Well, it certainly has snowed today! It started off this morning with very light flakes, but by lunchtime it was coming down thick and fast...
We managed to get all the banking and the shopping done by lunch and Dad and I went out into the car park and put some salt down, courtesy of the great guys at BACA who very kindly lent us their little salt spreader...it's like a mini gritter! At £175 it was a bit pricey, but they wouldn't hear of us buying one to use just for a few days a year, so now we can borrow it whenever we need it. That's good neighbours for you! I think a big box of chocolates will be heading their way on Monday!
At 2.45pm I decided to head out, do the post and collect Sophie from school. She'd already asked if I could give one of her friends a lift home and with the weather I thought I'd give myself plenty of time! I'm so glad I did. When I came out of our road I could see the traffic backed up and as I tried to get off the estate to do the post, there were long tailbacks on the main dual carriageway. Giving up on the post, I turned the car around and headed back towards Sophie's school as I was frightened of being stuck and not being able to pick her up.
The roads were no longer clear - there was thick slush covering the tarmac and we just crawled along in very slippery conditions. I dreaded one section of the road, a really steep hill that I had to drive down, but I managed it and got to the school at the normal time I arrive every day. I could see Sophie coming down the road so I pulled in and asked whether the school buses were running. She told me she hadn't seen any at all, so I told her to walk back up to the school and find Mikey. There was no way I was going to leave him there! I'm afraid Sophie's friend, who lives about ten minutes away, had to walk home!
Of course, I was a mite stressed by all this and to make matters worse, some jumped-up little pompous man knocked on my window to say he was a Parish Councillor (really?) and that I had parked in a very dangerous position and to move my car. I refused, saying I was waiting for my children and he just kept saying, in a stupid voice, to move the car otherwise I'd have someone hit me from behind...
"Fine, then," said I, feeling like I wanted to wrap my hands around his neck, "Let them hit me." There was no way I was going to leave my children! However, a huge bus then came around the corner so I moved the car a little way up the road and walked back to the school to find Sophie and Mikey who were walking back up to meet me. Of course, when we drove back down there was another car parked there, no doubt an anxious parent picking up their child like me!
Driving home was terrifying. One car ahead of me was stuck so I gingerly went around it and set off towards home, praying that we would be OK. Luckily we only have one big hill to go up and I just put my foot down and went for it. The only hairy moment was coming down the other side when I gently braked and the car went all over the road! Luckily nothing was coming the other way and, in fact, there was hardly anything about and I only saw one school bus!
The sense of relief when I finally got my babies home was enormous! I was literally shaking from the concentration of driving and the fear of either getting stuck or hitting another car or a tree. As I was so cold from all the salt-spreading at work, I went straight into the bath with another freshly baked cheese scone!
We had planned on going to the gym, but that was obviously not a good idea! However, at around 5pm I received a text from them saying there were going to close early at 5.30pm...no guilt then!
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