A friend of mine was introduced to Nelson Mandela. ‘What did you say to him?’ I wanted to know. She said she opened her mouth but nothing came out and, after mimicking a goldfish for 10 seconds, a little ‘gwhh’ popped out. He moved on to the next guest.
Yes, @Fairygirl, we are visiting MIL in her care home in Banchory. We drove up on Sunday. Glenshee was tricky, minus 10 on top, but getting out of Sheffield was the hardest bit! Due to go home tomorrow, depending on snow gates etc.
How can you lie there and think of England When you don't even know who's in the team
I'd never heard of snow gates until today. Had to look them up🙄
It's not considered to be winter up here until the snow gates between Cockbridge and Tomintoul are closed. I remember going skiing with hubby and a friend of his one year. We sat for what seemed like hours at Glenshee, waiting until they could open the gates long enough to let a few cars through before they had to plough/grit again. I don't remember much about it all though, but the friend was too frightened to do anything other than a bit on a nursery slope.
Glad you're ok @punkdoc. They work so hard up there keeping roads open. Hope your MIL is fine as well as you and Moira x
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Today I learnt about three new things: snow gates, wire fraud and nuclear fission One I understand more than the other two . Nuclear fission, I believe, goes well with a few microchips.😋
I have a piece of that nuclear fusion kit (not fission which are bombs). I was there when it was inaugurated by the then Governor of California, someone called Arnie Swarzenegger. We got a personal tour from the director and they later sent us a souvenir of a piece of the special glass used in the lasers - https://lasers.llnl.gov/about/how-nif-works/seven-wonders/laser-glass. The chamber was used as a set in one of the Star Trek movies so I can claim to have been in the engine room of the Enterprise
I think they are talking about fusion not fission. The latter is what current nuclear power stations use but that results in lots of radioactive waste, that will be highly dangerous for decades.
I can never hear mention of the Cockbridge to Tomintoul road without thinking of the late, great Sir Terry Wogan. From The National website -
" It was on his Radio 2 breakfast show that the broadcaster helped bring the A39 Cockbridge to Tomintoul road and local postmistress Mrs MacKay to fame. In 1999, after he criticised the council for never being prepared for the snow, locals wrote in to say it was not the local authority that cleared the snow, but rather Mrs MacKay, the silver-haired postmistress and her silver-handled shovel. She was doing the best she could, they insisted.
For the next decade listeners would phone in with sightings of the near mythical Mrs MacKay shovelling snow. Sometimes, they said, she would be out shovelling snow as early as June. "
Posts
Due to go home tomorrow, depending on snow gates etc.
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I remember going skiing with hubby and a friend of his one year. We sat for what seemed like hours at Glenshee, waiting until they could open the gates long enough to let a few cars through before they had to plough/grit again. I don't remember much about it all though, but the friend was too frightened to do anything other than a bit on a nursery slope.
Glad you're ok @punkdoc. They work so hard up there keeping roads open. Hope your MIL is fine as well as you and Moira x
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
" It was on his Radio 2 breakfast show that the broadcaster helped bring the A39 Cockbridge to Tomintoul road and local postmistress Mrs MacKay to fame. In 1999, after he criticised the council for never being prepared for the snow, locals wrote in to say it was not the local authority that cleared the snow, but rather Mrs MacKay, the silver-haired postmistress and her silver-handled shovel. She was doing the best she could, they insisted.
For the next decade listeners would phone in with sightings of the near mythical Mrs MacKay shovelling snow. Sometimes, they said, she would be out shovelling snow as early as June. "