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shermaramaOn Thursday night, we went down to a BuildBrighton event, making a bunch of throwies and then going out to decorate the ferromagnetic bits of Brighton. I'm not actually sure what I think of this as an idea; I mean, it was fun, but only if you don't think about throwing 200 lithium coin cells away in places where they're not likely to be sensibly disposed of. Also throwing away that many magnets where animals or birds might eat them seems like a poor idea, until you stop to imagine greedy seagulls getting stuck to each other in a squawking heap of confusion. Most of them got stuck on Passacaglia, a sculpture on the beach made of hexagonal cast-iron plates in a curved shape that skateboarders find irresistible. The plan had been to stick them to the Kiss Wall, but unfortunately that's made of aluminium.
Just as we were setting out, it started to snow a bit, but had stopped by the time we got to the beach. After the constructive littering we went to the Hop Poles on Middle Street and a few minutes later the snow started really coming down. By the time we left there, two hours later, there was a good three or four inches on the ground and cars were having to get drunken street-wanderers to push them out of trouble. I'm entertained by having a palm tree in my front garden at the best of times, but it's even more entertaining when it's got snow on it.
I can't decide which one I like more, the one with the incongruous green showing or the traditional monochrome snow scene.
Anyway since then there's not actually been any more snow but there's been no thawing, and the snow on pavements has been compressed into a two inch thick creaking berg of skid-tastic ice. Some of the pavements on main shopping streets have been gritted but generally it's taking a lot longer to get anywhere than normal. The bottom of my street is particularly tricky, apart from the short sections that civic-minded people have cleared themselves; Tom spent an hour salting and hacking our front steps clear this morning since they'd just got compressed ice on them by now. The London train journey involved clinging tightly to handrails to get up and down the steps into the car park, not to mention considerable delays as half the trains didn't seem to be able to cope. The choice of pub to go to last night was heavily influenced by how much of the route was gritted pavement and involved no hills, too. The Basketmakers Arms is a quality pub anyway, mind, (and we had some 2007 vintage Gale's Prize Old Ale which tasted like something lambic crossed with red wine rather than any sort of ale) but it's on a backstreet behind the Gloucester and the immediate area was another ice rink. On the way there I got there by walking very very slowly but on the way out, what with the Prize Old Ale being 9% and all, I gave up on dignity altogether, sat down on the ground and sort of sculled myself backwards over the ice. I'm not good with falling over, being top heavy and a long way up to start with, and this was definitely the most effective way to avoid it.
So there seems to be little prospect of the ice going away any time soon, and we might get some more snow tonight. Fortunately I don't really have to go out unless I want to and the shops are still only fifteen or twenty minutes away with the extra time, but there's a point where this starts to get irritating. I was going to go to Waitrose to buy some wine as presents, but that's over a dirty great hill from here and it's either walk for a long time and hope I avoid falling over with a rucksack full of bottles or take a couple of buses into town and out again to get to somewhere that's normally twenty minutes away. Or, you know, see what I can get from the Co-op instead.
Just as we were setting out, it started to snow a bit, but had stopped by the time we got to the beach. After the constructive littering we went to the Hop Poles on Middle Street and a few minutes later the snow started really coming down. By the time we left there, two hours later, there was a good three or four inches on the ground and cars were having to get drunken street-wanderers to push them out of trouble. I'm entertained by having a palm tree in my front garden at the best of times, but it's even more entertaining when it's got snow on it.
I can't decide which one I like more, the one with the incongruous green showing or the traditional monochrome snow scene.
Anyway since then there's not actually been any more snow but there's been no thawing, and the snow on pavements has been compressed into a two inch thick creaking berg of skid-tastic ice. Some of the pavements on main shopping streets have been gritted but generally it's taking a lot longer to get anywhere than normal. The bottom of my street is particularly tricky, apart from the short sections that civic-minded people have cleared themselves; Tom spent an hour salting and hacking our front steps clear this morning since they'd just got compressed ice on them by now. The London train journey involved clinging tightly to handrails to get up and down the steps into the car park, not to mention considerable delays as half the trains didn't seem to be able to cope. The choice of pub to go to last night was heavily influenced by how much of the route was gritted pavement and involved no hills, too. The Basketmakers Arms is a quality pub anyway, mind, (and we had some 2007 vintage Gale's Prize Old Ale which tasted like something lambic crossed with red wine rather than any sort of ale) but it's on a backstreet behind the Gloucester and the immediate area was another ice rink. On the way there I got there by walking very very slowly but on the way out, what with the Prize Old Ale being 9% and all, I gave up on dignity altogether, sat down on the ground and sort of sculled myself backwards over the ice. I'm not good with falling over, being top heavy and a long way up to start with, and this was definitely the most effective way to avoid it.
So there seems to be little prospect of the ice going away any time soon, and we might get some more snow tonight. Fortunately I don't really have to go out unless I want to and the shops are still only fifteen or twenty minutes away with the extra time, but there's a point where this starts to get irritating. I was going to go to Waitrose to buy some wine as presents, but that's over a dirty great hill from here and it's either walk for a long time and hope I avoid falling over with a rucksack full of bottles or take a couple of buses into town and out again to get to somewhere that's normally twenty minutes away. Or, you know, see what I can get from the Co-op instead.
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Date: 2009-12-20 06:36 pm (UTC)Also BuildBrighton! I'm hoping to start going back there in the new year too.
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Date: 2009-12-20 08:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-20 08:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-21 09:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-20 06:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-20 08:12 pm (UTC)