tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23204407.post986591582031550822..comments2023-06-28T14:55:02.879+01:00Comments on Kate Hardy: Busybusy and the s-wordKate Hardyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07367918727779245526noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23204407.post-5865221012142962492010-01-10T20:36:22.014+00:002010-01-10T20:36:22.014+00:00Olivia - ooh, I can remember bedrooms frozen on th...Olivia - ooh, I can remember bedrooms frozen on the inside (the "ice feathers" on the windows) in the early 70s, and sitting by the coal fire (was too hot there, but too cold anywhere else in the room).<br /><br />December to March, though - that's really awful.Kate Hardyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07367918727779245526noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23204407.post-84044538285919648932010-01-10T20:34:36.452+00:002010-01-10T20:34:36.452+00:00Diane - I dunno, I can remember it being two feet ...Diane - I dunno, I can remember it being two feet deep in '78. (And I'm not much taller than I was in 78 - started growing outwards rather than upwards in 79, bah.)<br /><br />And I can just imagine the trousers...Kate Hardyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07367918727779245526noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23204407.post-41687510306292932622010-01-10T13:11:39.544+00:002010-01-10T13:11:39.544+00:00Hi Kate. Yes, again showing my age I can tell you ...Hi Kate. Yes, again showing my age I can tell you that 1962/63 was the worst winter in (my) living memory; apparently 1947 was awful too but that was before even I was born! In 62/63 the snow was here from December to March without a break. I think things DID grind to a halt back then, just as much as today, but what people forget is that there wasn't so much to grind to a halt! Hardly any cars on the roads, for instance. It's the volume of traffic on today's roads, and our dependence on our cars, that make conditions so bad. I wouldn't want to go back to the 'good old days' with no heating - chillblains every winter, scorched legs from sitting by the coal fire, bedrooms frozen up on the inside, cold lino floors, getting dressed under the covers...! No way! We're much better off today.xSheila Nortonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13997206301877289623noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23204407.post-67098286740846586042010-01-07T12:46:19.871+00:002010-01-07T12:46:19.871+00:00I think this is possibly the worst snow I can reme...I think this is possibly the worst snow I can remember at "home". I do remember snow ploughs back in Solihull coming right down our street, which is a side road and would be unheard of today even though it's now a bus route too. But I often wonder if it seemed a lot "bigger" because we were a lot "smaller".<br /><br />Apparently there was snow on the ground when I was born, and that might be why I love it so much - I don't revert back to the womb, I revert back to the snow. I remember everyone going off sledging and not seeing tarmac or grass coming through. This is probably mid to late 60s and very early 70s.<br /><br />Best snow I ever experienced was a Christmas walking break in the Peak District when I was about 15 or 16. There was about 6 foot of snow on the hills, the experienced walkers wore snow shoes, and we sat down to get downhill quicker - I was wearing navy blue trousers that "bled" all the way down ... :oDDianehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06430125606844410229noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23204407.post-42352568567368902962010-01-07T07:31:52.203+00:002010-01-07T07:31:52.203+00:00Lacey - LOL!Lacey - LOL!Kate Hardyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07367918727779245526noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23204407.post-63181281492240458502010-01-07T07:30:28.106+00:002010-01-07T07:30:28.106+00:00Jane - that's a very good point - might just t...Jane - that's a very good point - might just try that this week...<br /><br />Poor Sylvia. Shame she didn't get the help she needed - I think people are beginning to understand mental health more these days. <br /><br />And how lovely that you have those memories! Your best friend's dad sounds quite a character.Kate Hardyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07367918727779245526noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23204407.post-68970955637082725892010-01-07T07:28:06.620+00:002010-01-07T07:28:06.620+00:00MPE - ooh, that sounds freezing! (And it's als...MPE - ooh, that sounds freezing! (And it's also given me a bit of a lightbulb about how to fix a problem in the book I'm going to start at the weekend - thank you.)Kate Hardyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07367918727779245526noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23204407.post-25176806175973331952010-01-07T07:27:13.897+00:002010-01-07T07:27:13.897+00:00Caroline - hope it's better your way, now.
DH...Caroline - hope it's better your way, now.<br /><br />DH reckons 1981 was a bad snow year.<br /><br />And yes, I remember that night in 1987!Kate Hardyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07367918727779245526noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23204407.post-79736022332138066122010-01-07T00:18:46.467+00:002010-01-07T00:18:46.467+00:00I think I'm in love with your tumble dryer...I think I'm in love with your tumble dryer...Lacey Devlinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05716109142743069204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23204407.post-39751627541299705292010-01-06T20:32:48.599+00:002010-01-06T20:32:48.599+00:00Caroline, did you know that the poet Sylvia Plath ...Caroline, did you know that the poet Sylvia Plath took her own life during that very harsh winter of 1963? It wasn't just the depressing months of snow and ice weighing her down, on her own in a freezing flat with two very young children, but I imagine it must have been a contributory factor.<br /><br />Thank goodness for central heating, that's all I can say. Oh, and electric blankets! I've spent the last week in bed, where I am now, typing away under the covers on my laptop. Why freeze in the living room when you can write in your own cosy boudoir? (And be constantly interrupted by kids and DH, wanting to know where their supper is.)<br /><br />I have fond memories of our school being shut as a teenager, due to the first serious snowfall on the Isle of Man in years, and getting a lift home with the Latin master, who lived over the hill. He was also a clergyman, and a very unlikely one at that, eccentric, always hilariously late for things, and consequently a bit of a wild driver. But we made it back in one piece! His daughter is still my oldest friend, one-time bridesmaid, godmother to my kids etc. Fond memories indeed ...Victoria Lambhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12815205146430944184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23204407.post-31255901740792989812010-01-06T18:38:26.154+00:002010-01-06T18:38:26.154+00:00I adore snow, so there's no such thing as &quo...I adore snow, so there's no such thing as "bad snow" for me. But I do have vivid memories of spending winter 1990/91 in a rented north-facing and seriously draughty room in a big nineteenth-century student house with an unheated north-facing stone-floored kitchen (complete with draughty window and back door) and a stingy landlord who refused to turn the central heating on...<br /><br />Oh, yes. We were cold.<br /><br />mpeAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23204407.post-84518645617089965182010-01-06T18:33:35.410+00:002010-01-06T18:33:35.410+00:00Take care out there Kate! My mum says that the ye...Take care out there Kate! My mum says that the year I was born - 1963 - was one of the worst winters ever! I can remember one year in the 1980's being really bad snow wise. But the one thing that still sits with me in the memory bank was the storm (hurricane) of 1987! I won't forget those winds in a hurry! Take care. Caroline xCarolinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00005714506570642538noreply@blogger.com