Dodge the Snow

We drove up from home today. As history will assess, this may or may not have been an exceptional weather experience, but the media have captioned it The Best from the East. Some extremely cold Siberian weather had gradually been approaching and yesterday it brought chaos to the east of the country. However,. in Cornwall, whilst very cold, the past few days have been very sunny. Wrapped up well, short walks out, even just up the road to Tesco, could be a useful diversion from permanent attachment to a desk and computer.

But: the forecast last night was that heavy snow falls were likely in Cornwall from around 11 am today and by mid afternoon in the Midlands. As a result, we set the alarm for 7 having loaded up much of what needed to go into the car. In the end were were away by 8.45 on remarkably clear roads. The gritters had been out but we did take it just a tad slower than usual until well north of Exeter on the M5.

We made good time and it was just before 11 that we pulled into Sedgemoor Services for a comfort break. As we were so early we treated ourselves to a slightly longer break and a cup of coffee! The next stretch was slightly busier but still comparatively light.

We arrived at Droitwich Spa Marina just before 1 and quickly unloaded the car and set about setting up inside the boat. We quickly checked that the water tap was not frozen and immediately fill the tank, just in case the temperature dropped very quickly.

Within half an hour, the first blizzard arrived but, whilst quite fierce, it did not last long so only a thin covering on the boats. During the afternoon, as we tucked ourselves inside the boat and stoked up the fire, further snow fell but nothing like the amounts need to bring traffic to a standstill. nevertheless, we opted not to venture out for a trip to the shops as we had brought with us all that we need for today. We will need to go soon as our plan was to do most of the stocking up after we arrived. (Of course, we did bring our usual order from Gary Dutton, our great local butcher)

It was beginning to look definitely wintry when, around 5.30. Mike poked his head out through the front door to set up the tv dish. The dusting of snow meant that the magnetic mount was quite slippery so  we may have to adjust it later if the wind gets up. An extra rope around the base just in case it tips over.

Last trip, Christine became quite keen on the idea of having one of the so-called eco-fans which distribute warm air around the cabin. In the time back home we ordered one on-line (sorry to hear that Maplins has collapsed but no so sorry about ToysRus - both putting their demise to the prevalence of on-line shopping)

Still, the fan started up almost immediately it was out of the box and, whilst not magic, it does help to warm parts that sometimes feel a bit left out in the cold! (The fan is spinning so fast that it is almost invisible in the picture, just a grey shadow) For those who have not come across these fans before, they use an effect that generates electricity from just standing on a hot surface - enough to turn the fan at some speed.