We have snow.
Not a very great deal, it is the smallest dusting. The skies have cleared and the night is crystal-icy.
I have avoided being outside as much as I possibly can, popping out into the garden to empty the hoover into the dustbin was more than enough outdoor living for me.
Mark went to the farm, because he is braver than I am and also wears special thick padded overalls that he gets imported from America, which are guaranteed to keep you warm in hurricanes and blizzards. He has got a sheepskin body warmer which he puts on over the top of them if he is getting chilly.
The dogs do not wear overalls and solved the cold problem by burying themselves in a pile of sawdust, most of which they seem to have brought home with them. I have been cleaning and was not pleased about this.
I have cleaned the children’s bedrooms. In fact I have cleaned everywhere, starting in the loft, which had been turned into a complete muddle by the children’s packing and departure activities. I worked my way slowly down the house and then put a large flat cardboard box across the stairs so that the dogs can’t go into any of it.
For the record, I would like to say here that I absolutely hate cleaning bathrooms.
I love to use a pristine shiny bathroom, but the whole restoration procedure of scrubbing the grout and polishing the taps is on my top ten list of things I will be paying somebody else to do when I win the lottery. Hoovering down the stairs is another.
We have three bathrooms and three sets of stairs and all of them are now in newly-shining condition. One of the very nice things about boarding school is that two out of the three will stay that way for the next few weeks.
When I had cleaned everywhere I made some laundry soap. With no evidence whatsoever I think this is better for our skin than the shop stuff. Of course exactly the reverse might be true as people who make laundry soap as a full time career, and who spend their lives researching and perfecting the product might know more about it than a mildly interested taxi driver.
Mark cleaned the ash out of the fire this morning and built the new fire up with oak logs because I have recently been reading some papers written by a Bangladeshi doctor who has been using wood ash as a treatment for skin complaints. I can see why this might work as wood ash is, of course, the basis of lye, and since charcoal is good for dogs who have wind I think he might be right.
Therefore I am going to collect the clean oak ash and make some lye with it and try it in my home made hand cream. You can do this sort of thing if you don’t have to worry about going to a proper job.
In the end I made picnics and we went to work, where we are sitting quietly getting on with our own winter activities, none of which include taking anybody anywhere. Mark is reading about different species of generator and I am writing to you. We have been here for two and a half hours, and made four pounds each so far.
Not to worry. I have got a flask of our favourite chai, and roast chicken and home made mayonnaise on freshly made pine-nut-and-pumpkin-seed bread rolls.
Life could be an awful lot worse.
