Three Beastly Days.

The 'Beast from the East' was advertised well ahead of time. It was meant to hit on Tuesday but on Tuesday there was just a wee bit of snow and an uncomfortably cold head wind on my way home from work.

It brewed up on Tuesday night however and by Wednesday Arthur's Seat had a covering. In the morning it looked quite lovely when the sun was out so Peter and I ventured out into it with a highly flexible plan of where we were going, depending on what it was like. It was like very cold and grey so we went round Arthur's Seat and a turn of the meadows and called it a day. There wasn't all that much snow, but the east wind was nasty.

Phone face.

 

On Thursday I had a full day of work booked and I'd planned to start swimming one day a week instead of running, because I've been suffering so much with leg problems. Fate wasn't having any of my plans, as it turned out. Edinburgh Leisure shut down all over town and so did the trains and buses so I didn't have any clients and I didn't have any swimming either. Peter and I cooked up an audacious plan to cycle out to Cramond or beyond and then run around in the snowy woods at Dalmeny, taking photographs. Conditions for cycling were pretty bad though. There was an exceedingly steely wind and the sun was gone again by the time we got out. By the the turn off the main Leith cycle path up to Silverknowes I had had enough of my back end scootering around in the deep and lumpy snow and I said I was going to head to Inverleith Park instead, do a wee run there and then go home. Peter still had glory in his sights and wanted to continue, so we parted company, but after a mile or so I recognised a certain "heck-peck" noise behind me. It was himself.

We locked up the bikes behind the toilets in the park and set off for 3 laps.

Peter had brought some bread for tempting the wildlife so we had a stop at Inverleith Pond. The poor birds were looking very stoical, lined up beak first into the harsh east wind. I couldn't stand standing still for any length of time. Peter stayed a while and then caught me on my 2nd lap. It was good to see that children are still capable of sledging and running about and don't just have to be carried about by their parents.

What's this? The bloomin' Volga? Why no it is the Water of Leith.

By night-time it was starting to dawn on me that my trek to Clermiston for work in the morning might not be all that straightforward. Cycling seemed like a no-no or not too great anyway as I'd have to get off and walk at the difficult bits. The buses looked set to all be off. Just how was I going to make it 7 miles across town? I considered running but there are no showers at work so that would mean quite a comprehensive wash at a tiny hand basin in the toilets and taking a full change of clothes. I just didn't know...Meanwhile Peter suggested a stroll around the romantic snowy streets under the light of the full-moon. Leith was looking unusually nice, it must be said, and if I didn't have such an early rise ahead I think we would have gone up to Arthur's Seat to get better moon shots.

...But it was late and I did have an early start so we contented ourselves with a walk round the block.

In the morning the only bus that was running was the airport bus, which I could catch from a mile or so up the road and then I could get off and walk another mile or so up the Drumbrae up to Clermiston. It seemed like the best solution so that's what I did. The streets were still relatively empty at 7 this morning. I seemed to be the only person that was surprised by the sight of a large crab in the snow up Leith Street.

If you only have airport buses you might as well make airportbusolade. So that's what I did. Woohoo. There were two young students prattling excitedly at the front of the bus, just in front of me. I guess they didn't know that talking in the morning is breaking a rule, but I was actually glad when they discovered their flight had been cancelled and fell quiet. Tut tut, grumpy me.

The face of the NHS, arriving at work against all the odds. You're welcome.

I arrived at work to find an email saying that staff should cancel all non-urgent appointments and work from home if possible. We re-arranged all our appointments and shut the clinic early. I didn't want to take the bus home again, so instead I ran home. It was a slow shuffle through the snow with quite a big rucksack on my back. 

Somebody had built a urinal outside their house. Handy.

 

And back through Inverleith Park again. The poor birds still standing on ice, but the wind was less severe and everyone (I mean the birds) seemed more relaxed. I didn't realise how gloomy it was until I saw the photos. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to do some work.