The Untied Kingdom? - the British thread 2021

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  • Penny SPenny S Shipmate
    No milk delivered yesterday, Luckily we had not been racing through the previous one, and may have enough until tomorrow without breaking in to the UHT stockpile. Email from dairy - unforeseen circumstances!
  • MiffyMiffy Shipmate
    Envying everyone their snow. We’ve barely had a dusting, with the occasional, very occasional flurry, but even that’s gone now.
  • Snow has largely disappeared here. I went for an early morning walk as I have a lot to do today. I've already checked my emails and prepped for this evening's lecture (inequality and young people). I've got a little bit of admin to do before a tea break and beginning another pile of marking (social relationships and health and wellbeing).
  • How is the heating going, Heavenlyannie? Everything working as promised? Are you all settling in, and settling down?
  • NenyaNenya Shipmate
    We're experiencing the first really personal effects of Brexit this week. Mr Nen needs a new battery for his car and there are none in the country. Phone up the suppliers and he gets told, "Sorry. We're having no end of supply problems because of Brexit." There is Much Muttering (that charming Cotswold village) chez Nen along the lines of, "Looks like there's going to be a heavy expensive paperweight sitting on our drive for a few weeks."

    In other news, I've ordered some new books and they're due to be delivered tomorrow morning between 10.14am and 1.14pm. :smiley:
  • Wesley J wrote: »
    How is the heating going, Heavenlyannie? Everything working as promised? Are you all settling in, and settling down?
    It is lovely to have a constant reliable warmth; we now realise that our heating has been underperforming for years. The instant hot water is good too. We also like using an app to control everything (my husband used to design Smart water meters).
    Alas, I have a lot of work to catch up with after the disruption, I have 2 weeks marking to do in one week plus 2 evening tutorials and an evening meeting. My research study is falling by the wayside.
  • Cold here but clear and sunny. No snow but the sand was frozen when Little Miss Feet and I went down to the beach. Very hard to make a sandcastle when you're struggling to get the spade through the frozen crust.
  • Baptist TrainfanBaptist Trainfan Shipmate
    edited February 10
    Wow, that's amazing! No snow here but cold, sunny and bright with washing drying nicely on the line. Bracing walk to the supermarket but I came home by bus (although one has to plan this, as timetables have been slashed and buses are also tending to run early).
  • KarlLBKarlLB Shipmate
    Wesley J wrote: »
    Here as well, in Continental WesShire, another helping of The White Stuff overnight - it's again of that wet, heavy kind that sticks to trees and overhead lines, and which looks particularly pretty. As the Meteorological People predict, the coldest days or rather nights of this winter are upon us now, with nighttime temperatures down to -12°C, and daytime still way below freezing.

    This may sound strange, but I'm always looking forward to a deep freeze episode each winter, with a couple of days lower than -10°C; I've got the clothes, jackets, shoes and gloves, so let it come. :)

    Your opinion may vary.

    I'm with you. I don't like our mild grey muddy winters much.
  • Bishops FingerBishops Finger Shipmate
    edited February 10
    Cold and sn*wy here, but it's dry cold IYSWIM, and therefore somehow more comfortable (not the right word!).

    The downside is that all the water supply pipes and taps in the marina are frozen...
    :disappointed:

    I don't mind mild, but one can have too much in the way of rain and mud.
  • FirenzeFirenze Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    Scheduled delivery postponed and no post - BUT the fish got through! True, he has the incentive that, having bought from his wholesaler, if he doesn't deliver he's stuck with eg 160 pieces of salmon. But heroic nonetheless.
  • la vie en rougela vie en rouge Circus Host, 8th Day Host
    We had just a couple of centimetres of snow here, but not more. This morning we went to the butchers for the purchasing of Toulouse SAUSAGE, and then I thought Captain Pyjamas might like to see the park in the snow. None of it - after a while he climbed back in the pushchair and started crying, and by time we got home was pretty much inconsolable. I never did work out why. I can only think it was a combination of cold hands and cold feet and being hungry. He seems to have got over it and is asleep now.
  • Bishops FingerBishops Finger Shipmate
    edited February 10
    O poor Captain P!

    Hopefully, he's now warm and fed - cold hands, cold feet, and an empty tummy would make the Baby Jesus cry, I should think.

    I've just come back from the Co-Op, also with SAUSAGES (but not from Toulouse...)
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    Poor Captain PJs! :(

    I'm having a very lazy day (my last before I go back to work tomorrow). I had smoked salmon, scrambled eggs and an avocado on TOAST for brunch, and then had an amble* along to the corner shop to get milk (and some CHOCOLATE).

    It's my birthday today, and among the messages on our family Whatsapp group was possibly the most adorable thing I've ever heard: a voice recording my nephew made of himself getting Archie (who's learning to talk) to say "happy birthday Piglet**" My heart is quite melted! :heart:

    * actually more of a trudge: the pavement was a mess of alternating slush and puddle.

    ** he obviously didn't call me Piglet, but you get the idea.

    Leftover chilli con carne for supper, with a glass of WINE.
  • NenyaNenya Shipmate
    Sausages seem to be the order of the week. We had bangers and mash for tea last night. Tonight is Chick Frick, as it's Wednesday.

    Bright and cold today; Mr Nen and I went for a walk and he is a bit happier as he seems to have a way forward with his car battery.

    I've done a fair few admin-type things and am feeling reasonably satisfied. Something I keep putting off is revisiting my book group book, The Two Lives of Louis and Louise by Julie Cohen; we are having the discussion tomorrow evening and I feel I should be able to say something intelligent about it whereas all I want to say is that I found it unremarkable. Also, parts of it are in the present tense and a book has to be excellent in other ways for me not to feel irritated by that. In fact, I'm starting to feel crabby at the very prospect of it! :grimace:
  • NenyaNenya Shipmate
    I missed your post above mine @Piglet - happy birthday and hope you thoroughly enjoy the rest of your day. :heart:
  • O yes - slainte mhath, @Piglet!
  • Happy birthday Piglet. It's been a lovely sunny day here, but there is still some snow in shady places. We didn't have as much as last time here.

    Dragonlet 3 has had her last set of infant immunisations today, so she is somewhat grumpy this evening.
  • 🐴🐦🐑🐑 @Piglet.
  • FirenzeFirenze Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    I keep thinking it's Saturday. Maybe it's the lack of traffic. Not many people walking, and few cars. Our neighbour over the way set out to drive, got 10 yards, did a slithery U-turn and came back to her original parking space.
  • Penblwydd hapus i ti Piglet - happy birthday to you!
  • Many Happy Returns, Piglet.

    MuminElmet has had her first jab. The station was a marquee in a car park which will be fine in warmer weather but was a bit breezy today. Luckily the snow isn't constant and the heaters were plugged in. It's her first time off the property since June it was all a bit strange.

    Warm sausage roll & baked beans for tea. Good comfort food.
  • SarasaSarasa Shipmate
    Happy Birthday Piglet. I hope you are enjoying the wine, and the last evening of freedom before it's back to work.
    We went to see my mother in her care home today. Like most homes they now have a pod system, a bit like prison visiting with your loved one on one side of a sheet of Plexiglas and you on the other. The sound system was useless, so husband and I entertained mum with a bit of dancing as trying to have a conversation was impossible. I haven't seen her look so happy in years which was good to see. Later the home sent me a picture of mum enjoying a glass of prosecco so she's obviously having a good day.
  • la vie en rougela vie en rouge Circus Host, 8th Day Host
    Happy birthday @Piglet !!
  • Happy birthday indeed, @Piglet!
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    edited February 10
    Thanks for all the good wishes! It's certainly been the oddest birthday I've ever had, seeing absolutely nobody except the lady in the corner shop (with whom I had a nice chat) and an unexpected video call on Messenger from a friend in Newfoundland.

    Quick blast at the Grauniad crossword now, and then an early night - six in the morning is a horrible time of day!
  • Penny SPenny S Shipmate
    Happy Birthday, Piglet
  • Piglet wrote: »
    Thanks for all the good wishes! It's certainly been the oddest birthday I've ever had, seeing absolutely nobody except the lady in the corner shop (with whom I had a nice chat) and an unexpected video call on Messenger from a friend in Newfoundland.

    Quick blast at the Grauniad crossword now, and then an early night - six in the morning is a horrible time of day!

    Six in the morning?
    :scream:

    Is not only Outrage, but Middle of Night!
  • Penny SPenny S Shipmate
    I'm booked for my jab tomorrow morning! We tried to get my friend registered with the GP, but he needs ID linking him to this address. All his mail is still going to the other house. Still, I have found the invoice from the undertakers to him, here. Hopefully that will do it. No registration, no covid vaccine. Despite the government stuff about registering the homeless to make sure everyone got the jab.
  • Ha! You believed what the *government* said? Obviously not...
  • Happy birthday Piglet!

    Just finished a 2 hour tutorial at 9pm and then had some braised lamb steak with cabbage and potatoes. Now relaxing with a gin.
  • Penny S wrote: »
    I'm booked for my jab tomorrow morning! We tried to get my friend registered with the GP, but he needs ID linking him to this address. All his mail is still going to the other house. Still, I have found the invoice from the undertakers to him, here. Hopefully that will do it. No registration, no covid vaccine. Despite the government stuff about registering the homeless to make sure everyone got the jab.

    If that doesn’t work and he is technically homeless in the interim you could try via your local access surgery (council will be able to tell you which one) through which the homeless community get their primary care.
  • Happy Birthday Piglet!

    This morning's walk was so skiddy on the frozen tracks through the forest that we took off on to the snow-covered paths, via the nearest Iron Age fort and back on a different ride. It's a regular summer walk, but usually too muddy at the moment. The unsurfaced rides are closed to bikes and horses between around October and April as they soften in the damper winter weather, which means they are easily broken up, not that the bikes pay any attention. It wasn't quite frozen enough, lots of ice, just not weight bearing. Sun and the odd snow flurry today, but not really settling.

    I'm another one who loves the frozen fields and snow, what I don't enjoy is the packed ice on the untreated pavements (and often the roads themselves) on all the side roads locally. The Iron Age fort is one of my favourite places covered in snow.
  • 🎉🎂 Hope you have a happy birthday week @piglet and safe travelling to work.
  • Penny SPenny S Shipmate
    There is only one surgery in this area - and local social media is full of complaints about it. But thanks for that suggestion, Doublethink. The guy I spoke to on the phone line in the invitation I had didn't think there would be a problem. Just explain it to them as you have to me, he said. It's partly his fault for never as an adult being registered - but he can't be the only person who is not in the system. I think the surgery is applying the normal rules in an abnormal situation. I'm going to ask at the centre this morning.
  • Darllenwr and I are due our first jab on Friday - he is diabetic, I’m (just) over 60 AND have MS.
  • Joyeux anniversaire, chère P'tit Porc! (Happy birthday, dear Piglet!) :smile:

    Many happy returns! May Linlith glow for you with joy and excitement. Might be the wine, though. :)
  • Just looking at the Met Office website - Linlithgow was down to about -13C at about 6am!
  • I've been invited for my vaccination! A bit of a schlep but I should be able to combine it with a few errands - dump, specialist butcher - to make the trip earn it's fuel.
  • Happy birthday, @piglet!!!

    Bitterly cold here, I just stay indoors. Daughter still with me as her badly strained knee is only improving slowly. (I have a lift so she can get up and downstairs without troubling her legs. Well, so can I, which is why I had it installed!) But it is lovely and sunny so looking out of the window is quite pleasurable! Lots of people enjoying the park at the back of us, and sledging down a rather greenish hill now!

    I've had my first vaccination, brilliantly organised at a fairly local Pharmacy. Second booked for 7th April, but from what I read, Care has Still to be Taken even after that!
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    Thanks again!

    Not a good start to my day today though - usual train cancelled, and next one very late.

    At least the pavements in Linlithgow had been cleared a bit, but it was -12° when I left the house, so a jolly cold tramp to the station!

    I had about 15 minutes of a wait at the bus stop, and it was Baltic; my legs and feet are only thawing out now.

    I hate snow.

    On a brighter note (quite literally), there was a tiny glimmer of light in the sky as I left the château at 7 this morning - the first time that's happened since I started working - and almost properly light by the time I got to Embra.

    Maybe Spring is on its way after all. :)
  • Yes, I was surprised how light it was here when I got up at 7am - spring will soon be here.
    Alas, it is another day of marking for me.
  • I've been invited for my vaccination! A bit of a schlep but I should be able to combine it with a few errands - dump, specialist butcher [...].
    What sort of specialists do you usually have butchered?

  • SarasaSarasa Shipmate
    Not that cold here in South West London, but still hovering around 0 degrees which is plenty cold enough for me. We went for a walk and ended up at the market as I wanted some nice bread to go with the meal I've ordered for tomorrow night. Husband spotted leeks on the next stall and decided to make leek and potato soup for lunch. Very nice it was too, ideal for day like today. Half the nice bread got eaten too. Tonight's tea will be veggie sausages and mash with cabbage also from the market and some carrots left over from the weekend.
  • My husband has been called for his vaccination, I am still waiting. I assume that's because he is over 65 and I am under 65. One of our daughters here was vaccinated early as she is a key worker but she had to drive for over an hour to get there. We will only have to travel for 10 minutes. Meanwhile Little Beaky (in Greater London) who is classified as extremely vulnerable and his family and carers are still waiting to find out about vaccines.
    The centres here in West Sussex appear to be very well organised.
  • It's bitterly cold here, albeit sunny, and still icy, so fragile offspring is avoiding getting out to the forest and fields as too skiddy to safely navigate the pavements on the way there.

    We have been out for a short wander, but there were still large patches of treachery on the side roads, which limits routes more than a bit. There's a vicious nip to the air, apparently it feels like -5°C. I'm just hoping it freezes the fields enough for a better walk tomorrow.

    It's the first time I've seen icicles hanging off buildings for years, but there have been some amazing clusters around.
  • la vie en rougela vie en rouge Circus Host, 8th Day Host
    It's still very cold here, but quite sunny and bright so it was fairly pleasant when we went out this morning. A little bit of snow was still hanging around in the playground, and Captain Pyjamas seems to have reconciled himself to it today.

    We are going to foie gras land tomorrow for a week so this afternoon I've been quite the domestic goddess and finished all the Wash Ing and Iron Ing prior to Pack Ing. I've also made the dough and tomato sauce for PIZZA for tonight's dinner.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    ...It's the first time I've seen icicles hanging off buildings for years, but there have been some amazing clusters around.
    We used to get spectacular icicles on the house in St. John's - it was a three-storey house, and they'd go the whole way from the eaves past the middle floor and be visible from inside on the ground floor.

    We'd sometimes open the windows and knock them off, having first made sure there was nobody walking past!
  • I was phoned this morning and was given an appointment for a jab this afternoon. I didn’t have too long to be nervous about it and it went well. Next one will be 6th May.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    They must be getting down the age-scale quite well here: my brother and sister-in-law, both in their mid-60s, have appointments for the end of next week.
    It's still a bit Baltic here: -4° but feeling like -8. I might be missing my friends in Canada, but not their weather!*

    * Actually, a friend in Fredericton told me on FB that it was -23° there yesterday, which rather puts things in perspective ... :flushed:
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