The snow started last night and has fallen all day. The heaviest snowfall since 1991, and so, predictably, the country has ground to a halt. Trains, planes and automobiles, as they say. The problem in the UK is that we do not have enough snow to warrant good preparation. You know, things like snow tires, chains, gritters, things like snow ploughs.....
So this morning, I rather hesitantly, went to physio. The roads were not too bad, but by the time I got home, they were dreadful. Jean and Margaret came round for lunch and a crafting day. We had a wonderful time playing and sitting chatting, fighting over the paper cutter and playing with MY NEW BIRTHDAY PRESENT!!!
You may be a little confused here, because my birthday is at the end of MAY, but my friends, Peter and Glynis came to tea yesterday, and said they had an early birthday present for me. Huh?? I reminded them of the date, and they said yes yes, they knew that, but they wanted me to have an early present. They gave me a CUTTLEBUG!!!! My own cuttlebug! For those who are not familiar with this wonderful machine, it is a die cutter and embosser, and such a huge amount of fun! I am so lucky!
My contribution to the conversation from then on was in the OOOOOH, and WOW and NOOOOO category. I could not believe my eyes.
And so we played today. It was good, and the snow fell and we had lunch and all was good. Until I opened the post and saw my gas bill (for heating) and nearly had a heart attack. Anyway, after a couple of calls to the Gas supplier, and my son and my friends, to see what they were paying, I finally got a man who sounds intelligent, and we are doing a daily check of the meter for a week.
I have been incredibly frugal this winter, and rarely have the heating above the "on high enough to stop the pipes freezing" range, and I use the recession heater, extra clothes and the blanket to stay warm, so the bill looks ludicrous. Especially as apparently, my consumption of gas is up 63% from last year when I had a full house and it was on high all day. It makes no sense at all. Hmmm. We will see what transpires. But it did rather spoil the day. Bring on the day when I get my woodburning stove. I hate being held hostage to the utility companies. I want to be able to heat my home myself.
This has been in my plans for years, and hopefully one day soon I can get it installed. Like before next winter. Tomorrow would be even better.
So, now I am off to bookclub. In the snow. I am being collected, so am not going to drive myself. I am, however, very tired, so I hope we get home relatively early. I did start to watch the Super Bowl last night but after 10 mins of trying to understand what was going on, I gave up and fell asleep reading the book instead. And then woke at 4.30am. No wonder I am a little weary!
Photos of snow will be up once I have charged the battery of the camera.
8 comments:
Boy we really are on opposite sides of the world aren't we? I wonder if this is the year for record breaking. We have broken some - you have broken some and then the utilities people are determined to break every record in the book. I reckon it's a universal conspiracy - to charge whatever, to whom ever, whenever.
An early pressie heh? I'm just off to Google the cuttlebug - to see if I would be needing one ;)
Any movement from bump yet?
Wow - what a snowstorm - did the whole country get it? I plan to google cuttlebug so I can figure out what you're so excited about.
Sorry about the fuel bill - I thought it was all staightened out.
I'm going to e-mail you links to the study my niece worked on for 2 years --
Been hearing about this unusual snowstorm of yours... Hope that it all goes away rather quickly.
You know, they say that utility companies don't go on past usage, but I think that's exactly what they've done in your case. They couldn't believe their eyes when they saw the difference and just did a manual readjustment. Highly unethical.
Looking forward to the pics. I'm still loving the look in here.
I had heard on the radio today that London had the largest snowfall they have had in 20 years. Hoping you get some relief on the gas bill. Yes, we are all held hostage to so much any more.
Susan
Kudos on the Superbowl attempt. Can you explain cricket to me? :) Susan O.
You have awesome friends. What a lovely way to spend a day inside with the snow OUTside.
We have the same problem on the rare occassion there is a bit of ice or snow on the roads here in Texas. The whole city grinds to a screeching halt.
I hope the bill gets straightened out Linds. We heated with a wood stove when we lived up north. It was very efficient, but it was a bit of work. Still - worth it in the money we saved.
We are so used to big snowstorms here in Northern Ontario, our schools don't even close! lol We can even plug in our cars so that the block heater can keep our motor from freezing up. I know how miserable it can be, though, for those not used to getting much snow.
Oh wow, you were given a Cuttlebug machine...lucky you!! I've heard so much about them, will have to look into it:-) Sounds like you had a fun day creating!
Oh dear, it certainly doesn't make sense for your gas bill to be so high if you've really cut down on the gas usage! Hopefully something can be done about the bill, proof that it shouldn't be that high?
Stay warm! xoxo
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