Out and about in the snow, Cold weather thoughts. Vocabulary.

Yesterday, when the sun was still shining, we set off on a walk up the hill to Dobcross. Half way up the hill it was clear that the sun was disappearing behind the clouds. Coming back down the hill, we were caught in the snow. By the time we got home it was coming down heavily in great big flakes.

 

My smallest granddaughter had expressed a wish to go for walk with me so that she could take baby Ivy, her baby doll, for a walk in her buggy. This was on the list of what to do after Phil and I had our walk up the hill. The plan was to feed the ducks. I called my daughter to let her know it was snowing but we decided to got to the duckpond anyway. The snow was clearing by the time she arrived but it was decided that baby Ivy would prefer to be left in the car. 

 

And off we went, to admire the frozen millpond and to laugh at the goose playing ice-breaker to get to the bread we had on offer. 

Cold weather activities. 

Judging by an item a friend posted on social media, quite a lot of people were misled by the bright sunny start to yesterday and decided it was a perfect day for walk on the moors - cold but crisp and bright - and the got into difficulties. This is from the Derbyshire Rural Crime Team at about 5.00pm yesterday apparently:-

“This is being typed from our office while most of the team is out in our few available vehicles. 

It’s been snowing most of the afternoon, just as forecast.

It’s the middle of winter, and Bleaklow and Kinder are the highest points in Derbyshire.

We are in the throes of a pandemic placing restrictions on all our recreational activities.

Upwards of 200 cars were parked on Snake Pass summit early this afternoon; busier than a summer bank holiday, but with the main difference being the large white things dropping out of the sky. Presumably, the occupants of these vehicles were out on the moors. It seems like many didn’t have the common sense to check the forecast, dress themselves suitably, check they had a capable vehicle and / or driving skills, never mind the fact that they perhaps shouldn’t have been stretching the advice given by the government so as not to overburden our NHS.

Never mind, though. Just ring the police and expect them to come along with their magical snowmobiles. Of course, with our superpowers we can simultaneously deal with similar situations in the Goyt Valley, Mam Nick, Curbar Gap and others. And we’re covid-proof, didn’t you know?

Joking aside, please don’t be stupid. It shouldn’t need a greater explanation than that. 

Hopefully the evening won’t deteriorate into a mass of emergencies. We’ll deal with what we can, but our underpants aren’t on the outside and we can only knock so much common sense back into society.”

Some people are a bit crazy. But then, I go running in the rain and snow and fog! 

This morning it was supposed to be less cold than yesterday. I refuse to say warmer, just less cold. So I decided to risk a run. Yesterday I went on an early morning walk instead,mfor fear of slippery pavements. If anything the pavements were more slippery today. I had the impression it had thawed slightly, just enough to give a smooth layer of water which then refroze! So I ran in the road - a gritted surface - or walked gingerly along the edge of pavements. Not very satisfactory really! I met one of my nodding acquaintances, a lady rather older than I am but who walks miles and miles every day. She warned me not to go down Hull Mill Lane, the road leading to the millpond. “It’s a river of ice!” she told me. I did not reveal that I had already discovered that fact and had tottered along the minimal grass verge.instead I thanked her for her advice and we went our separate ways. 

The cold weather is forecast to continue. Indoor activities are called for.

When it’s cold cold cold - barely going above zero degrees - then you need comfort food. So I made a huge batch of mushroom soup. Some of it will go in the freezer but we had some yesterday evening, followed by some salad and then a fruit crumble. Fruit crumble usually needs ice cream for contrast but it’s really too cold for that. Maybe I should start to make custard as well. 

I’ve been listening to CDs I’ve not heard for a while: KD lang with her “songs from the 49th parallel”, a collection of songs by Canadian songwriters; Bruce Springsteen’s “Tom Joad” collection - and me reminiscing about how wonderful a mouth organ can sound.

Today I discovered a new word. A friend of mine had posted something on Facebook about Jennifer Lopez and her “nibling”. “Nibling”?

“Jennifer Lopez has revealed a short film about her nibling coming out as transgender and non-binary to their family.

Nibling is a gender-neutral term referring a child of a sibling, replacing ‘niece’ or ‘nephew’. “

Someone’s comment: “We always call our nephews and nieces niblings. For me it has the implied closeness and connection of siblings plus is handily gender neutral.”

Okay! “Offspring”, “siblings”, “niblings” - fair enough, I’ll accept the terminology but I still can’t quite bring myself to refer to one person as “they”.

Across the road they are dismantling Christmas. They put up their outdoor decorations early in December - “We were bored and needed to cheer ourselves up”, they told me at the time. Now the decorations are coming down early. It’s only January 3rd, after all. But then someone in the queue outside the baker’s on Wednesday told me she had already taken her tree down as she was fed up of it and nobody could come and visit to see it. So maybe some people are packing up Christmas 2020, putting an end to a particularly nasty year when Christmas couldn’t quite/ almost didn’t happen and hoping to put the whole thing behind them. So it goes. 

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!