Snow was promised and so it came to pass. No late visit to the supermarket last night because that snow was falling steadily from 7pm onwards. Why risk skidding around and potentially having a costly accident when you don't absolutely have to go out?
And so this was the view from our kitchen window when I arose this morning - three or four inches of the white stuff. Not cocaine.
With my quiz pals, I was meant to go to Buxton today for a slap up lunch and drinks all covered by our quiz winnings but we postponed yesterday when we saw the weather forecast. Buxton in The High Peak is the highest market town in England and they really know about winter weather up there. It is twenty eight miles west of Sheffield but in a different climate zone. Talk about global warming up there and they'll laugh at you.
Yesterday, I needed a walk but I didn't wish to drive so I put my boots on, crossed the main road and walked the length of Bannerdale Road - right down to the bottom. Then I took a path up through the allotments that nestle below the woods on Brincliffe Edge. It's a steep climb up to Brincliffe Edge Road so a bench near the top was very welcome.
Then a woman with two dogs came along and said, "I know you don't I?"
At first I didn't recognise her and my first inner thought was, "Oh-oh. Did I do something wrong?" but I needn't have worried.
It was the Irish lady - Fidelma - who gave me three car loads of free walling stone in the summer. See here. I did not recognise her at first because her hair was different and she was wearing new glasses. But soon we were rapping away with each other again.
I find that that is how it can be with some people. You fall into easy conversation and could carry on interminably. We just seemed to be on the same wavelength - there under the trees, with the ground carpeted in bronze, russet and yellow autumn leaves and her two dogs sniffing hither and thither - not their names!
On Netflix I just watched a recent documentary film from Colombia called "The Lost Children" which is nothing to do with "The Lost Schoolgirl". A light plane came down in dense jungle and all three adults on board were killed but four children survived - the youngest aged only eleven months.
They wandered away from the crash site and afterwards the Colombian military along with an indigenous search party struggled to locate them. But forty days after the crash, the children were all found alive! Joy upon joy!
The style of the documentary was unfamiliar which made it all the more engaging. And it was nice to watch something that was so hopeful.
Below, a random photo of allotment No. 19 under Brincliffe Edge. There are around sixty allotments on the sloping ground that can all be rented from Sheffield City Council. Here citizens can grow vegetables and fruit. A few even keep chickens which is a popular pastime with urban foxes. Allotment No. 19 suggests that the tenant may be lacking in enthusiasm though clearly all is not lost.
I looked up Buxton, it's the coldest town in England. It looks like a nice little town. How nice to run into the same woman who gave you that walling stone. Small world.
ReplyDeleteIt always feels a couple of degrees colder in Buxton.
DeleteWhat a pretty window scene! Do you get snow very often where you live?
ReplyDeleteSome years we get none at all - I call them green winters. This snow will be gone by tomorrow.
DeleteI didn't think you really got snow...just the odd time. I'm supposed to get the snow. we don't have snow yet. The snow looks very nice.
ReplyDeleteThis is snow came unusually early but it will be gone by tomorrow.
DeleteI do love the look of the snowy garden!
ReplyDeleteAs the song says, "Do you wanna build a snowman?" ("Frozen")
DeleteI enjoy one snowstorm per winter as long as it only sticks around a day or two and melts quickly off the roads. :) It's pretty but treacherous.
ReplyDeleteWe are of one mind Margaret.
DeleteIt sounds like a good bracing walk and you met a friend.A good day all round I'd say.
ReplyDeleteIt was good to get out even though it wasn't sunny.
DeleteI must have seen that Colombian documentary as I knew about it in some detail. Yes, some people are just so easy to talk to. Nice.
ReplyDeleteI guess that what happened in Colombia would have been in the news long before the documentary was made.
DeleteI've only ever seen Buxton as a name on the labels of bottled spring water, I think. Hopefully, you can have your pub quiz winners' meal soon.
ReplyDeleteA pretty view from your window, your very own winter wonderland!
Walking on the fields around here, I often come past allotments. Some look super neat and cared for, while others obviously have occupants whose focus lies elsewhere. This time of year, though, none of them looks at their best. It's been raining for two days in a row with strong winds blowing about everything that wasn't secured or fastened well enough.
You are right about the water but it's mineral water - not spring water. Buxton Water is now owned by Nestlé.
DeleteIs Plot No 19 yours?
ReplyDeleteNo. My vegetable plot is at the top of our garden... It's called Pilchards!
DeleteSnow...how pretty. None here yet, except for the tops of the hills. Cold though so heating on all day, methinks.
ReplyDeleteHave you got your sexy thermals on JayCee?
DeleteHow long is the allotment waiting list? Ours is about 15 years. When my name got to the top I was offered one 4 miles away. No thanks.
ReplyDeleteSheffield has several allotment sites. The best ones have long waiting lists but some other sites have no waiting list at all.For seven or eight years I had an allotment on Hagg Hill and I secured it straight away. It was a two mile drive from our home at the time, At our present house I have a big vegetable plot which I reduced in size to make it more manageable.
DeleteI love allotments. Living lungs growing verdant produce in the heart of the city. Smashing photos. I know Buxton. We often drove along the Cat and Fiddle road when we lived in Cheshire.
ReplyDeleteThe Plain of Cheshire exists at a much lower level and always feels a little warmer than Buxton.
DeleteSnowy picture of garden is lovely, but then when you go into the world of roads and towns all you see is a mushy brown. Not forgetting the forever bleating of snow news on the radio. We should enjoy snow just not step on it ;)
ReplyDeleteWhen snow is fresh it is lovely to walk in if you are wrapped up warm but of course for senior citizens one fall could be life-changing.
DeleteThank you... it's a pleasure to read your post. The snow attracted me, we also had snow this morning, but not that much.
ReplyDeleteI'll watch the documentary. Thank you for the tip.
A cheerful greeting comes to you from Viola. Sunshine is here now... feels so good.
Thanks for calling by Viola. Nice to meet you.
DeleteThanks to Google maps, I just followed your walk along Bannerdale Road, very nice and a bit of a hill.
ReplyDeleteGoogle Streetview can be so helpful that way.
DeleteIt is so hard for me to believe that there is snow in other parts of the world right now. Here it is seventy-something degrees and so humid. It is going to cool down but even that's hard to believe.
ReplyDeleteHow nice to run into your stone-lady friend. Some people are just familiar, aren't they?
Somehow I think that bumping into you would be rather like meeting up with Fidelma.
DeleteWe are supposed to get some snow tomorrow but I hope we don't get a lot because I have places to go and I don't like to drive in the snow...
ReplyDeleteHere we call them "garden plots" and my brother always has one and I am the official watering person when he is away on trips. I get to pick produce and pumpkins, tho, so it is worth it.
If it snows you will just have to tie two tennis racquets to your feet.
DeleteHow nice the is the view of the pristine snow in your garden. I used to love to see untrammelled snow, on the very odd occasion we had it when we lived in the UK. Quite a contrast to here, where many people are still wearing shorts and T-shirts, and some are swimming in the sea!
ReplyDeleteAye, them's all a bit soft in t'Spain.
DeleteYour snowfall puts our paltry flurries to shame. I was surprised that so many schools shut. I don't ever remember schools shutting for snow when I was a child. There was no Elfen Safety then.
ReplyDeleteOh we must keep the elves safe!
DeleteSnowing a bit here too now, but not quite as much as in your photo (just where I am).
ReplyDeleteSweden is a big country so there will be snow somewhere. In land area, Sweden is about twice the size of Great Britain.
DeleteI imagine it's hard to be enthusiastic about an allotment at this time of year. We got a little bit of wet snow but nothing compared to your snowfall.
ReplyDeleteSeveral allotments on that slope are more tidy and "worked" than that one.
DeleteYour snowfall is beautiful! I don't think it's ever snowed in November in South Carolina (at least in my part of the state). I hope to see some snow this winter, but usually there isn't much, if any.
ReplyDeleteIf there isn't much, just order a truckload of polystyrene balls to replicate snow.
DeleteBeautiful snowfall. Snow is in our forecast for tomorrow but we shall see...
ReplyDeleteAre you still in Dayton, Ohio Diaday?
Delete