Monday, January 05, 2009
Snow on the Surrey Hills - and our garden.
Cold is tiring.
Perhaps that is why animals in the wild - well, some of them - instinctively hibernate and sleep through the cold weeks.
It was not actually as cold this morning as on others, but there was the thin covering of snow and the leaden skies to create the feeling of continued winter.
And "not actually as cold" shouldn't deceive us into thinking it was warm. It was not.
Bill and I waddled to the car to go to Dorking like a pair of Michelin men, wrapped up in so many layers!
We wanted no repeat of the chilled to the bones feeling of last Monday.
Bill actually wore pyjama trousers under his proper trousers!
Monika had been into the shop early and turned on all the heaters - just enough to take the worst of it away.
Monika lives close by and she had walked back and forth 3 times this morning with stuff she wanted at the shop - rather than take her car out onto a steep snowy road.
Julie, the elderly French lady who normally is with us felt too worried by her steep driveway and would not venture out at all.
We couldn't expect to see very many people braving the elements and the 3 of us set to and worked on our own areas.
I have rearranged everything - not nearly as daunting a prospect as it was at Rocking Horse, because the space means I have much less.
Bill had made a shelf to fit within his display to give just a little more room and he needed to move things to fit it in.
Monika has been all day sorting out some new stock and repricing old stock. She has no patience or confidence and if something hasn't sold within a couple of months she fears she got it all wrong and wants the item to be gone. Actually she has some lovely things - higher quality and priced than mine.
I sold a few things during the week and, take note Monika, 2 of them I had had for more than 2 years!
And I sold today too.
There have been some good sales - just less than usual. We took over £200, which is far above what a quiet day would have been in Rocking Horse.
We came home and tucked into our Marks and Spencers ready prepared meals - lasagne for Bill and chilli con carne for me. They had been at sell by date and were really cheap and good quality.
I might have cooked a stir fry with fresh rice noodles - but we had eaten noodles at lunch time.
We are warm in the house this evening - our cheeks are glowing.
The snow has cleared and we are back to sub zero temperatures.
Bill is coughing lots. He went to the pharmacy for decongestant tablets, only to be told that they shouldn't be taken at the same time as blood pressure pills.
Time for bed soon.
So, pictures of Felix and Otto can wait one more day to share with you.
Good night.
Perhaps that is why animals in the wild - well, some of them - instinctively hibernate and sleep through the cold weeks.
It was not actually as cold this morning as on others, but there was the thin covering of snow and the leaden skies to create the feeling of continued winter.
And "not actually as cold" shouldn't deceive us into thinking it was warm. It was not.
Bill and I waddled to the car to go to Dorking like a pair of Michelin men, wrapped up in so many layers!
We wanted no repeat of the chilled to the bones feeling of last Monday.
Bill actually wore pyjama trousers under his proper trousers!
Monika had been into the shop early and turned on all the heaters - just enough to take the worst of it away.
Monika lives close by and she had walked back and forth 3 times this morning with stuff she wanted at the shop - rather than take her car out onto a steep snowy road.
Julie, the elderly French lady who normally is with us felt too worried by her steep driveway and would not venture out at all.
We couldn't expect to see very many people braving the elements and the 3 of us set to and worked on our own areas.
I have rearranged everything - not nearly as daunting a prospect as it was at Rocking Horse, because the space means I have much less.
Bill had made a shelf to fit within his display to give just a little more room and he needed to move things to fit it in.
Monika has been all day sorting out some new stock and repricing old stock. She has no patience or confidence and if something hasn't sold within a couple of months she fears she got it all wrong and wants the item to be gone. Actually she has some lovely things - higher quality and priced than mine.
I sold a few things during the week and, take note Monika, 2 of them I had had for more than 2 years!
And I sold today too.
There have been some good sales - just less than usual. We took over £200, which is far above what a quiet day would have been in Rocking Horse.
We came home and tucked into our Marks and Spencers ready prepared meals - lasagne for Bill and chilli con carne for me. They had been at sell by date and were really cheap and good quality.
I might have cooked a stir fry with fresh rice noodles - but we had eaten noodles at lunch time.
We are warm in the house this evening - our cheeks are glowing.
The snow has cleared and we are back to sub zero temperatures.
Bill is coughing lots. He went to the pharmacy for decongestant tablets, only to be told that they shouldn't be taken at the same time as blood pressure pills.
Time for bed soon.
So, pictures of Felix and Otto can wait one more day to share with you.
Good night.
