Keith, Mike and I left at 8am this morning - a journey I was not looking forward to! The temperatures had dropped during the night and it was -3c on the way to Kettering. It looked like the gritters hadn't been out at all, as the roads were covered in snow.
Both Mike and I urged Keith to take it easy - my car is not the best to drive in these conditions, despite it being German! We went out of the village towards Mawsley and then picked up the A43, which was nose to tail with vehicles all going slowly. Keith took it very easy going down the hill towards the A14, as the new traffic lights by the industrial estate can change to red very quickly!
Once we were on the large housing estate leading to the golf club, the going was slow and slippery again, and as we turned into the very narrow road which goes over a river and the A14, we had problems. The car couldn't get a grip on the snowy road, which had been hardly used, so we reversed down to the estate road and Mike got out there. It was only a short walk the rest of the way but we didn't want to get stuck!
In fact, as Keith tried to turn the car around we did nearly get stuck, and then he hit the kerb as he slowed down at a roundabout, so I was a nervous wreck! We had to go to Tesco, so we attempted to drive through the town but realised that a lorry was stuck going up one of the hills! We turned around at a roundabout and headed back towards the A14, which was a slightly better route. The road was busy with lots of lorries and I was astonished to see that the outside lane was still covered in snow! This weather had been forecast since Thursday so why weren't we better prepared?
I was very relieved when we arrived in the Tesco car park as we'd had to negotiate another hill to get there! We parked the car as best as we could (all the lines were covered in snow) and went to do our shopping in an almost deserted supermarket! We met Sue again and she said she'd walked to work this morning, leaving her house at 4.15am! She deserves a medal!
The journey home was a bit better but we followed a lorry on the A43 who had snow billowing from the roof of the truck. It was like a blizzard!
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| View from the car |
It was a gorgeous morning, though, with clear blue skies and sunshine. All the trees and bushes were laden with snow and it looked so beautiful. We arrived home, put the shopping away and had a belated breakfast in the conservatory. One of the first things I did was feed our poor feathered friends who appreciated the seed, mealworms, fat snax and suet pellets.
Once breakfast was out of the way I gave the downstairs of the house a clean, hoovered upstairs and did two loads of washing. I also cleaned out the understairs cupboard in the kitchen which was full of shoes and definitely needed sorting out!
At lunchtime, Sophie and I went for a walk in the snow. It was fabulous!
This is the first significant snowfall we've had for about two years, so it was wonderful to walk along and hear the crunch under our feet, and see it sparkling in the sunlight! We walked to the village and met lots of other people out having some exercise in the crisp, cold air. Yesterday we didn't venture out at all, so we needed this half-hour walk!
Keith went to get Mike from work, earlier than planned, and Sophie and I had lunch. The afternoon was spent sorting out some finances and mooching about. The snow has lasted all day but over the course of the week it's set to become milder, windy and rainy, so it was great to make the most of it while we could!
Before dinner, Mike came bounding downstairs and said he'd been furloughed from work until next Tuesday. Why this hasn't happened before, I'll never know. The golf club is closed at the moment so what on earth can they all do in this weather?!
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