The Sky Is Falling!

What else am I going to post about, except the weather? Well, boys and girls, that was fun, wasn’t it? Those pictures are of my actual car, and the actual ice I had to get rid of before I could foolishly drive off to get it stuck in the snow 🙂 I loved the part where I was chipping thick slabs of ice off the windscreen as seen on the left; it was extremely satisfying. I was determined to go in to work, rather than stay in and fret about my patients but my poor old car was just too low-slung. Can I just say how much I love my fellow human beings? My wonderful neighbour came out with his trusty shovel to clear the snow behind the car, while his wife joined in to help as I stood cluelessly by. Their toddler kids mostly threw themselves into the snow drifts while we were distracted. After a while, I persuaded them to hand over the spade seeing as it was after all my car, but I regret to report that my efforts were so risible that the wife took the shovel out of my hands before I hurt myself. I felt like a prize chump 🙂 AlaraApothecary: countrywoman survivalist, not!

Anyway, off I went, only to get stuck. Couldn’t go forward or backward but I had the sense to stop then. Out came the neighbours to push me back to the parking space. One of my patients then travelled 7 miles on those wretched roads to drive me into work in his swanky LandRover Discovery. I love people!! Plus, that car, what a beaut! That’s the second one I’ve been driven in, in the last couple of weeks and yes, it’s true love. I want one; in fact, I need one. 4WD, shiny gadgets with lights that you can press to change driving mode, the smell of expensive leather, oh me, oh my….

Anyhoo, off to work, having witnessed many hilarious road rage incidents involving upstanding citizens and boy-racers. Someone actually got out of their car and shook their fist, just like in the cartoons! Excellent 🙂 I had to bunk down in a local hotel as it was the only way I could be certain of making it to work the next day. Hotel fine, all restaurants closed. Trudge through the snow to the petrol station where a Subway was valiantly doing business. How delicious is a steak & cheese sub (with olives, jalapenos & salsa), washed down with Sheppy’s cider with raspberry when you are starving? Food of the gods, mos’ def. Especially followed with a fabulously synthetic-tasting Tiramisu that cost £1 for two portions. Truly, we undersell the appeal of intensely-calorific fast food. It was the highlight of my day.

Best bit of the week? Getting a lift to work from yet another patient: 8am on saturday, the only car on the road. Fields on both sides of the road as far as the eye can see, with the top layer melting and solid snow underneath. For all the world, it looked exactly as though God had reached down overnight and placed humongous sheets of glass down on top of two lakes. It was ridiculously beautiful. And don’t even start me off about the icicles hanging off the willow trees, and the sun shining on the melting snow crystals. Sparkle that makes the Cullinan diamond look like a piece of paste. What a wonderful world.

So, back to normal. I bought so much wine and chocolates as thank you prezzies, and so little food, that the cashier at Sainsburys’ gave me a very dodgy look. ‘Hard week’, I said. She nodded sagely; she was definitely feeling me 🙂 A huge thank you to all those who helped me last week, to the staff in hotels and restaurants who struggled in to work, and to all the people who worried about my welfare and checked up on me. You’re awesome and you know it. The following pictures of jaw-droppingly mental interiors are for you; hope they bring a smile to your faces. I particularly like the insane bathrooms. Have a good one.