2022 Stash & Grab Virtual Pub

[fccs]

You’ve been missed and I hope you fully recover from COVID sooner than later.

[rcperryls]

You’ve been missed and I hope you fully recover from COVID sooner than later.

All of what Debby says !

Carole

[karen4bells]

Welcome back Mabel!! So sorry to hear that you have had a very extended case of Covid and I hope that you are on the road to a full recovery!

[Steam.Jo]

Lovely to see you back Mabel, whatever the government says the dreaded Covid is still having a horrible way with some of us.

A nice hot chocolate and a warm fire with Lexi curled up on your lap to look after you seems to be in order I always find looking at what others have been doing inspires me to slowly get going again after a 'lull'.

Jo

[mags]

Welcome back Mabel, sorry that you are still suffering.

[wendywombat]

You have been missed!

Take care, keep warm and if a bit of "indulgence" is offered ( hot chocolate, topped with marshmallow and cream for example) go for it!

[Serinde]

Well, I don't know. Go off on my hols, and come back to find dirty glasses in the S&G!

Yes, I had a lovely time, thanks. The weather was... exciting (had a power cut one night), but we did manage to get out and about without being soaked to the skin. Didn't get as much crafting done as I'd hoped, but that's just the way of things. I'll get a pic of the Christmas House up when I've reached a reasonable place (also have to two whole sections -- luckily small). Because the design is on plastic canvas, the layout of the elements is not unlike sewing pattern pieces, and there's no room error. Got it wrong, didn't I...

So, I hope you lot have been looking after the unicorns. Dare I go into the treehouse??

[rcperryls]

Just proves that we need you around to take care of things. Glad you are back, but rest assured that while the staff may have been less than perfect in the cleaning up, the animals have all been taken care of and probably spoiled more than usual. We probably need to reorder all the different treats they get. I for one am a sucker when I get the "I've been so good so I deserve some extra treats, don't I".

Looking forward to seeing the canvas work.

Carole

[Serinde]

Glad to say that the treehouse is immaculate... and... someone's refurbished the pillows and polished the table -- I smell beeswax. So lovely and comfortable! At least here I could see across the loch for more than, oh, 5 minutes at a time!

[wendywombat]

Fantastic view across the Loch this morning. The sun is glinting off the ripples on the water....I think it was an Otter or maybe a Beaver.

[Serinde]

Since it's Advent, I thought we ought to have lots of seasonal goodies available. The biscuits and cookies are under the glass domes to keep them fresh, and they change each day from a variety of goodies behind the bar in the air-tight tins. If you don't see what you'd like, let the establishment know.

Now, be warned. The unicorns are particularly fond of pfeffernusse of all descriptions, but they must not have more than one a day, no matter how pitifully they look at you. Ok?

Had my first glass of mulled wine today at our local stitchers' group's Christmas lunch. Very nice, too.

[Mabel Figworthy]

Mulled wine and/or hot chocolate are definitely my drinks of choice for this month! A batch of gevulde speculaas (see St Nicolaus post) is behind the bar and any that are left over can be frozen for later (not that we tend to have any left over....)

[rcperryls]

I could just about guarantee there will be no leftovers!

Carole

[Serinde]

Another blue-skyed frosty day today. We now have a yellow warning for snow and ice from midnight tonight and all tomorrow. Now, normally, that wouldn't be an issue; in fact, it would be lovely to have snow after the really cold weather we've had, because it will lie and not go almost instantly to slush. However... a pal and I were going over to the east coast to meet up with another pal for our annual Christmas Jolly. It means catching a bus at 8.00 in the morning after first driving to Stirling to catch said bus. Neither pal nor myself excited about driving in the snow or -- worse -- sleet (without snow tyres!) in the dark at 7am to accomplish this (getting up at stupid o'clock will prove worth it, so that's not too much of an issue). So I'm sitting here with a cup of tea, wondering what we're going to do.

[Mabel Figworthy]

Having got up at 3.30am to take DIL and GS to the airport yesterday morning, I sympathise. Let's hope the forecasters have got it wrong (it does happen...) and the snow doesn't arrive until after your jolly!

[wendywombat]

We have had snow here since Thursday last week!
Not much of it but temperatures have been below Zero since! Minus 7C at night!

We now have a tarmacadam road and pavements after a year of mud....but we can't see them because the snow plow can't clear the roads because there are no rubber blades on the metal shovel bit so they damage the roads.
Haven't been out, except for a bit of exercise this week.

What I cannot understand is how Canada and Nordic countries manage in winter but it all falls apart here in UK when one flake falls!!

[rcperryls]

Sounds like what happens here in South Carolina if they even predict the possibility of a snow flake falling. Especially in the more southern part of the state. My feeling is that snow is wonderful when you are a child. So much fun playing in the snow with snowmen and forts and igloos (which parents always destroyed the minute you got a roof on it, convinced we'd all suffocate or something when it collapsed) and snow angels. So much of a pain the minute you have to drive anywhere with snow and ice and freezing rain and shovel the snow off your car and hope it starts. I have never missed that part of winter. The only good thing I can think of (besides that it is so pretty at first) is that it makes drinking Irish Coffee and Hot Buttered Rum a necessity. Very nice while sitting in front of a fire (in the fireplace).

Hope you get to meet your friends, Serinde. Stay warm all of you. It's very snug and cozy here in the S&G. Hot chocolate and the above mentioned drinks, as well as yummy treats are, as usual, readily available.

Carole

[Serinde]

Having grown up in a place that coped well with snow (well, except 1967, when we had 21 inches in 8 hours and there was also a howling gale...so that was understandable), the difference is because it always happens every year from December until April. You have the kit, cars change tyres (tires!), people know how to drive in the snow, and all that jazz. Here, in the Wet West, we rarely have a lot of snow and it melts pretty quickly, but the Council does clear and grit the roads (all the major roads are fine at the moment, and most of the minor ones too). If you want a laugh, google for Scotland's trunk road gritter tracker.

Yeah, we've had at least a solid week of -3C rising to the heady heights of 0C occasionally (-7 or -9C at night), with gorgeous blue skies during the (brief) daylight hours. This storm, however, is coming off the Atlantic instead of down from the Arctic, so that always means precipitation for us.

If it doesn't happen, well, Christmas has 12 days for starters. Also what's wrong with a January Jolly?

I'll wait until the news at lunch to see if the area under the yellow warning has been refined, and then made a judgement.

[Roland]

Our storm keeps getting delayed, but we can see that it IS coming. The wind is fierce, and wires will likely be down before the snow starts. The highways have already been brined.

One of the differences between Canada & UK is that we use a LOT of salt. Very bad for the roads, the cars, and my jeans. As for knowing how to drive in it….not everyone does know how. And snow tires are not mandatory except for Quebec. (I’m not aware of other provinces mandating them. However, you do get a discount on your insurance….and the car drives so much better on them.

And when all else fails, a hockey game might break out.

https://youtu.be/iZvsad4nXds

[Serinde]

They Canadians, eh!