Friday, April 12, 2013

Free at last!


Two days ago, here in our Welsh fastness, there were two knocks on our kitchen door.  After nearly three weeks of isolation we'd almost forgotten what that sounds like.  The first, in the afternoon, was one of our farmer neighbours (whom we've known since he was a teenager) who said he'd been talking to our other farmer neighbour (whom we've known since he was born) and had come to see how we were coping. DH told him about the Tesco delivery and assured him we could manage until the snow disappeared. 

The other knock was at 8pm, just as I was about to dish up our meal, and it was the younger neighbour, apologising for having taken so long to get to us and telling us he'd just ploughed the lane with his lowered tractor bucket! He couldn't do it until the snow had started to thaw properly, as by the time the council had cleared the road between his house and our lane, our drifts were too deep and too frozen for him to attempt. Apparently all the minor roads around us were snowbound for at least 3 days after the snow fell, which is an unusually long time for council roads, even minor ones, to stay blocked. The last time that happened up here was the great blizzard of 1982.

So we're free at last and yesterday afternoon I was able to go out to a meeting I was sure I would miss. I love DH very much, but it was so nice to see some other faces and talk to different people for a while. Now I’m going to have to find something else to blog about……

Image via Google

52 comments:

  1. Hurray! (or do they say Hurrah over there?) Anyway, so glad you are finally free! And that you have such nice neighbors...

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    1. We write both, though I think we more commonly say Hurray. :-)

      Our neighbours are lovely and though we wouldn't have asked, we are very grateful that they volunteered.

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  2. Hari OM
    AHA so you have had the great "tractor shifting the snow experience" after all!!! Oh I bet that feels so good... probably a little strange, but good.

    I'm sure there will be lots to blog about - like daffodils and tulips???

    Regards, YAM

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    1. And we were very surprised but grateful that it happened. It was interesting to see how many more flowers there are down in the valley, where spring has obviously arrived at last. :-)

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  3. Yaaay! You made it out before cabin fever struck. As I said in an e-mail just now, pick a day and we'll do a proper afternoon tea for you both. I have new-to-me Spode Italian plates to press into service...

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    1. The flag is definitely flying up here, Baby Sis. Thanks for the kind offer and I'll get back to you on a day over the weekend. I may even bake a cake.... :-)

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  4. Hurrah! FREEDOM. Must feel great!

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  5. What lovely neighbours....and what a relief just to be able to leave the house!
    Now roll on a proper Spring and you'll be set up for the year ahead.

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    1. They are both great and DH has been known to offer computer help in return for their willing help in situations like this. Country people still know the importance of rallying round.

      It's still very chilly here and I was ridiculously pleased to find some primulas in bloom in the garden. :-)

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  6. Glory be...free at last!
    So glad to hear that you have been able to join society again. No matter how we love our mates, three weeks is an awfully long time to be in a state of total togetherness.
    You have the sweetest neighbours.

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    1. My sentiments exactly! We mitigate the total togetherness by having separate offices, so that we can work on our own, even when spending the rest of the day together.

      Our farming neighbours are pure gold and DH has already been round with a nice bottle of sparkling wine as a small token of thanks.

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  7. Good to know you are 'out' at last.
    You do realise of course that if you will live half way up a mountain this kind of thing will happen from time to time?
    Trying to work out how you can avoid such incarceration in future, a truly brilliant idea occurred to me.
    Why not switch your triangular lifestyle round, so that the coldest part of the year is spent in France?
    No?
    Oh well, I tried.
    How about hiring a (small) helicopter?

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    1. Thanks, Ray. We discovered that fact during our first winter here nearly 40 years ago, but living here does have many compensations. The problem with spending winter in deeply rural Normandy is that it can often be colder and snowier than the UK and the whole place closes down until spring. We'd have to go to Spain at least to have warmer winters.

      I don't think the budget would run to a helicopter, but DH is making noises about a mini-digger, as a successor to the beloved tractor he sold some years ago.....

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  8. Great news Perpetua - Yes, lets have some posts with daffodils & other Spring flowers :-)

    It's even finally warming up here in Prague. We've had rain rather than snow for the first time in months & also plenty of warm sunshine. I think someone finally paid a ransom to the person who kidnapped Spring!

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    1. Sadly I forgot to take the camera with me yesterday, as there were lots of beautiful narcissi where my meeting was held. Spring is so much more advanced down in the valley.

      Glad to hear winter is finally yielding to the coming of spring in Prague too. Your warm sunshine sounds lovely and I'm sure the trees and flowers will soon catch up if it continues. We've had rain too and we were actually glad to see it. :-)

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  9. I don't mind being snowbound. That's probably because it's been nearly 15 years since we were. Mostly rain for us, and you can get out in it.

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    1. Nor do we in normal circumstances, Linda, but almost 3 weeks was longer than we bargained for. :-) We had a long series of mild winters until about 5 years ago, but since then we've had heavy snow every winter but one.

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  10. Winters in the UK seem to be getting later and later. I wonder how many future Easters will see snow.

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    1. I gather from the BBC weather website that statistically we're more like to have snow at Easter in the UK than at Christmas. This is the second white Easter since we retired back here 6 years ago....

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  11. My goodness, three weeks is a long time. Did you lose power and internet? I'd go batty. Glad you are out of the deep.

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    1. It's the longest we've ever been snowed in, but luckily we didn't lose power. The Internet probably kept us both sane. :-)

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  12. Welcome back to the outside world Perpetua - having the internet must put a different gloss on being stuck indoors as opposed to when it happened in 1982 - you don't feel quite so isolated.

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    1. Thanks, Rosemary, it feels good. :-) You're absolutely right - the Internet is a sanity-saver in circumstances like this and I've also done a LOT of knitting.

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  13. At least Tesco's got through. That snow was sure high Perpetua.
    yippee and hurray that you can go out now.
    Being house bound is no fun.
    wishing you a happy weekend.I am just going to carry on blogging.. and hope that all will be ok. i have an open ID now, thank you for your support
    val x

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    1. Yes, Tesco brought our groceries to the top of the lane and we trundled them across the field to the house in wheelbarrows. :-) But it's good to be able to get out and about again.

      Glad you think you've solved your blogging problems and I hope they don't recur. I'm always happy to to try to help out if required

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  14. So pleased to hear about your neighbour digging you out. Roll on Spring for you.

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    1. It was a lovely surprise, especially as we didn't hear the tractor and knew nothing until her came to tell us we were free!

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  15. So glad you were plowed out, thanks to friendly neighbours. One does get cabin fever after a while. May Spring be right on your doorstep.

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    1. You must know all about cabin fever after your very prolonged winter, Bonnie. Yes, we were very grateful to a kind young man for taking time out of his busy life to help us out.

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  16. Hurrah! Frabjous day! And likewise expressions of joy.

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    1. Callooh! Callay, Annie! I've been chortling for joy ever since. :-)

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  17. Great news! Hope you enjoyed your fast getaway!

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    1. It was lovely, thanks. An interesting speaker and a good natter over a cup of tea with old friends. :-)

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  18. Wonderful news, that you are out and about once again, Perpetua. Three weeks is a long haul, and obviously you were well-prepared for it. The spring flowers sound delightful, and I look forward to future posts on them. What a lovely helpful neighbour you have.

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    1. We're thoroughly enjoying ourselves, Patricia, and are looking forward to tea with my youngest sister tomorrow. :-) After almost 40 years here, we know from experience to stay well-stocked with food in the winter, as we can never tell what the weather may throw at us. Only a couple of little primulas and the daffodils visible so far, but it's so lovely to see them.

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  19. Thank goodness!
    I was feeling sorry for myself because it has rained so much on our holiday until I read this!
    When we spoke to my father two days ago he said the last pile of our shovelled snow had just melted from our drive at home.
    I'll just go and shake out the umbrella and take the dog for a walk up to the chateau......

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    1. My sentiments exactly! I'm afraid the same weather pattern that kept us trapped for so long is responsible for all the rain you've been getting in France. All those nice, moist westerlies which usually give us our spring weather have been pushed south by the high pressure to give you your recent rain. We're getting rain now too and it's gradually melting the piles of snow at the side of the lane.

      Enjoy your walk, whatever the weather....

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  20. Pleased to hear you can at last get out and about. Thank goodness for kind neighbours.

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    1. It's a great relief and we're very grateful indeed to our lovely neighbours. We've all known each other for a very long time now.

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  21. What lovely neighbours - and handy that one of them has a tractor with a bucket to lower! Glad to hear you are able to get out and about again. Three weeks is a very long time to be holed up - I'm sure you've had some lovely moments and a great deal of peace. Whilst I'm sure this is the norm in the P household, I can just imagine the joy of getting out and interacting with other live beings again.

    We're just delighted that almost three weeks on, the children don't seem to have noticed that we don't have television! But then, we're not stuck inside and the sun is shining down...makes a big difference.

    Love,
    Axxx

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    1. They're worth their weight in gold and this is the second time this neighbour has dug us out since we moved back when I retired 6 years ago. Before that we'd hardly seen more than a couple of inches of snow at a time for many years. The Internet has been a great distraction over the past 3 weeks, but you're right that there's no substitute for actually talking to people face to face. :-)

      So you don't now have TV? I approve. :-) We didn't have TV at all until our children were in their mid-teens, by which time they were so good at occupying themselves that neither has since developed much of a TV habit, even when the sun isn't shining. In fact DD recently gave up their TV licence so her boys don't have TV either.

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  22. At last!!!! Enjoy your freedom. It sounds like you neighbours are real diamonds.

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    1. Thanks, MM. They are indeed. Welsh hill farmers, both still living in the houses in which they were born, each having taken over their family farm. There's still a great tradition of mutual help in these hills.

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  23. OOoh glad to hear you have been "released"!! Knowing how small communities work I had wondered why a neighbouring farmer hasn't been to "dig you out" yet - but the frozen snow explains it. Also glad you got a delivery of necessary "supplies" from Tesco - we may bemoan the large supermarkets but they have their uses! I can empathise with "escape" - I love living on my island but I do need to feel I can "escape" when I need to..... may you now be able to venture forth whenever you wish!

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    1. I knew you would understand about the interconnectedness of a small rural community, Sian. :-) We wouldn't have asked, because they have both been so very busy with their own work in these difficult circumstances, but guessed that when time and conditions allowed one or other would oblige. As for Tesco, where willingness to deliver is concerned, I won't hear a word against them. ;-)

      Interestingly, DH and I are real homebodies and don't go out a great deal, but it's knowing that we can if we want to that really matters. We're off out to tea tomorrow. :-)

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  24. OH at LAST! Praise be! I'm so glad that the thaw and the neighbours came good in the end. Enjoy your tea out in the big wide world!

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    1. So were we. :-) It felt so good to drive the car up the lane and off into the outside world. I'm now about to make a cake to take with me to that tea.

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  25. I was so glad to see the heading for this post. You must really know what cabin fever feels like by now. I am sure it has been an interesting experience, and one you may look back on remembering the plus side rather than any negatives....however, an expereience probably best avoided again .Welcome back. Jx

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    1. Thanks, Janice. Interestingly, I'm not sure we'd got to the point of true cabin fever, though we were anxious to get more supplies when the milk ran out. Once we were fully stocked again, we would happily have sat it out until the drifts melted, but thanks to our wonderful neighbour we didn't need to. We're off out this afternoon, despite the wet and windy weather. :-)

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  26. Such a relief, Perpetua, to finally hear the rapping at your door and be able to navigate once more. You will long remember this winter, and, I suspect, spring, which is sure to be wet and mud, mud, mud for a bit. Soon, you will posting your marvelous trees in bloom and daffodils.

    Today, we have sun and warm temperatures for a change! A most unusual April in a most unusual year.

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    1. It was indeed, Penny. This winter will certainly join the select list of winters we won't easily forget. It's been raining hard this weekend which has melted almost all the remaining snow and now there are huge puddles everywhere. There are primroses in the garden and under the hedgerows, but the trees and bushes aren't showing even a hint of green as yet. As you say, a very unusual April. I do hope your warmth and sun continue for a while.

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