January Rmf

[zico's mum]

Off to walk the Ds then will head off to walk into work,means leaving Ds for much longer than I would like as normally takes me about 7 minutes but I have no choice sadly.

[blackmagic]

Helly can you give them a kennel for the night?

 

 

My postie is wonderful.

He had to dig himself out 18 inches of snow to get out of his village and then drive 20 miles along a single track road that is four inches of snow on top of two inches of slush. And he is still smiling.

 

Spare a thought for the couple who live at the Cape Wrath lighthouse on the very northern tip of Scotland. The wife left home on 23rd December to go to Inverness to buy the Christmas turkey. This involves an 11 mile drive to the ferry terminal and a ferry boat over to the mainland.

 

Before she got home again the snow and ice arrived and her husband cannot drive the 11 miles from the lighthouse to the ferry terminal, to pick her up, as the road is frozen solid. So she has been stuck on the mainland, living in a friend's caravan, since then.

 

Her husband and his six spaniels are stuck at home, still waiting for the turkey.

 

They will have Christmas dinner and open their presents when she manages to get home.

[Laurel n Hardy]

caspers gone

 

 

So very sorry Alicia

 

YouTube is an arse

 

The dogs are playing out in the snow again, what is it about snow that makes them so giddy?

 

Am in work today, couldnt get in yesterday so chilled out with my lot at home

 

Snow was so deep out the back that when Cliffy jumped off the bottome step

all I could see was his tail, and his ears on top of the snow, I laughed

so hard I nearly fell over, my poor boy was not impressed, and he just went to the toilet

where he was standing. Archie of course loons around like a puppy in it

[greys mum]

 

We now have got snow. But it did wait until I had nearly finished work.

 

[merledogs]

Roads are still a mess as the council haven't bothered with snow ploughs or, apparently, any grit. Thankfully there was very little traffic about.

 

Went to vets first - Mia has cystitis (which I suspected) so has Metacam. She was an absolute angel - this is the first time I've ever had to take her to the vets since I got her and she just curled up inside the carrier and didn't utter a peep. When I took her out she went straight to the vet and while he was examining her, she rolled on her back for a belly rub He said she was the coolest cat he'd ever seen. I left the carrier out on the dining table and she likes it so much that she's gone back inside for a snuggle

 

After I dropped Mia home, I went to find an Abbey cashpoint cos I needed to activate my replacement card. I then did my shopping in Morrisons and then to get some Calor Gas on the way home.

 

When I got home after all that, there was a message to say that Milly's ashes had been dropped off, so after unpacking the shopping, back to the vets I went.

 

I got some Bill Oddie wild bird food from Mozzas which I have put out on the frozen birdbath (after shifting the snow off it) and a large wood pigeon is currently stuffing his face, whilst a magpie lurks on the fence waiting for him to finish I also put some peanuts out in case there are some squirrels about. My next door neighbour always hangs loads of stuff out for the little birds, but the bigger birds and squirrels can't get to them, so I'm catering for them instead.

 

Milly is home where she belongs and the gas fire is warming up the living room, which the dogs are very happy about

 

I have managed to pick up my work emails so am now going to have a cuppa and surf for a bit.

 

ETA : Mozzas were having a sale on plants, so I picked up an Azalea and a Rhododendron for £1.25 each.

Edited January 6, 2010 by merledogs

[cycas]

Our boiler has chosen this moment to die. What fine timing it has.

 

 

There's this new requirement that airlines send details of all their crew and passengers to the Government, so I am writing a system for an airline I work with to do this. I have to send test data to prove it works, so...

 

I've just sent HM Govt notification that Tara Banana Boxer, Molly Dog and Az Lurcher will be the crew of a plane full of random passengers to Grenoble on 20th Jan! Mind your heads if you live in France....

 

You have to get joy from test data somehow....

[eve]

We have lots of snow and got sent home from work at lunchtime If it's like this tomorrow we can work from home

 

Pleased Mia cat has got some meds and hope she's soon on the mend. Also glad Milly has come home at last

 

Hope your walk to work isn't too horrible zico's mum. I'm sure the D's will be fine being left for a bit longer today. They've got each other for company and are probably snuggled up happily while you're trudging through the snow worrying about them.

 

at Cliffy disappearing in the snow

[Gemstone]

Had a fun dog walk and am now back home drinking coffee. Boys schools are shut again tomorrow so another lie in

[Wendbert]

I am home Once I got out of the Bowood estate, the main roads were ok. Will be tricky tomorrow though if we get the overnight freeze predicted!

 

Taking the boys out to play in the snow now

[Helly]

Alex - glad Milly is back home

 

I've been out to the wholesalers and had fun on the car park. went into a spin so i hit the brakes, dragged the wheel and made sure i did a real proper one... in for a penny etc Driving home with a huge pile of tins and sacks of food made me a little more sensible

 

My lovely staff are going home in a taxi having walked silly distances to get here today. I think they have gone way beyond what most people would do to get here and I want them home safely before having a day off tomorrow

[Yantan]

at Cycas and the doggie flight crew.

 

Our county council have been quiet creative I think in sorting out the grit/salt shortage. The following is taken from an email they sent out earlier today

 

A fleet of gritters and trucks have been out on Cumbria's minor roads in a massive effort to make hazardous icy roads safer in the current extreme winter conditions.

 

The county council has received many requests from the public during the recent cold spell to provide additional road gritting, however as a result of a national shortage of rock salt it had to announce on Monday that it would be conserving dwindling rock salt stocks by only treating priority one and two routes - those chosen to maintain transport connections for as many communities as possible - with rock salt.

 

Now after a further spell of freezing conditions and a period of intensive contingency planning by Cumbria Highways, priority 3 routes and other areas of most need will be treated using sea washed stone chippings from a local Cumbria supplier.

 

The small fragments of rock will allow vehicles to gain some traction on the roads compacted with snow and ice. Rock salt would only have a limited effect anyway on roads that are already compacted with snow - the top level of snow would melt but could then refreeze later and make the road even more hazardous. There are ample supplies of chippings to treat minor roads in Cumbria, allowing precious reserves of rock salt to be used to treat the county's 1,500 miles of priority one and two routes - the equivalent of gritting a stretch from Penrith to Barcelona.

 

 

[owl]

Well done Mia cat, get well soon

 

Brill move by Cumbria CC

[sanrossscot]

No agility tonight, looks like it is starting to freeze now. Oh well let's see what tomorrow brings.

[chickentikka]

 

San you put your dog in the tumble dryer

 

for Mia cat, what a good girl and for Milly being home

 

I put on my sturdy walking boots and trudged through the snow to the station this morning. Trains were perfect. This afternoon the trains went t*ts up even though the weather was exactly the same as this morning and I was stood on Tile Hill station for an hour waiting to get home. Tile Hill station is the ar*se end of beyond - even the waiting room was locked. I'm still freezing. The lying toerag of an announcer lady kept saying that the train was delayed by 5 minutes 12 flipping times

 

Before I left work I checked on the internet but the national rail site was falling over because of overuse so rang the phoneline which said 'some delays'. My luffley boss first offered me his (very posh and expensive) car to drive myself home and he'd get a lift as he lives close to another colleague - I just had visions of me and car in a ditch, he then said I should get a taxi (from Coventry to Northampton) and claim it back if the trains were cancelled. I should have got a taxi but was being the forever optimist and kept waiting 5 minutes

[owl]

Glad you are safely home, tiks.

 

I took a really nice phone pic of Wispa on the mountain top today, and have been vainly trying to upload it to my new Photobucket album by email and also straight from mobile. No luck yet I have successfully sent it to my email a/c so if any kind person has a moment to post it for me please, I can email it on to them.