What Larks!
9 January

Well, what larks! and what an adventure I had!

The snow came down.

The photograph above taken by Nasa's Terra satellite on 7 January 2010 gives some idea as to the extent of the big freeze which began over the weekend but really kicked in with a vengeance on Tuesday. If you look closely, somewhere to the south of Kirkudbright, you can just pick out Jake Gyllenhaal yomping through the snow.

I was at work. I allowed the unemployed group to go home at around about two o' clock. We were allowed to go home early from work shortly after. However, so was everyone else and the roads just filled up.

Two and a half hours later, by 5pm, I had only travelled one mile in the direction of home and none of the cars were moving. So, I did some quick thinking and pulled into a side road with houses on it and parked sensibly there. Then I got out of my car and walked into the centre of Liverpool. By this time it was getting dark and the temperature was dropping. Liverpool is a very hilly city and the snow was turning to ice and cars were slipping and sliding on the hills. It was very dangerous.

However, I was warm and safe. I went to the train station and the trains were running and so, by half past six, I was home and tucking into a good hot meal and very glad that my Rossi was there to greet me.

But my adventure doesn’t stop there. I was up very early the following morning and got another train into Liverpool. Then I walked back to my car, started it up and drove very carefully to work. Very few people made it into work on the Wednesday and on the Thursday, when they were in, stories began to emerge of people on the Wirral not arriving home until gone ten o' clock at night. Clearly, I had made the right decision to park up.

I decided by lunchtime on Wednesday to have the afternoon off. So, I drove home in the light so that I could see where the icy patches on the road were. I also filled my car with petrol just in case. And I had a hot bath because the muscles in my legs were aching from doing the special "I’m not going to fall over on an icy pavement" walk.

For first twenty-four hours, at least, everyone was in the mood to simply admire the beauty of it all.

Then different thoughts set in.

Of course, most people are sensible. But then you get the odd stupid driver who thinks that they can still drive as though the roads are clear. And, in Liverpool, this has been the main bone of contention. Gritting and clearing of the roads has been lamentable. Even by the end of the week, there were major arterial routes with large patches and lumps of black ice on them.

Luckily, I have enough latitude in my work that I can arrive early and leave (still) in the light. I've been journeying in the dark and the cold in order to avoid the majority of the traffic on the inbound journey and coming home on the dot of four. And one bonus of the current weather has been the absolutely clear evenings which have given me a safer journey home.

This has to have been the longest cold spell I've experienced since moving back to Merseyside. We probably had more snow in 2000/2001. But that little flurry didn't feel as cold for as long. We had minus temperatures and a freezing pond before Christmas last year. And it's hardly been above freezing since. The pond has ice which is inches thick, we've had the central heating on for the full twenty-four hours a day and the cats have been spending most of the day asleep on the bed.

Inevitably, there have been disruptions. My Quaker training which was due to take place next weekend will, in all probability, be postponed. I was very glad that I had decided some time back not to go into Liverpool to FACT to attend a live relay of Der Rosenkavalier from the Metropolitan Opera in New York. It would have been a waste of £30 as I should have stayed at home.

There have been the occasional moments of looking at empty shelves (bread and milk mostly) in one shop but then we've managed to find what we want elsewhere. There are bound to be stories of people panic buying and then throwing excess food away as waste. We've managed to avoid that.

Interestingly, it appears to have been the supermarkets who have lost out in all this. Roland tells me that many local butchers and greengrocers have reported a marked spike in there turnover as people have shopped locally rather than motoring to out of town complexes. Maybe this will spark some further reassessment of extended supply chains.

From down South, I've had news that my goddaughter Mary has been enjoying some days off school and has been sledging on Epsom Downs. There's something remarkable about the sledge itself. It was made by my father, Albert. It was made for me and my sister Linda (Mary's mum) when I was Mary's age - that's some forty-five or more years ago. There's a family photograph of me pulling it down the back garden in the snow with Linda sitting there quite contentedly. That's some craftsmanship for you.

I've taken the opportunity to do a little comfort food cooking. My sister, Linda, gave me a National Trust cookbook for Christmas and I've started looking through it. I began with a steak and kidney pie which was very tasty and I've also now done lamb leg steaks casseroled in ale with prunes and raisins. This is the first cookbook I've owned where I feel that I can simply do the recipes without too much hassle. Even if I only do one new thing a month I shall be delighted. The lamb was excellent, by the way, but I think that I shall experiment by leaving out the cloves next time.