Frosty

A cold start to the day in Bavaria and a very frosty reception for Boris in Berlin. I have had to watch UK TV this evening to find out what happened as the meeting was not mentioned on the main German TV news programmes. It reflects the view of the general public: "We hoped you might rethink it, but it has now turned in to a total farce. Please press the Article 50 button quickly so that we can get on with officially sharing out all the new opportunities".

Great shame as I think Germany was probably one of the countries that would have been very willing to go along with many of the reforms the Brits had been mentioning over the last 20+ years. Trouble was the Brits never got behind the problems, simply having MPs jump up and down at PMQs like a bunch of Jack in the Box idiots. What really killed off any sympathy has been the disgraceful stance taken by many UK politicians, insulting the other 400 million EU citizens on a daily basis.

Well the weather forecast isn't good. Snow should arrive here Sunday evening along with frosty temperatures from Russia. Day time max temperatures of around +3°C. While the snow will probably not settle at our 600m above sea level, it is due to dump 50cm or so on Monday up on the hills and to the delight of the skiers.

Took the opportunity of the warming sunshine to do a quick pit stop change of Angie's tyres. Not quite as fast as a F1 team, I did don my Northampton Saints rugby club cap hoping the vibes from nearby Silverstone helped. I suspect the various mainland Europe F1 teams will keep their UK bases for the time being, at least until 2019 and probably after that too when Mrs May gives them a special deal.

Also got the horse stable cellar pumped out. The cheap Chinese petrol engined pump hauled out and started on 2nd pull. Also about 8 years old. It pumped out around 100,000 litres by evening, without a single hiccup.

Then tried to get the US Briggs and Stratton sweeper started so that I could empty the engine of all fuel. It wouldn't start!

After all this, got out the snowblower, a cheap Chinese model bought about 2008. It started on 3rd pull and ran perfectly. I don't think I used it at all last winter. Replace a porous rubber air pipe and greased the cutting mechanism. The snow plough was a joint home made unit designed to clip on to the front of the blower for times when the snow is not too deep and very wet. Works well and has never broken despite some of the heavy loads it has been subjected to -  Thanks to friend and ex-colleague Tom, a qualified engineer. He had helped with the design and had done the welding of the moveable frame behind the shield. It was all made from scrap. I have half built a second one which I should try to get finished and attached to our old, retired, lawnmower tractor. The "big" John Deere is pretty hopeless on snow. Possibly a rear mounted plough would be worth trying but they are pretty expensive even 2nd hand and I don't trust my skills to undertake a DIY version, particularly without Tom's skills.

Finally did an evening run to the garden refuse dump with a trailer full and took the opportunity to fill up all petrol and diesel canisters. Time to get some winter diesel in the John Deere before the freeze.

So all set for the Russian winter weather next week but more anxious about what is going to be blowing over from the West.