Another windy update

The weather today is really quite amazing. The Weather Gurus have been saying for sometime that this weekend would be wild and wintry. I was beginning to doubt them, yesterday, when I woke up to a stunning morning. The Builder was thinking about heading to the allotment after lunch and doing a little digging. I hung wthe washing out. By the afternoon, however, the winds were getting up and there was the odd rain shower. No digging for The Builder and the washing came in. By evening the winds were having a merry old time. Woke this morning to Mighty Winds, but none of the promised snow.

Then the skies darkened.

Then the snow arrived.

Then it went away and the sun came out and the wind dropped.

Then it did it all over again.

And again.

And then – the winds HOWLED and the sky went black and the winds swirled and then snow and hail and freezy stuff blew in and swirled around and everything beyond the garden pretty much disappeared. Was very exciting. Then it all went away. Apart from the wind. The sun is shining again now!

I have turned the boiler up a bit and put all the radiators up on high. The house is quite toasty. It’s cold in the kitchen, though. And outside. We’re supposed to be going to Clarissa’s place shortly to steal her greenhouse. This is going to be lots of fun!!!!

It feels quite odd today. Yesterday, we mostly did Saturday things. We went to Chatsworth to do the shopping. They’ve been renovating the shop for the past few weeks and it has all just properly re-opened. There’s a wonderful new fish counter. I’m not sure where they’re sourcing the fish – clearly not locally since we are about as far from the sea as it is possible to get in England. But it looked lovely. I must enquire where the fish is coming from. I assume it’s sustainable fish. Anyway. It was quite crowded but not too bad. Then we went to the supermarket, which was absolute bedlam. Can’t think why. The shops are all open today. No real reason for people to have hit the shops in droves yesterday! We only went because we happened to be out anyway, and we’re going to Leeds greenhouse stealing today. I fear we might have to drop into a shop at some point today, though. I haven’t got any full fat milk and you can’t make custard with skimmed milk. Well you can, but there doesn’t seem to be much point in making such a custard. You might just as well have low fat yoghurt.

So, having done all the Saturday things, including things like the washing (which dried nicely in the wind) and cleaning and stuff, I really want it to be Sunday today. It came as a great shock to wake up when the radio came on to find it not doing Sunday programs. It came as a great shock when the Today program came on. It’s further complicated by the fact that I have been doing Sunday morning things today, like the ironing, but without the accompaniment of Sunday morning radio. I wonder if I am getting too set in my ways? And I fancy we got up too early. Granted, it was 7:00 when we got up – but I was sat down in the lounge room reading Hugh Fearnley Wotsit’s Fish book by half past nine. Marlo was astounded. I am almost never sat down reading at that time in the morning. But I had done all the things I had intended to do this morning …

I made, as had become my habit, a Fine Fish Pie for our Good Friday dinner. I made it following a recipe in the Fish book, which is Hugh’s mum’s recipe. She does a number of things which I will incorporate into my routine fish pie making. Her recipe is very nice. But mine, I think (she says a touch smugly), is even better. Or perhaps it’s just what I’m used to. It just seems a bit richer in taste.

Half an hour before we brave the elements and head to Leeds in Uncle John. Wish us luck!