Tuesday 21st December 2010

So, Monday rolled round and it was time to head back to work. The snow from the weekend had not melted and so we slithered our way down into Dover so I could drop Jools off; and then back up the side of the valley for the main road to Sandwich and Ramsgate beyond.
The main road although being a four lane one, was down to one lane in each direction, and speeds were down to 30mph. But, I got to work on time, ready for a full day at the coal face.
So, a busy day went well and despite a late finish due to meetings; I was in good spirits as we were off to a Christmas party in the evening. Sadly the snow Gods had different ideas….

The BBC had forecast light snow from midnight and turning heaving by three; as it turned out the snow had begun by six and was turning into a proper blizzard by seven. We looked out the office window at the back of the house across the valley to the village the other side; just a few lights shone through the snow. We decided not to head out, and called Jools’ father to break the news.

I looked in the freezer, and all that we could cook from frozen was lamb-burgers; and so soon they were sizzling away in a frying pan, as outside the snow swirled and began to pile up. As has become normal, I sat on the sofa watching the game on TV, with a lap full of kittens; except when they see the players running across the screen, and they go to see where the ball is going to, and no matter how much they paw the screen they can’t play with that ball.

Anyway, we went to bed at ten, with the snow still blowing and settling outside. We were fully expecting to wake up to drifts of snow and not being able to get out of our drive in the car. However, when we looked closer at the street, we saw that car tracks made in the snow had gone down to the tarmac; the snow was melting.
But there was still the task of clearing the drive to do, eat breakfast and then go out into the world of idiots and see if we could avoid them. As it turned out, with the schools being off already, the roads were all but empty, and the drive into Dover and then to Ramsgate was painless and thankfully uneventful.