Rob Little's Blog – the musings of an English / British Tour Guide !

Back again like a dose of the *CENSORED* – we are being assured that this last “treatment” of snow is the beginning of the end…..this time is not “dry snow” from the east but WET snow coming from the Atlantic! Then by the weekend we can expect a heat wave. After suggesting my wife took a day off and she said that, no, she was going to work….I applauded her fortitude and pushed her out of the door to brush off the car. Gave her a 2 minute training course in using low ratio 4WD and she was off…..leaving me to nurse my cellulitis and plan happy things like Harry Potter tours and visits to the green ?becastled? Welsh mountains in May interspersed with the occasional transatlantic phone call!

Oh what a lovely life it is……as I look out of my window with a steaming mug of coffee and contemplate whether a slice of toast and marmite might help jolt the day into action?

To the photos:

01 = Showing a fresh fall of snow

02 = My better half preparing her vee hic elll so she can go to work !

03 = Mind your hands dont get cold

04 = Job done

05 = Off you go !!

06 = Toast & Coffee

Ha ha !? I am not really an MCP – I tried to stop her from going but she insisted “the roads were clear yesterday” – I suppose it is some kind of logic that I don’t understand.? Anyway in a muffled call from high on Uley Peak, I heard she had arrived safely!!? Now to that toast……. !

WHEN icicles hang by the wall,
And Dick the shepherd blows his nail,
And Tom bears logs into the hall,
And milk comes frozen home in pail,
When blood is nipp’d, and ways be foul,
Then nightly sings the staring owl,
To-whit! To-who! ? a merry note,
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.

When all aloud the wind doe blow,
And coughing drowns the parson’s saw,
And birds sit brooding in the snow,
And Marian’s nose looks red and raw,
When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl,
Then nightly sings the staring owl,
To-whit! To-who! ? a merry note,
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.

Yesterday Thursday, my daughter and I drove up into the more remote parts of the Cotswolds in the 4WD to see if there were any photo opportunities and they were there in abundance ! Today I went to Malmesbury and took some photos of the Abbey and Town from across the valley.

Snow is a real novelty for us here…..hope you like the pics. If you want to see more check my photo site later – www.roblittlephotography.com or email me for a PowerPoint (2mb) of ((though I say it myself) fantastic shots !

Well we only got about 4 or 5 inches but the usual chaos ensued with official advice like “do not travel unless it is a matter of life or death!!”

I heard a radio interview with guy stuck in car on the A3 highway south of London for 14 hours, hospitals inundated with fracture patients. aIrports closed!!

Funnily enough where people could not get to work or school my “local pub” pub at lunchtime “the Cat and Custard Pot” was jam packed doing a roaring trade! Oh well,,,,,!!

Photos:
1. Outside my window at 7.30am
2. The Chipping, Tetbury
3. Tetbury
4. My car in Tetbury
5. Under Tetbury Town Hall
6. Tetbury Town Hall
7. The Fosse Way (Roman Road)
8. Virgin snow on the Fosse Way
9. Malmesbury Abbey
10. Malmesbury Market Cross
11. River Avon, Malmesbury
12. Woodland near Malmesbury
13. Near the village of Coates
14. Near the village of Ewen
15. Near the village of Tarlton
16. Near the village of Rodmarton

…..and the onslaught of the “exceptional weather event” approacheth, no sign of which was apparent as I drove through the ancient town of Malmesbury this morning!

They say we may get 12 or 15 inches in places….what places may I ask and I trust that is not “average” ? *blush*

Sunrise at one of my favourite locations – a gate just off the old Roman road “The Fosse Way” close to where I live. It was very frosty this morning.

The blue moon of 2009 hangs above the horizon at the first hint of dawn, about to set on the old year. An hour or so later the sun appears – it brrrrrrr out there!

Later lunch at The Old Lodge, Minchinhampton Common – they say “Mad Dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun” – check out the pic below….people eating lunch outside below freezing! Similarly only a crazy Englishman would allow one of the female gender to take a photo to prove that I was out on my bike on 1st Jan in 28F degrees…she said the blur was because she was cold! Only the truly hardy motorcycle in January Ha ha !

Finally sunset..at 4:05pm!

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all my friends, known and unknown!