Snow Go


By eleven am the village school closed and parents and grandparents turned up looking harassed in order to collect the pupils.
It only had been snowing for a few hours but effectively ( and in the U.K. So Commonly ) the whole village almost came to a standstill.
Trendy Carol ( in a nice cream coat, natty pullover and woolly tights) knocked on the lane window to let me know know that the Shrove Tuesday's pancake lunch at the London Road Chapel had been cancelled.
It was up to her to do the cooking, now she's nose to nipple with eggs, milk and lemons.

I've spent my " trapped" tine making curry,  pancake batter and butternut squash ( with chili) soup whilst listening to a BBC radio production rerun of The Maltese Falcon 


89 comments:

  1. It's been snowing here this afternoon, but I think it'll all be gone in 10 mins!

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  2. It's almost gone here too cro

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  3. I am surprised that the pancake lunch had to be cancelled just because of a light fall of snow.

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    1. Me too.... things stop here...we are not as flat as you. I had to help three people who couldn't move their cars up the lane!

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    2. Yes, we get a bit of that on slopes too. But I was thinking a lot of folk would have walked to the chapel.

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    3. They didn't have the chance. The Chapel Elder cancelled early

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  4. ohhh what recipe do you use for the soup? please

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  5. Batten down the hatches John. I've only got wind, gales of it. Mind you a good day to cross the channel the meals will be very large.

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    1. It's 4 pm and the sun is now shining Richard

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  6. They kept holding out the thought that Winter was coming close to finishing, but kept putting it back and back. I've just seen our latest 10-day forecast, and - oh dear! At this rate I shouldn't be surprised if we'll be having a White Easter. Meantime heating bills continue to mount.

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    1. Our log burner has run 24/7 for nearly a week Raymondo

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    2. It's been a rotter of a Winter, JayGee - not so much extreme as so damn prolooooooonged!

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    3. meanwhile we are living in a permanent sauna here in Sydney

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  7. I was thinking about when I was little and snow didn't seem to put a stop to anything but in those days we walked everywhere as very few people had cars in the village, Hope you still get your pancakes!

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    1. Exactly ! Knee jerk reactions nowadays.

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  8. I haven't heard you mention a scotch egg in a long time. I've still yet to try one.

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    1. I had a sneaky one a week ago when the Prof was away. It was bloody bloody bloody lovely!

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  9. today it's sunny here; we have had enough snow.

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  10. Iwould love that Squash soup recipe. Any chance of you putting it on your blog? Nothing stops us up here - we all went out, snow or no snow.

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    1. I butternut squash cubed and roasted
      2 onions
      , diced
      1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
      2 mild red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
      850ml hot vegetable stock
      4 tbsp crème fraîche, plus more to serve

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  11. I miss seeing snow and the old days when my children would come slip sliding down the driveway to the door .
    Snowball fights and hot soup and my husband grumbling about the idiot drivers.

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  12. Today is the first day in a week we haven't had snow and the sun is actually shining. Am I wrong to think you have had a fair amount of snow for your area?
    I use coconut milk in my butternut squash soup with a bit of curry spice. Enjoy your snow day.

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    1. I've got some coconut milt , I shall add it and see

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  13. Judging by that picture, it doesn't look that bad at all, though I notice some wild tire tracks. Road slippery?

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    1. That's was the problem Kirk snow on ice don't roads...and a steep road...steep roads are common here

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  14. I eat a lot of soup & stews as I'm vegetarian & a cheap one at that.I'm going to do your recipe.I've got a large turks turban x

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  15. I have ordered a helicopter to drop vital supplies on Trelawnyd. I hope to God you all survive this extreme weather event.

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  16. Anonymous4:30 pm

    John. In 1979 I was sent to Norwich, the Tom Smith Cracker Co. for training. I had just left Montreal where we were having a storm. We were the last plane to get airborne before closing the airport. Landing in London they told us that there was a bad snow storm happening there also. I had just left our 21 inches, only to arrive in a dusting there. I kept asking where the snow was. Everything was closed down, I was shocked but later realized you aren't prepared for it like us. Love your blog Barb

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    1. Thanks barb xxx I know we don't have extremes of weather here

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  17. You have snow, we had our first big Fire Warning, dry, hot and windy weather. Plus two wildfires already north and south of Tucson. Our winter was 3 days instead of 2 months. The Fire department said this type of weather start in summer not in the middle of February.
    Yikes ! Fire photos on my Monday blog.

    cheers, parsnip and mandibles

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    1. We are so lucky in this country Gayle

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    2. You are so right !
      That is why I love all my blog that have to do with the UK. Yours and Weavers the most. My tourist heart goes pitty pat !

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  18. My son uses to live for school is closed days. He's cooking his own pancakes tonight as I'm doing Shephers pie !

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    1. The Prof adores his pancakes!

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    2. What are you using in your pancakes today ?

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  19. I'm home for a day and am watching the Olympics while I read a Louise Penny mystery.

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    1. I don't have the tv on during the day I prefer the radio

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  20. Wow! We haven't seen anything like that in London. (At least, not yet!)

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  21. Do you get much snow there in the winter John? Over the weekend we got ten plus centimeters.....

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    1. No not really, that is why so much just stops when it arrives. We get snow in the village where my sister's down in Prestatyn ( 450 feet to sea level but only 2 miles away) get nothing.
      Small lanes like ours get blocked cos the snow sticks to untreated roads which are steep . Normal cars have problems negiotiating

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    2. We were sanded, salted and eventually scraped down....we're used to it. It has to be pretty darn bad before we close things down. I don't imagine you have much in the way of road clearing equipment if it doesn't happen very often.

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  22. 4 wheel drive......get a Land Rover.

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    1. When I lived in Montana, we got a fair amount of snow, but most people knew how to drive in it--easy on the brakes, gear down to a lower gear if you can, and try to keep some distance from that idiot who thinks his 4 wheel drive won't slide on ice. I think the most useful trick I learned is to beware of bridges and overpasses--they are the first parts of the road to ice up and can be a nasty surprise if you're cruising along on a pretty bare road. Sorry, you probably don't need driving lessons, and I hope your weather improves, at least a bit.

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    2. For a moment I thought you were my Kate, my oldest, but she's never lived in MT, just visited me in Butte. You're right about the bridges, etc. Also, people with 4>4 forget that they don't have four wheel drive the instant they apply the brakes. In Butte, we often have snow on the roads Oct-late April, and by Jan people start driving like it's bare roads.....

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    3. Oh, my, you live in Butte! Small world! I was born and raised there; but have spent most of my adult life "back east" in upstate NY. In a town with steep hills and snow, so the driving skills have come in handy.

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    4. I realize this is John's blog, but I'm sure he'll be happy to know that he is connecting kindred spirits. I lived in Bozeman for many years, and of course I completely respected the amazing people who lived and celebrated and endured in Butte. And yes, the worst driving conditions I've ever seen were on a spring break trip to Spokane, with a ground blizzard whipping across the highway. Luckily, the truck in front of me led me through safely, because his tail-lights were all I could see.
      I live in Oregon now, but part of my heart is always in big sky country. Thanks for the comment.

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  23. Well I hope you are not looking for any empathy from me, (a Canadian) just suck it up buttercup!

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    1. Swings arm Gayly ....ok girlfriend !

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    2. Actually to be honest, if it hasn't snowed for a week or two, then some people seem to forget how to drive in the snow again and end up in the ditch, so you would be forgiven for not feeling comfortable driving in it.

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  24. I can easily see why things would grind to a halt there. Here we all must have special tires for winter and at the first sign of snow or freezing rain the municipalities and Department of Highways are spreading salt on the streets and roads. Preparation and the right equipment are vital to preventing car accidents. Oh, and the right mindset! You can't go the speed limit when the roads are bad unless you want to end up in the ditch!

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    1. It's the same for us in New Brunswick. The road crews are great about plowing and/or sanding or salting as soon as snow or freezing rain begins. We have winter tires, although I don't think that it is mandatory in our province. Far too many drivers do drive the speed limit or above despite treacherous road conditions. I try to stay off the roads until they are clear.

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  25. ... that's what we cal a dusting.

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  26. Do you use snow tyres?x

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    1. Are snow tyres not too good.I've been thinking about them as twice recently I've been stuck in the snow-once been pushed & another towed x

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  27. As I was writing this, the loaders and graders are finally coming down our street and I almost teared up. Over a meter fell in the last week, on top of at least a metre that was there previously, and we had to fire up the diesel 4x4 truck to make it to the grocery store. Thirty years ago, when we lived in Kitimat, it was not unusual to get 25 feet of snow in a winter. At least they had a good snow removal system. Even when it gets to -40C nothing closes here...
    Barb

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  28. Oh what a shame the pancake lunch had to be cancelled. We Brits do tend to cave in to a bit of snow. I've just had 3 pancakes, one with orange curd in it, one with lemon and sugar and one with golden syrup. I know how to live!

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  29. Good Lord, that would be so laughable over here. As someone else said, it's a question of preparation. Sorry, but that really is a dusting of icing sugar. When did we all become such snowflakes? I remember working in Washington D.C. and we had that much snow and the whole place ground to a halt. My French-Canadian colleague was roaring laughing! Anna

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    1. Of course you are right! We are such babies over hear

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  30. Really trapped? How much snow did you get? It must be a scarce occurrence?

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  31. pancakes and soup sounds ideal!

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    1. Soup for tomorrow.....pancakes and Indonesian curry tonight

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  32. Thanks for the recipe John - I shall report back when I have made it.

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  33. Oh, you gave me a bit of a laugh. School's closed and the village shuts down. I'm in the snow belt of Ontario so it's kind of quaint to see your dusting of snow, but I do realize that without proper tires, salt, or sand it probably does make it difficult for areas that rarely get snow.
    Concerning pancakes, can you explain to me how some English (Welsh?) people eat them with lemon juice and sugar? We just use butter and syrup (real maple, or "table" syrup), so I don't understand. Are they drizzled with lemon juice and then sugar sprinkled on top? -Jenn

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    1. Yes just a large squeeze of lemon and a dusting of caster sugar!
      The Prof ate 4! I had one with algave nectar

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  34. Our little town closes up shop at the mere mention of snow. Seriously.

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  35. An unexpected snow day, can be a nice change of pace. We are not well prepared here in DC, 2-3 inches of snow and the city shuts down for a day.

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  36. Funny how that dusting of snow stops everything. We don’t even put coats on for that in the northeast US.

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  37. We had a dusting of snow twice in my lifetime. It was very exciting. It never stayed on the ground long enough to cancel anything, though. We usually get the odd hail storm once or twice in Spring. That is always a bit thrilling,too.

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  38. I'm afraid that I'm chuckling a bit too - it's snowed off and on here since last Friday, and I mean snowed and not a thing has closed. We were also under a cold weather alert until noon today - and I'm talking about temps like -11C. I just watched a BBC documentary on Youtube about the winter of 1963 in the UK - now that was a storm! I did feel sorry for the Brits who had to suffer through that!
    Had some pancakes but with butter and real maple syrup - I've never tried the sugar and lemon juice - it sounds like something me might use on crepes rather than pancakes. What are your pancakes like - does anyone have a picture please?

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  39. Anonymous1:13 am

    We average 200” a year. We’re about 150”, now. The schools close only when it’s below zero F. so the kiddies don’t freeze waiting for a bus. My daughter teaches in Fl. They close when it gets around 35*/40*.
    I love the idea of a pancake holiday!
    Debbie

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  40. Ah I could tell you about my early days in North Dakota but . . I won't. Suffice it to say I'm sneering.

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  41. I had to look up the pancake thing. Never heard that before, in US it's all binge drinking for Mardi Gras, if anything at all.
    Was the snow a surprise?

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  42. Rome goes into chaos for little snow. We up north are more prepared for it.
    Greetings Maria x

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  43. Hi, I used to live in the prairies one year we had piles of snow from mid October to the end of April, I live on Vancouver Island with typical British weather.
    BBARNA Kitimat stil has piles of snow do you happen to know my dear friend Betty Edwards????

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    1. Sorry, Margo...it has been awhile and her name it not familiar. My in laws lived in Duncan- the island is beautiful.
      Barb

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    2. Hi, BBARNA, kind of you to respond a lot of people from Kitimat have ended up living in the Comox Valley on retirement from Stelco, small world hey. Thank you John for letting me take up some of your blog space, your blog sure has a broad audience.

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  44. Very nice post really ! I apperciate your blog Thanks for sharing,keep sharing more blogs.

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