Going out?

I picked up the hand free phone to take it through into the study - I'm expecting PD to ring any minute to see if we're coming out to play - when suddenly it rings. How's that for timing I thought. It wasn't PD. Instead it was an unfamiliar voice - the Fire Brigade. They'd installed a fire alarm a while ago & were just ringing to check all was well. Kind of them I thought but I assured him we checked the alarm regularly & it always bleeped, though it never did when I burnt the dinner. He told me great & again asked if we'd like them to come round for anything. Again I said no. It is only now dawning on me that what he was really offering was to do any shopping etc as, knowing I was an elderly or disabled person as I'd had to be to get the free alarm, they'd thought we might be having difficulties  getting around due to the amount of ice & maybe running out of food supplies for example. What a kind thought. I'm all the gladder that I'd wished them  Merry Christmas.

As for PD, I'm not sure if we'll be going out or not this afternoon. The road outside looks like an ice rink. We had thought we might have to go out. I managed to lose a bit of a tooth on the roast goose on Saturday. However, as my tooth is aching at a very tolerable level, I've not got an appointment until Wednesday. I suspect my Christmas present is going to be another crowned tooth! Exciting isn't it? But I will be relieved not to have a jagged hole.

Our other reason to venturing out is that we finally decided to get the Christmas tree out. The first thing we tried was the lights. Nothing. We checked all the bulbs were securely in. Light. The Fox draped them on the tree. Dead once more. Took them off, twiddled the bulbs, light came on, so put them on the tree again & once more the lights died. This time we couldn't get them going again so we're thinking it's time for some new lights.

I've also finally decided to get a turkey, for the new year rather than Christmas. Experience has taught us turkeys become astronomically expensive outside the pre-Christmas rush. One year I had thought there would be some good offers to clear the freezers, but no, they doubled the price instead. If we can get out we're thinking of a quick shop before the pandemonium of the last few days of food shopping before the festive season.

All depends on the state of the road. We're telling ourselves once we're out of our side road, onto the main roads, we'll be okay. Those roads will be well salted. Cars do seem to be managing to manoeuvre better today. Tyres do seem to be able to get some traction & not just spin around going nowhere. We'll see how it looks by this afternoon. I certainly can't see us wanting to be out late, when the freeze once more sets in. At least it's got u to -8C today!

All this cold has kept our avian friends busy. Yesterday the goose skin disappeared rapidly under the onslaught of a flock of starlings. This morning I looked out of the kitchen window to see Mr Blackbird sifting through the snow on the patio wall. I usually put the hanging feeders there when I'm filling them. I think he was hoping to find some escapee seeds. He doesn't usually like foraging quite so close to the house. My heart went out to him. I hastily got out some bread for him. Then I progressed to preparing our dinner - some meatballs with a festive touch of cranberries. There was a part slice of bread & a few dried cranberries left, so they, too, got scattered across the patio. It only took a few minutes before Mr Blackbird was back, with the wife this time, feeding happily. They really must be desperate in this cold. 

And that's another reason to try to get out. We're nearly out of bird food & our avian friends definitely need feeding up if they're to survive this vicious cold.


And yes, I was right.  PD has rung while I've been writing this blog.