Mom’s first car

Posted on August 19, 2026August 19, 2026 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged Car, Life, low cc, Memory, Radiator, Robin reliant, small engine, Snow, three wheels1 Comment

Mom was the driver in our family. She drove a Robin reliant 3 wheeler car. Fibre glass body. Me and my sisters would squeeze in it with her and sometimes my gran too. The three wheeler struggled with hills because it only had a very low cc engine. It was hard to drive in snow because the front wheel would have to push it’s way through fresh snow… Eek

One day on a very long steep hill l remember it boiled dry dragging 5 of us and our combined weight upwards. I remember a hot day and wondering how we would get home. Luckily mom found a house and they brought a watering can of water down to refill the radiator.

BTW Robin reliants got the nickname “Plastic pigs”!

I want cold!

Posted on July 16, 2026 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged celcius, Chill, Climate, Cold, Earth, Heat, heatwave, Life, Rain, Snow, Tired, Weather, wildfires, Winter3 Comments

Winter, snow, rain

Memory of snow

Sitting here, I wish for a chill in the air. Yesterday was St Swithens day. They say if it rains during the day it will rain for another 40 days and nights… No chance of that…

The UK is suffering it’s 3rd heatwave in a couple of months and I’ve not been able to do anything. Temperatures have been over 35 degrees Celcius in some places. The world is definitely heating and water reservoirs are depleted.

Meanwhile we have politicians both here (conservatives and reform) and in the USA who want us to “drill baby drill”, seeing only short term gain and a lack of understanding of climate science. Now smoke from wildfires in Canada drifts on the wind southwards and the USA have been complaining!

Maybe hell will be on Earth after all, but the majority of the population do not deserve to suffer it.

Snow joke

Posted on January 5, 2026January 5, 2026 Posted in Cat, Memories, UncategorizedTagged Apple tree, below normal temperature, Cat, Cold, Fence, Freezing, Neighbour, Snow, Weather, Winter3 Comments

The snow stuck. The apple tree looks like it’s been in a winter storm. It’s bent over because the neighbours pushed it over to put a fence in. It’s actually fruiting more because the branches are horizontal now, I might clip out some of the more central branches to give it a bit of air.

The weather forecast is more snow later. The cats are going out in it although it’s been about 4 to 10 degrees Celcius lower than normal.

Snow!

Posted on January 4, 2026 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged Cars, Cold, Freezing, January, Life, Memory, Quiet, reversing, Snow, Steep, Traffic, Weather, WinterLeave a comment

Snow is falling. The road is covered by it and since we live on a steep hill cars are coming up but doing three point turns because of it. I’ve seen at least 5 reversing lights through the front door window so far tonight. I think it was gritted during the initial snow fall, but they haven’t come back and it’s 11.45pm now.

It’s worrying because this is the main route ambulances take up to the hospital. We don’t get a lot of snow in the winter so I thought it was worth taking a photo. I hope it clears up soon. Another car just turned up the street then turned round and one crept down the hill very slowly. We just aren’t used to snow in this country.

Quick Robin

Posted on November 5, 2025 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged Bird, Christmas, fluffy, hopping, Life, Poem, Poetry, Robin, Snow, tracks, wild bird, Winter2 Comments

My paintbrush flittered quickly

Across the canvas

A blob of red and brown

A touch of white on a rotund belly

Fluffed up to keep out the cold.

An hour of painting

Green sprigs above

Snow below

Footprints trail

Sparse grass protrudes

Hop on the way

To Christmas.

Drought?

Posted on June 19, 2025 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged amber alert, Britain, Fog, Hail, Heat, Life, Rain, Snow, Sunshine, temperatures, Weather3 Comments

Oh for some rain, but today came the news that there is an amber heat warning for parts of Britain. That means there is some danger to health for people, especially for the vulnerable ones. There might be a cooler week next week, but that doesn’t mean rain.

In other news we had reports that we can expect temperatures of up to 40°Celcius in future years, that’s a lot higher than we are used to. Britain has a maritime weather system, meaning weather coming from all directions and all sorts of types. Rain, wind, sleet, hail, snow, sun, fog, mist, drizzle, gales, thunder and even tornadoes and water spouts, we get it all!

It might snow

Posted on January 4, 2025 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Cold, Freezing, Life, minus 10°C, Snow, Thinking, Time, Weather, weather warning1 Comment

Amber warning of snow and possible snow up to 10 centimetres. Also temperatures down to – 10°C. It makes me worry about people sleeping out on the streets. I see them more and more. I buy the big issue off sellers and try and give a few coins, but it’s not much. When you think about it people are struggling with increasing rents and mortgages, people are barely coping. I can only hope that this government try to do more than the last one? But I worry that the poor are often seen as deserving or undeserving when rich people are always fine. Oh I don’t know, I just want us all to be safe. X

Snowing

Posted on November 18, 2024 Posted in UncategorizedTagged icy cold, January, Keeping warm, November, Snow, Weather, Weather forecast, Winter1 Comment

Mid November and the snow is falling. Not deep, but palpably real. Very early for this time of year, it usually doesn’t happen till January if at all. I’ve had the central heating on for three days now and it might keep going till the weekend. I’m waiting for the morning as it is forecast to get worse before it gets better. Sorry it’s not a more exiting view!

Leaf

Posted on November 17, 2024 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged Autumn, Colour, Frost, Leaves, Photo, Poem, Poetry, Snow, Spring, Time, Weather, WinterLeave a comment

Leaf leaves tree

How long will it be

Before naked branches

Are clothed again?

First frost, then rain

Maybe snow will come again.

Icicles hang on gutters

Defrost as cold rain sputters

Then one day a bud bursts open.

Spring comes slowly,

Time is sullen.

In these months leaves are rotten

And autumn colours are forgotten.

Farewell friend

The end….

Esther Chiltons prompt Crazy.

Posted on August 29, 2024 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged camping trip, Cycling, easter holiday, Memory, mother in law, pennines, Snow, tandemLeave a comment

Wifi is back on and I am trying to catch up.

Esther Chilton has another prompt using the word crazy. I wrote about this trip with my hubby….

So many crazy things! Cycling home to my mother in laws house over the pennines springs to mind. It was after an easter camping trip. It snowed heavily as we started home over main roads. It was about 45 miles to cycle. But there was a steep hill to climb at the end. We were heading up about five miles of steep hill. Unfortunately the snow had other ideas. The road had been cleared until we got halfway up. Then we were faced with snow drifts and snowbanks. Even with our combined strength (we were on our tandem with a bike trailer carrying our gear) we realised it was crazy to go on. So a twenty mile detour back down the hill was the only solution.

The place where we stopped? A village called Turn!

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Snow