Thursday 24 January 2013

The thaw begins

I continue to be amazed at the hysteria with which the press reports the weather in this country. Even the Independent was at it today, though I suspect that that was poor sub editing rather than the piece itself, which was one of Michael McCarthy's sensible efforts. But the headline said "Will this be the coldest winter for 50 years?"

/no

It's not even likely to be the coldest for the last five, as anyone who can recall the one before last, and the one before that, will testify. It's really quite embarrassing when you meet folk from elsewhere in the world, where they know that a few degrees below zero Centigrade and a few inches of snow does not make anything to write home about.

Hey ho, I'm glad to get that off my chest…

/floor

It's been just a touch milder today, particularly this afternoon, when the snow has been in full retreat. We're expecting a sharp frost tonight, but then a steady rise in temperature as the weekend goes on. In exchange, we're going to get wind and rain, but then it is still the end of January.

We've spent the day in much the same way as yesterday, running Sally in the field this morning and taking her round the marina this afternoon. Here are some photos of her in her smart new red collar:




As you can see, she's still enjoying the snow.

It being the 24th of the month, I gave the batteries their regular check (they were fine, didn't even need topping up) and changed the nappies that mop up condensation water in the various bits of the stern bilge. I also refilled the stern greaser whilst I was in the mood.

Tonight, we're off to the Willow Tree to hear a couple of talks, one about the local wildlife and one specifically about bats.

2 comments:

KevinTOO said...

Hi Bruce,

I agree with you 100% about weather reporting!

Here is a small extract of an email I have recieved tonight from a friend who lives in Canada... "It was -32°C here this morning. A record for us. But it warmed up later although at -20 it didn't quite get as warm as a domestic freezer. Breathing was only possible using a thick muffler. It is impossible for anyone who has never been here to imagine just how cold that is. The windchill (or "feels like") warnings gave -45°C."

Now THAT IS COLD... LOL

Aren't we lucky to live in this temperate country??

Kevin

Anonymous said...

Doesn't Sally look well - she's obviously enjoying the snow!

As to the rest, well, complaining about the weather is our national pastime, we're world champions at it, why not show off our talent in the newspapers :-D

Sue, nb Indigo Dream