Tag Archives: snow

4 February 2007

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For the record, this is Aspland Road during the recent spell of cold weather. Our house is on the left, with Dot’s snow-covered car in the driveway. My car is parked on the right. The road dips down to the river, and you can see the new town houses on the opposite bank.

It’s been warmer, but it’s very cold again today, and there’s a possibility of more snow this week. I was in Thetford yesterday, playing chess for Norfolk second team (Board 2) and managed to win the morning game, but lost the afternoon one. As I lost last Monday’s game and my win yesterday was the result of a blunder by my opponent, my poor run of form continues. However, Oliver is learning the moves. Perhaps he will take over.

Dot is better. I’m glad to say. We went to church this morning, and the music went very well. Quite a big congregations, and lunch to follow. I’m afraid to say we’ve spent most of the rest of the day watching TV – particularly Ireland beating Wales at rugby. Sadly, Spurs failed to trouble Manchester United.

Since my last entry, astonishingly, England have beaten Australia at cricket. I saw it, so it must be true. I have got together a few poems to enter into the Norwich Writers’ Circle competition and have also applied for a commission to produce a Norfolk poem for a Norfolk arts initiative which involves promoting the county through its arts. The commission is worth £2000, but of course a lot more well-known poets will apply. I’ve sent in three poems as examples of my being inspired by Norfolk landscapes.

Yesterday, after my chess exploits, we went for a meal with our former neighbours, Menita and Regis. They are Italian and French respectively, and there were two other people there – one Italian and one Brazilian. International, or what? A really nice evening, some great food, and I discovered that I shared an office tray with the Italian friend when I was at UEA! She is in the LIT department (as a translator) and our names both begin with L.

27 January 2007

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The last of the snow on the hill above our house yesterday. Today it’s still pretty cold, but the sky is blue, and Dot has recovered sufficiently to go to the shops. We were going to see Aunti Ethel, but didn’t want her to get what was left of the cold.

Dot also managed to get to a performance last night of Brecht’s The Caucasian Chalk Circle (Der kaukasische Kreidekreis) by the National Theatre at the Playhouse. I dropped her outside and parked behind the Green’s. The place was packed, largely with teenagers who must be doing the play for A-level, so lots of chattering in the foyer. We were in the balcony – bit squashed, but an excellent view.

The performance was on the mind-blowing side of mellow and included the most intriguing array of technical effects I have ever seen on stage. Not least impressive was the way a doll was used as a baby, but manipulated very realistically and with one of the cast producing convincing baby noises through a microphone. The singer was a very powerful presence, backed by drums and odd electronic instruments, effectively tying the action together. This was useful, as the action is often chaotic and spans time and space.

The actors were tremendously energetic but had a huge range of styles. All had several roles, including technical ones. Many a tour de force, especially the two leading roles and the judge in the second half. A memorable evening.

After that we even survived watching the cricket, in which England were humiliated even further by Australia, scoring only 110 and then failing to take a single Australian wicket, except one run-out. When will someone notice that Flintoff often plays badly when he’s captain and Strauss plays badly when he isn’t? The solution is not rocket science. You get the definite impression that the team has more or less given up, and FF can’t do anything about it. Pity: he’s a great guy.

David and Vicky bought a new car yesterday: an Astra less than one year old, from a garage in Harpenden. He sent us pictures over the net and I’ll use one soon. Looks impressive. Oliver is very keen.

26 January 2007

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Call me biased, but I think this is a pretty good drawing of a shark for a four-year-old. Admittedly Oliver has a plastic shark for use in the bath, but he was doing it from memory. What a star!

Dot was still very rough yesterday. It had snowed again overnight, and I had to drive to Halesworth to see a trainee at 11.30am. Most of the snow had melted by then, and there was practically none south of Alburgh, but the usual stretch of a mile and a bit near Hardwick was still packed, icy snow when I reached it – and lethal if you didn’t take it very slowly indeed. The stretch includes two nasty corners, and someone had clearly gone into the hedge earlier – though the absence of a vehicle clearly meant he had extricated himself. Or it had melted.

I’ve written a bit in next week’s page about this curious phenomenon. Many times when Dot drove to school the roads were clear until she reached that stretch, when she was faced with ice or snow. Must be a gateway into another dimension, possibly Narnia.

The visit to induct the trainee went well, and I enjoyed the drive back: by then most of the snow had gone, but that stretch was still slippery. It was actually quite a pleasant day, with bright sunshine.

Later I walked into the city to buy an international money order from the bank. I sent it off this morning. Most of the snow has vanished, despite a fresh overnight sprinkling, but it’s now overcast.