THE WEATHER

I must say that our weather this winter 2011/2012 has on the whole been good and up until the end of January my geraniums were still blooming and my shrubs had begun to produce buds and some green leaves.

Poor things they certainly had a big wake-up shock on February the first when we started winter properly!. Then the snow arrived on the Saturday and those of us with mobility problems had our freedom were well and truly curtailed for a spell.

Both paths to my front and back doors were packed with ice which made it an impossibility to go out in my electric chair because all the two motorised wheels could do were spin and slide sideways.

As I live in a crescent away from the main road we get no snow clearance from our local authorities so have to wait for a thaw to clear the highway which luckily this time was only eight days. We were marooned for over three weeks during the early fall of snow 2010/11 relying on neighbours and friends for shopping etc.

When I first moved to my bungalow in 1987 my neighbours were much younger therefore those of us needing a little help were never short of volunteers for snow clearance but now as age has progressed everyone is in the same situation.

I would like to think that other close knit communities like ours are aware of their neighbours needs and notice if their neighbours are not seen for a few days especially when the weather is so bitterly cold.

Having lived in the country side for at least half of my life with neighbours scattered over quite a wide area my family used to be very involved in helping with emergencies when and where possible. We as children were encouraged to run errands and get shopping for those folk that were too frail but nowadays the young people prefer to do other things often to the detriment of older folk.