Home sweet home

Um. Well, yes. I love my home. I am very glad and grateful to be home. I am not so glad to see that Steve has not eaten properly, has not touched the food I battled to make and freeze for him, has not cleared up after himself, and has taken ALL WEEK to hang out some washing - it has been put on to wash every night since I went away.

Here's some pictures from the week in Manchester.

It has taken all day to regain some control over the mayhem that is our house. It's been a funny kind of day, I've had zero motivation after the 8 and a half hours it took to get home yesterday, and yet I've done so much I can hardly believe it.

Ah yes. Yesterday.

Well, we set off after blipping, pulled in to a fuel station to fill up only to discover that the fuel cap was frozen shut. No matter, I had enough to get me at least half way, surely things would improve. If not I could always get some hot water from a coffee shop.

Got on to the motorway to discover that my windscreen washer pipes and nozzles were also frozen shut. Not good with all that salt spray. We must have stopped at EVERY SINGLE SERVICES bar one on the way home. By the time we reached Warwick, the washer nozzles and pipes had finally defrosted and were finally working properly. However, as we passed Cherwell Valley (one of only two services along our M60 / M6 / M6toll / M42 / M40 / M25 / M23 journey that we didn't stop at) they seized up again. This whole fuss was not really helped by the super-thick washer fluid which was only so thick as to stop it freezing. Pipes couldn't cope. A good soaking in water at the Oxford services finally freed them up and they worked the rest of the way home.

Snow storms driven through: 3. The first, just before Warwick, was heavy but we got through ok. The second, just before Oxford, I thought we were going to just slow to a stop 5 miles before the services where I was almost prepared to stop for the night. Thankfully we didn't stop and we pulled into the services very gratefully. An incredibly hyperactive child convinced me it would be better to just push on and hope he fell asleep, which he did. Thankfully. The third snow storm was the one I'd been told to worry about, around the M25, but it was paltry compared to the other two. Hardly slowed anyone down, didn't stick, wasn't much of a fuss. Was continuous though, right up until it gave way to rain halfway along the A23....

How depressing. You drive through a country blanketed in white, through snow storms, survive a giant icerock dislodging from a 4x4 in front of you on the motorway and smacking into the windscreen, and come home to rain.

Anyway we are home and I have lit some candles to cheer me up. Steve is out on his works do tonight, so I won't wait up for him. Bit of housework to do while it's quiet, then bed. Must remember more painkillers before bed. Not that my tooth is going to let me forget them. Must remember to phone the dentist in the morning.