Happy New Year for some

Great for everyone who had a good New Year. I had a lovely brilliant Christmas with my family in Bristol. New Year we were all getting together from Bristol, Cheltenham, Lake District, Peak District Wakefield but, for some, it was not to be. My daughter Susan and family first to cry off due to flu then friends from Wakefield were next and even worse Helene was taken as an emergency to Pinderfields where she was admitted for over a week in intensive care. Everyone else arrived saw in the New Year with James not feeling too good. Richard next one to feel rubbish. Michael and Helen only there for one night as they were flying off to Austria. I managed another couple of days then flu hit me hard. I am not a bed person but afraid I was this time. It has taken me until now to feel nearly normal. Well as normal as I will ever get as my family and friends say. Then the snow arrived. Family had gone to their respective homes whilst we rivalled Austria. The grandchildren were gutted as they missed the snow. Now every year since we have lived here I have built a snowman first with the kids then just me. This year unfortunately no I was not up to doing that. Such a shame. As I type this snow still there but slowly going. I am feeling much better but still have the cough. Unfortunately this is my sad tale of woe. Now hoping for better things from 2025. 

One question I will ask is why do we pay Council Tax. What is that for?? We were told to put our bins out on Friday 10th December very early to be collected. Thanks to two young men who were passing I managed that. All our bins are still there waiting to be emptied. The footpaths were never gritted (they used to be) they were deadly. The cars had pushed a lot of snow to the side of the road and onto the pavements. It is now compacted. Nobody has seen a postman. No one has had any mail delivered. Don't even know if it is being collected. What has happened to Great Britain is it turning into a third world country? Having lived here sixty years things were never this bad. My children have happy memories of taking their sledges down to the VG on the bridge to collect our weekly bread order. 

Woodcock Hill was like a sheet of glass and an Asda Van skidded into Mrs Nimmo's wall followed by a car trying to avoid the van. The road is still closed with warning signs. I remember Mr Winfield's the Headmaster of Pannal Primary School's wife, who was the school secretary and at the time, lived in the school house on Woodcock Hill fell and broke her arm having slipped in the snow as unfortunately the gritting lorries could not get up/down the hill. Ah yes there used to be gritting lorries. 

What a miserable blog. 2025 has just started so lets hope we shall have a good year. A lovely summer and we shall all feel so much better. Onwards and upwards as the saying goes.