Sunday, December 28, 2014

travels in snow

hi there

actually i have opted to dispense with sentimental hygiene, mostly. yes the day today marks one year since i have been home and, of course, one year that the 75% of my family that you actually all like and much prefer have all been in their new home. it's so far so very, very good, and we are rather looking to the future years instead of reminiscing too much. but, look you see, many thanks to all of those who have helped us get to where we are. you know who you are and we love you.

onwards to today, then, and an adventure of sorts. yesterday was, for the most part, dominated by the excitement of snow arriving. today was to, in similar ways, be dominated by the challenge of attempting to drive around in it. neither i nor my (considerably) better half had driven in snow before. today, with it being present, and the roads icy, but not to excess, seemed like to be the best time to do some experimenting to this extent, or if you like to that effect.

was it cold today, you ask? why yes it was, according to the dashboard.



before we could commence navigating the icy and hopefully not too treacherous roads, there was the small matter of needing to make sure that the car was ready to go. although elements of the snow had melted away over the course of the evening, our car - as indeed was the case with the majority of other cars around - was clinging on to the snow as much as it could.

time, then, for my (considerably) better half to continue her embracing of a love for all things snow and see if she couldn't get it, along with the ice, off of the windscreen. 



in tremendous fairness to her, the enthusiasm she has thus far expressed for all things snow was not diminished by this most arduous and cold to the touch of jobs. she took to the task with some gusto and enthusiasm.

did i assist? yes, of course, but not at the times i was busy stood taking pictures.



off we went, then, safely and soundly. most of the major and secondary to major roads are in fact gritted by the council, so they were relatively safe to drive on. the minor roads, such as the ones in the village where we live, tend to fair not so well when it comes to gritting. we went rather steadily along those roads, then, and experienced no incident beyond getting to where we wished to be.

where is it that we went? shopping. we figured that most of the Boxing Day and yesterday crowds would have been and gone, and that it would thus be a relatively calm and not too distractingly busy time to have a gander at what was on offer. we were mostly correct - the places were busy, but not packed to any sort of silly levels. also, there was no punching, kicking and grabbing by shoppers, which was nice.

what did we get? lots of different things. for some reason a couple of you really quite like, or are somewhat partial to, seeing what new threads i have obtained. here, for those of you, is a less than fantastic image of some smart new clothes i found today, then.



best of the bunch? perhaps to feature in a later picture, to be honest, but of those on display here i would say the new black strides are smart. they seem to have relatively decent sized pockets, which is something of a bewilderingly rare feature of English trousers. do the people of this nation no longer keep things in pockets?

 the boys had some Christmas money, or if you like money for Christmas, from Grandma and Grandad. they were, understandably, keen to spend it. whilst James got some very smart new football boots, William was fortunate enough to find this.



yes, a very smart remote control K9 off of Doctor Who. looks impressive and expensive, doesn't it? impressive, yes, expensive, quite surprisingly not. this came in at a price that gave a penny in change off of thirty notes, which surprised me, and indeed the lady on the till. nice find!

what we have experienced of it thus far is quite smart, although we have not had it riding around yet. we, alas, did not read the back of the box properly, and do not yet have the right batteries. i shall be off to fix that in the morning.

i did indeed, if you are wondering, try to remedy the battery situation earlier this evening. a walk down the village, alas, ended in me finding that the two shops open on an early Sunday evening did not stock the batteries we require. hey ho, i was able at least to get you a picture of the tree all lit up, as i believe i promised to in a post from earlier in the week.



Christmas trees, i suppose i should say, for as you can sort of almost make out there, it seems that two trees have lights all over them which signifies them as being trees of Christmas.

anyway, back to threads. best clothing acquisition of the day today? undoubtedly these smart new boots, underwritten and financed with much love and with my greatest appreciation by my (considerably) better half.




although the footwear of choice i had been using appeared fine on the surface, the tread on them had all but gone. they were of little practical use in this colder, icier weather. for safety i required some more, and that they are exceptionally stylish is an added bonus.

i shall no doubt take them on an inaugural, or if you like first, walk tomorrow. well, when i say take, i mean wear - i am not going to carry them around like some sort of plank or doilham or, if you like, divvy.

right, dishes do not magically wash themselves it seems - something of a failure of mankind not to have that fixed so close to 2015, but no matter. best i go and attend to them in the traditional, perhaps conventional, way.

i trust that you have all had a most excellent weekend!





be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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