Well the snowbomb hit the South West yesterday and we are snowed in again. Being 750 feet high here, we are above the snow line. We watched it coming down thick and fast yesterday evening and woke up to the silence of the snow this morning. Makes lovely photos though!! We were snowed in last March and now its the 1st of Feb, so that’s twice in a year!
On Thursday afternoon there was a red alert for snow in Devon and Somerset. And did the snow come down, it was thick and fast, and before we knew we were knee deep in snow and drifts.
We got a call from a couple stuck in the snow on the A303 on a hill behind a lorry that couldn’t make it up the hill. They asked if we had a room for the night and we said we did. It wasn’t until about 7pm (after they had been stuck for over 6 hours and realised they were going nowhere that night) that they walked up the hill to our junction with the A303. Neil got suitably attired and plodded through the snow to meet them and walk them back to our house. They were truly grateful to be in the warm and the first thing we did was make them a cup of tea.
Normally our guests would go to the local pub for evening meals but there was no way they were going to do that in the bad weather, so a I rustled up some dinner for them and we all ate together.
The next day after breakfast they togged themselves up and went back to their abandoned car to see if they could dig themselves out. They managed to move their car a couple of 100 yards but couldn’t go any further as the A303 was still blocked and shut.
They realised they would have to stay another night. This time I made a meat and veg chilli for us all and they shared their bottle of Cava with us to make it nice evening.
The couple had been talking to the Police who told them that snowploughs and gritters would be out all night clearing the A303 so they should be OK on Saturday morning. They duly kitted themselves out for the snow, waved us goodbye and trudged back to their car and were able to make their way slowly home.
We spent more time with them than normal B&B guests so it felt like we had made new friends.
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This year I made another Christmas wreath, from willow whips, holly and ivy growing in the woods. It is a bit more shaped like a horse’s bridle than a round wreath, but that’s OK as it is authentic home made. I added the bow, bauble and berries to give it a bit of colour.
I last made one 2 years ago, here is my blog on how to make one.
https://lodgehousebandbsomerset.wordpress.com/2012/12/17/making-a-xmas-holly-wreath/
It’s a bit incongruous this year what with the scaffolding still up on the front of the house, but I thought we should try and bring the Christmas spirit in, in spite of the building works.
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The men have been working on redoing the whole roof, with new timbers and insulation (that we never had before) and relaying the tiles and slates. However near one of the chimneys they discovered a number of bees, so Neil and Harry Pym ( the boss of the builders) donned bee suits and went up the ladders to investigate. Neil removed tiles and found a fully formed bees nest with combs they had built themselves. They had been there some time as Neil could tell from the colour of the combs. It would appear they had built the comb into an old chimney flue.
He smoked the bees to pacify them and then gradually started removing the comb they had built and putting it into frames and into a hive.
Of course there were lots of bees buzzing around all the time and Neil just hoped he had captured the queen and put her into a frame in the hive, so the other bees would follow. In spite of this neither Neil nor Harry got stung.
He got a good view from on top of the roof.
Neil took the frames and put them into a hive at the bottom of the garden, complete with their stores, so they have some food to keep them going, but he also put a feeder in with some sugar syrup solution as extra feed. On a sunny day we have seen some bees coming and going so we are hoping that the hive will take and be strong to see through the winter.
In the meantime the men have now finished the roof. It looks lovely and straight and secure. Here they are putting in the roofing felt and insulation.
Then finishing off the lead around the chimney.
The roof looks really good now and is not only straight but probably good for the next 150 years!
We should be warm and toasty with the new insulation and hopefully the bees are too in their new hive. We shall have to watch them carefully to see they make it through into the Spring.
The B&B is still open at the moment, but will have to close temporarily in the New Year when the work to put a new supporting steel comes into my kitchen and causes lots of disruption.
see us at http://www.lodgehousebandbsomerset.co.uk
Today the sun was shining and as most of the snow has cleared we took ourselves up to Staple Hill for our favourite walk. It is about 900 feet high at Staple Hill and some of the snow was still lying in the hedgerows and on the paths.
There was quite a chill in the air. I think you call it bracing!! As we rounded the corner we saw more lying snow.
As we walked up the hill we saw that 2 trees had fallen right over the path, probably weighted down by the snow and then the winds we have had.
One of the trees you could easily walk right under as I did.
On the upper level the sun was peaking through the trees.
Freshly invigorated after our walk, we made our way home via The Candlelight Inn in Bishopswood, where we stopped for a quick lunchtime bevy!! And the best bit was that as we had the car we didn’t have to walk up the hill back home.
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Today the sun is shining and the sky is blue instead of grey. We can hear the gently drip, drip, drip as the snow is starting to thaw. There are long shadows across the land.
In both directions………
The snow is melting off the branches
And the sky is bright blue
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Yesterday we had even more snow in Buckland St Mary, all afternoon and evening, until all the footprints were covered again and we just had a complete whiteout. And then more snow this morning.
This is the view out of the back door.
and looking down the garden…
The next photo is taken from the front door. You can see from the snow on the table how much has fallen.
Our lane outside our front garden is impassable, the snow is 8 to 10 inches thick.
It’s very pretty to look at. This is the view over the fields…
Good job we have no B&B guests booked in the moment. Firstly they wouldn’t be able to get to us and then would they find us? Even our signed is partially covered up.
Poor Tarquin the cat went out the front door this morning, and the snow was so deep it stuck in clumps to his underbelly and we had to go out and rescue him. I don’t think he’ll be going out again in a hurry.
This is the view of the front of the house…
We’ve not been out in the car since last Thursday and I think it will be a few days yet before we venture out again. Good job we are well stocked up.
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