snow and ice and all things nice

It has been very wintery here in Glasgow. Schools and University closed on Wednesday and have not reopened for business. Of course we are encouraged to work at home and an email from HR confirmed that if we weren't able to do so, we would not be asked to take annual leave. I thought that was a bit cheeky. It is not easy with four kids in the house. You wouldn't believe how much time it takes to get two little boys all dressed up for the great outdoors and the reverse is just as time consuming. So much wet stuff draped over every available radiator! As luck goes, our heating gave up the ghost. Well, sort of. One day we had no heating, the next no hot water. It is a valve that gets stuck one way or the other, making it impossible to have both heat and hot water. We really need a new boiler, it has been on the brink for a while bur Richard always managed to get it back to life. We also need new windows in the front and the whole house painted. It is positively shabby (but not a whiff of chic). The shower leaks, too. I guess we'll have to toss a coin and see what gets done this year.

I have never seen as much snow as this in Glasgow. It was beautiful, it really was. It is far less beautiful now after three days of messing it up with sledges and walking about. I made bird food with all available seeds and some beef dripping for the little birds. It took them a wee while to discover it but I am glad some birds have started taking nibbles. Our garden is not as bird friendly as it should be. I am working on it.

The kids did a fair amount of sledging. They had so much fun but I think come Friday they were a bit fed up with it all. Not James, he is a true snow man. He spent hours and hours outside, just playing happily in the road. There were no cars in our road from Tuesday night up to Saturday. Unbelievable. If I think about it, is a bit shocking actually. It just goes to show how little needs to go off kilter before the infrastructure breaks down. The financial cuts to all services is really noticeable. In the end, it was the menfolks in the street that cleared the road by hand, one shovel at the time. Richard and James also cleared the steep lanes down to the school for Monday. It never ceases to amaze me that a country so far north cannot handle snow. I don't think I had a single snow day during my entire childhood in Switzerland and there was plenty of snow. I remember being on a bus once on my way to school, on snowy roads. When we got to a steepish hill, the driver got out, mounted snow chains, drove up the hill, dismounted the chains and continued the journey. Mostly though, the roads are cleared within hours, as our the pavements. Alas, I chose Scotland to be my home and I have no choice than to live with the services available. The grass is always greener elsewhere!

We had a dinner party scheduled for Friday. I know. We decided to go ahead anyway. You need a bit of companionship when stuck inside. On Thursday, Richard and I trudged down to the supermarket with back packs to get supplies. While everyone else was stocking up on bread and milk, we bought porcini mushrooms and tenderstem broccoli, and a few bottles of wine. Oh, and some eggs. The shopping adventure took two hours. Walking through deep snow is hard work. We had to repeat the trip on Friday as we couldn't quite carry all we needed.

The dinner party was a success although two guests in driving distance had to cancel at the very last minute. We asked two local friends over, one hour before dinner. They had eaten already but humoured us anyway. That's what good friends do. We had beef Wellington and potato gratin for our main, lambs ear lettuce salad with bacon croutons and egg for starters. For pudding I made a pecan maple pie. It was completely stuck in the tin because it leaked. No wonder the recipe books shows it photographed in the tin... It was really delicious.

Sam meanwhile was working. It turned out that the Chinese restaurant was really busy. Lots of dishes to wash.

Today, we went sledging with friends. Annie missed out because she had a teenage tantrum and refused to come. It was so much fun! Not the tantrum, the sledging. I mostly enjoyed watching the others but did of course also have a go. Alistair and James are total daredevils, it is amazing that they didn't break any bones. Someone had built a jump on the slope, over which James and Alistair whizzed with little elegance but plenty of enthusiasm. From the distance it was a bit like the roadrunner running out over the canyon and then plummet down. Their bums must be pure agony now and their brains were shaken up thoroughly, too. Jack had a great time, too. He raced the kids and got so excited that he stole Alistair's hat. It was so funny to see him run up the slope with a bright yellow minion hat in his mouth, followed by a crazy nine year old. We ended the afternoon in the pub (dogs and all). The waitress was mad and the chips disappointing but the company was priceless. The evening entertainment was the BFG on Netflix. You just can't beat the Queen's farting corgis.

I am not sure what we'll do tomorrow but I hope to do a bit of sewing at least. I just finished a blouse and I am still working on James' quilt. I also quite fancy waffles for breakfast, if we have enough eggs. What are you doing? I hope you are enjoying the weekend. Thanks for stopping by. xx