summer went out after breakfast time and stayed out til darkness fell.

Another reason is that kids today have too much money so they can go into town and spend money on drinks and food and meet up with friends. I had to make do with 25p a week and that didn't go far so we had to make do with a bag of sweets to last all day and make our own entertainment. Going to the cinema was an annual treat.

And yet another reason could be that kids today have indoor persuits like computers and playstations etc so perhaps its not surprising that you don't see kids oh and about playing in the fresh air.

I don't think any more snow is forecast but its so cold what we do have is going to be about for some time i fear. I have the shop on Tuesday and Friday so hoepfully i'm gonna get into town (three miles away) without too many problems. I think i''ll rely on buses rather than get my car out.

Bats are stange little things.....like mice with wings really.

.

[blue]

As for the reasons, it could be a safety issue.....when i was young us kids got everywhere and there was never any restriction as to when and where we could go. It was a case of being told 'either you stay in,or you stay out but you're not going to keep going in and out'.
So we normally chose 'out' and in the summer went out after breakfast time and stayed out til darkness fell.

Ha, same here! In the summer holidays the mums would make up sandwiches for us and the older kids would be put in charge of the group, and off we'd go, either to the local baths or the big park on the other side of town, or up into the hills to go swimming in the local loch. No adult supervision whatsoever, the 'big' kids were expected to look after the little ones and keep them safe. Which they did.

It'd be unthinkable now.

Bats are stange little things.....like mice with wings really.

.

They have the most amazing little faces, not really mouse-like at all. The wing structure is incredible too, so fine and delicate.

It's gotten dark outside now ... there's something so magical about evening when it's all snowy outside.

[sound world]

Funnily enough, i have a playing field behind my place too.
And yes, i've noticed that yopu don't see kids playing over there like you use to.
When i was young all the local kids (the boys anyway) would gather over there to play football or cricket,especially during the summer holidays. Now you rarely see anyone apart from when organised youth football matches are played or with the occasional dog walker.

As for the reasons, it could be a safety issue.....when i was young us kids got everywhere and there was never any restriction as to when and where we could go. It was a case of being told 'either you stay in,or you stay out but you're not going to keep going in and out'.
So we normally chose 'out' and in the summer went out after breakfast time and stayed out til darkness fell.

Another reason is that kids today have too much money so they can go into town and spend money on drinks and food and meet up with friends. I had to make do with 25p a week and that didn't go far so we had to make do with a bag of sweets to last all day and make our own entertainment. Going to the cinema was an annual treat.

And yet another reason could be that kids today have indoor persuits like computers and playstations etc so perhaps its not surprising that you don't see kids oh and about playing in the fresh air.

I don't think any more snow is forecast but its so cold what we do have is going to be about for some time i fear. I have the shop on Tuesday and Friday so hoepfully i'm gonna get into town (three miles away) without too many problems. I think i''ll rely on buses rather than get my car out.

Bats are stange little things.....like mice with wings really.

.

You forgot one very important reason, RobB, and that is the amount of traffic these days-at some point within 100 yards of your average British home, or more often nearer, there's a racetrack full of metal killing machines. People drive their kids to school because they're frightened of their kids being on busy roads. You work it out.
When I went back to Braintree to visit my Dad's grave 15 years ago, the farm 200 yds from our house, where all my experience of nature, ponds, streams, wildlife etc was fostered, and where I played out just about every day, had completely disappeared to be replaced by a dual carriageway.
When I went back 5 years ago, the grassy lane which went behind our houses, where all my dens were, where I played football, chase, hide-and-seek etc etc, had been tarmacced, widened, and three-story buildings built all along it.

[RobB]

Sadly,sometimes its a mistake to take a wander down memory lane.

The abandoned orchards and allotments that my grandfather owned and where i use to play as a kid have now become a housing estate. And the sandpits & gravel works where the local kids played have been dug out now and a retail park and bypass built. A lot can change in forty years unfortunately.

The traffic issue is a strange one. Its the very fact that these parents drive their kids to school in the first place that is contributing to the amount of traffic.If they let their kids walk there wouldn;'t be a traffic issue. Very much a chicken & egg scenario though.

But its certainly very noticable that when the kids are on their school holidays, like now for example, how much quieter the roads are in the mornings and late afternoons.

Roads are certainly dangerous but its a good training ground for kids to learn under supervision how to cope with dangerous situations. Thats surely better than being over-protective and not exposing them to any dangerous situations.

I'm reminded of an Steptoe & Son episode where Albert laments about an old dog he once had:
(paraphrasing)

Albert: "I had that dog for 15 years and he didn't have a single day of ill health in his life. Then one day he got out and was run over in the road and was killed instantly."

Harold: "Of course he was, he'd never seen a car before."

[blue]

A customer told me at work today that we're supposed to have another 4-6 inches of snow overnight .... no sign of it so far, I hope it doesn't turn up. Getting back from work this week has been grim, and I'm supposed to be going out for a meal tomorrow night.

Waited an hour for a bus last evening, because I just couldn't face walking home again after freezing in the shop all day. In that hour, I watched 3 buses to Oxford, 2 to Milton Keynes, 3 to Buckingham and 2 to High Wycombe depart the station. All of those routes take over an hour and go through little winding country lanes that presumably are quite tricky to negotioate in the snow. Any idea why there was only one bus in an hour to the housing estate I live on that's 15 minutes drive from the bus station, with clear roads all the way? [censor]

[RobB]

In that hour, I watched 3 buses to Oxford, 2 to Milton Keynes, 3 to Buckingham and 2 to High Wycombe depart the station.

hmmm.....Beth,you do realise that you're only one short step from being our resident train (or bus) spotter don't you?

Any idea why there was only one bus in an hour to the housing estate I live on that's 15 minutes drive from the bus station, with clear roads all the way? [censor]

Now, its funny you should ask that!..... nope, no idea at all.

Yesterday at my shop i was telling everyone that we were in for heavy snow showers this morning (courtesy of the BBC weather forecast of yesterday morning).......instead its relatively mild and dry with a thaw under way.
I won't mention the weather again i think.

[sound world]

We're supposed to drive up to Northampton (where, according to my sis, there is no snow still) on Xmas Day . Meanwhile it's Winter Wonderland here still, so whether (weather?) we get that far is an interesting question. I hope so, because Robin and I have worked really hard on a shadow show for my family's Xmas present-made a booth (looks great), made a soundtrack, made dozens of puppets, rigged up a fancy lighting system with 4 lights, made special FX etc etc.
Apparently it was -18 degrees in Pershore, Worcs, the other day. That's getting on for Captain Scott temperatures. 'I am going outside and i may be some time'.