Well well well, I finally get to sit down!

Today has literally been mental! The weather is crazy. Over night we got snowed on (thanks for the warning weather people!!) and when we woke up it was like a blanket of snow had been laid on the valley and everything within it. Last time the weather was like this I managed to crash my car attempting to get to work. Today however I was much more sensible and decided that I wasn’t going anywhere until it was safe to do so – no matter how much work whinged about it I didn’t give a damn quite frankly as the safety of my family is much more important than any job!

Time passed by and it was growing ever more obvious that noone was attempting to leave the street as it was just a big lump of ice! Having been dressed for work for quite a while I thought that I would give it a serious attempt to get to work as soon as the roads were passable. Every half hour I would walk down the street and to the hill to see if anyone was attempting to drive down to the main road. The answer quite simply was no. The only people attempting it were people with 4 by 4’s. They made it look easy. It was only when someone in a 2 wheel drive hatchback slid uncontrollably down the hill that others just thought it wasn’t worth it.

Having walked up and down the street a number of times I began to think that I may aswell do something about it. The council had provided us with a gritbox just last week so as the council weren’t going to come and grit our roads I thought that I would take on the responsibility myself. I got the recycling crate from our front garden and strolled down the road. Filling it up I then planned what I’d do. I’d drag the box down the hill, spreading the grit by hand as I went along until I reached the bottom. I did this 3 or 4 times. My back, by the end, was in agony.

It was now just a case of waiting for the grit to take effect.

After an hour, and having watched several cars driving down the street I knew that it was now possible for me to attempt the hill. We did so.

We left the town and headed off to the city, albeit at 20mph!

When we got to my Mum and Dad’s house the conditions there were better but still not exactly the best for driving on. Also, when we got there, my parents were not there. We had to wait about 20 minutes for them to get home but when they did we had a quick chat and then headed off to work in Cardiff.

We walked in about 12, and do you think anyone thanked us for our brave efforts to get to work? Did they hell! All they cared about was when I was working my time back. They didn’t care that we actually bothered trying and managed to get to work, unlike many others. It just made me realise how crap it all really is, next time I won’t bother. I’ll just stay at home and have a great time with my family!

So anyhow, after being annoyed in work, we left to come home (a little early to avoid getting stuck in the city if the weather worsened back at home). Travelling back home was ok up until we reached the hill again. As I looked up the road before turning in I did wonder would I make it all the way up, I selected first gear, and very slowly crept up the hill. We were fine until about 2 metres from where we needed to turn left. I felt the car wheels spinning and slipping. Oh no, no grip! I just held tight and left my foot on the accelerator, secretly praying in my head we found the slightest bit of grip and the car edged forward, I quickly turned in and we were in our street.

My heart was beating a million times a minute, I was so relieved to make it home. When I saw the clear space outside our house I quickly parked it and got out. Phew phew phew we were home safe.

Now we await to see what conditions we’ll wake up to tomorrow morning!

As scary and frustrating as today has been at times, it’s made for a very good talking point – I gritted the road by hand!! That aside, the snow on all the forests across the valley looked so picturesque. A true white Christmas!