I've just realised that my previous post was short and a bit ungracious of me! So I'm posting a little more.
These are views from my study window at 8.00 this morning - the snow continued for another 4 or 5 hours after that, so I'm sure you can imagine what it was like! At 7.30, Mr FD got as far as the motorway bridge (6 km), saw that the motorway was at a standstill, full of stationary lorries, so he turned round & came back. Unusually, the snow ploughs & gritters were slow to get the roads cleared. I was due to borrow my friend's car to go to my lessons, but it's an automatic and useless in snowy conditions (especially on the climbs and descents) so it was considered more sensible to cancel lessons.
Mr FD doesn't want to miss another day of his course - and more snow is forecast overnight - so now the snow has stopped for the moment, & the roads are relatively clear, he is going to go down to St Etienne today and stay in a budget hotel overnight. It will be an extra cost, but it seems a sensible thing to do. I will have to snuggle up to my hottie bottle and whichever cats choose to join me!
We lost power at about 11.15, so I spent a while in bed, reading, and then we had lunch. As our friends have a wood burner and gas hob we decided to go up there to warm up and have a cuppa!! We have a wood fire, which is in the big downstairs room, which does give some heat to the rest of the house, but our granule burning stove in the living room - which is the main source of heat - is electrically operated. Our cooking is all electric too, so we didn't have the means to really get warm. The electricity came back on again round about 2.30 pm - but with more snow forecast I'm not sure whether it will go off again. I certainly won't be watching live TV tonight - the satellite dish is completely covered! - but I can catch up on stuff that has been recorded. I could have a White Queen fest, as I've not seen ANY of the series that was shown in the summer. Hmmm. That's a very appealing thought!
These are views from my study window at 8.00 this morning - the snow continued for another 4 or 5 hours after that, so I'm sure you can imagine what it was like! At 7.30, Mr FD got as far as the motorway bridge (6 km), saw that the motorway was at a standstill, full of stationary lorries, so he turned round & came back. Unusually, the snow ploughs & gritters were slow to get the roads cleared. I was due to borrow my friend's car to go to my lessons, but it's an automatic and useless in snowy conditions (especially on the climbs and descents) so it was considered more sensible to cancel lessons.
Mr FD doesn't want to miss another day of his course - and more snow is forecast overnight - so now the snow has stopped for the moment, & the roads are relatively clear, he is going to go down to St Etienne today and stay in a budget hotel overnight. It will be an extra cost, but it seems a sensible thing to do. I will have to snuggle up to my hottie bottle and whichever cats choose to join me!
We lost power at about 11.15, so I spent a while in bed, reading, and then we had lunch. As our friends have a wood burner and gas hob we decided to go up there to warm up and have a cuppa!! We have a wood fire, which is in the big downstairs room, which does give some heat to the rest of the house, but our granule burning stove in the living room - which is the main source of heat - is electrically operated. Our cooking is all electric too, so we didn't have the means to really get warm. The electricity came back on again round about 2.30 pm - but with more snow forecast I'm not sure whether it will go off again. I certainly won't be watching live TV tonight - the satellite dish is completely covered! - but I can catch up on stuff that has been recorded. I could have a White Queen fest, as I've not seen ANY of the series that was shown in the summer. Hmmm. That's a very appealing thought!