Beast from the East

Well...I was clearly speaking too soon last week with my hopes that a hint of spring was just around the corner, that the long dark winter had finally been broken...

Or I am just a massive jinx.

Whatever the case may be, I think it's safe to say that everything this week has been completely dominated by the "Beast from the East" and it hit us in the central belt hard. Tuesday was grim and I managed to get myself home safely from my abandoned dance classes, but I won't lie, it was tough going and I didn't get above 25mph. And then Wednesday arrived. I did actually think about going into work, but then I thought about all the other people on the road being frustrated at not getting to work and...nah. Not worth it.

So glad to have made that call. The hubby had work and braved it in only to get sent home at 2 (the shopping centre was shut down, that shows you how bad it was) and I spent 45 minutes having absolute kittens and desperately trying to clear the drive as he made the journey that we can normally manage in under 8 minutes. The worst. The absolute worst. My sympathy extends to everyone who's family got stuck out in the traffic, I think being the one waiting is worse than being the one in the car just about.

We did the altruistic thing of handing our number out to our elderly neighbours - and stressed that even if it was just for milk, to call us. There's no way an ambulance was gonna get into my estate and I'd never forgive myself if they fell in the snow for something silly. And then we took Missy for what's normally a 40 minute walk that, in all the snow, took us more than an hour (and from which most the photos were are done, I wasn't going to wrangle the dog and the camera at the same time). I had done two short walks earlier with her, but she likes the snow and the cold far better than her humans, so was keen to go again!

On Thursday I was sick fed up of the snow. All I could see was snow - out the window, on the news, on my social media - they wouldn't stop talking about it on the radio. We knew I advance that we were all havibg snow days again so I made the most of my improved "office" view and took some photos of the birds on the feeder during my tea break and insisted on doing the lunch walk in order to battle the oncoming cabin fever. Once the red warning clicked off there seemed to be more snow than there was during it. It just wouldn't stop. By this point the novelty had worn off for Missy and she was fed up wading through chest deep snow and being cold. She merely lay on the sofa staring out at the snow, her eyes clearly bemoaning the terrible state of affairs that prevented her from her life long squirrel destroying quest.

My improved view

Then Friday was another snow day. I'd made the call the night before as, even if conditions meant no more snow, it was so cold that it wasn't going to go anywhere and the car was going to need dug out. Hubby walked to work and it seemed like another day trapped in some bizarre apocalyptic zombie drama but without the zombies and, as I was finishing up for the day, I noticed a JCB rolling past my window - lo and behold, the community was rallying together. I soon joined the rest of the street in digging out what was left behind and the bad mood broke. Everyone was suddenly up beat and talking again. I got out with Missy and even she had a spring in her step, taking the time to play with every dog we met and bounding through the snow.

The weather warnings are back to yellow and it feels like we're through the worst. An odd week, not exciting but I feel its worth writing down. After all, its not every year that I get 3 foot of snow in two days.

*stops and anxiously peers through window as a lone snowflake falls past*

Perhaps I will leave it that and say no more, just in case...