Saintslass

Vera Lynn. It is amazing that We'll Meet Again endured so well that it became an anthem for the lockdown just a few weeks ago in the way it became an anthem for WW2 all those decades ago. I am glad she lived long enough to resonate with today's generation in the way she did with my parents' generation. She seemed to have had a good and meaningful life. May she rest in peace and her loved ones find comfort.

I've just finished reading two books about actual spies by the same author: Ben Macintyre. One was about Kim Philby (obvs!) and I enjoyed it but the other I found utterly gripping. It's called The Spy and the Traitor and is about Oleg Gordievsky, a colonel in the KGB who ended up spying for MI6 until he was betrayed, and he was spirited out of the USSR in the kind of operation which had Hollywood written all over it. How they succeeded I don't know but they did, and Gordievsky is still alive, living somewhere in the UK under an assumed name (and with a 24 hour armed guard since the Skripal poisonings).

I was a marshal at the St Helens park run for the first few years of its existence but gave up as it became too much with all the other things I was doing. When I stopped being marshal just over 200 were running every week. I was told this morning, when I was turning into a drowned (and freezing) rat as marshal at the St Helens 10K, that there are now 400 running every Saturday morning. That's a great growth rate for a town like St Helens, not known for its energetic activities! There is also a junior parkrun here now too, on a Sunday morning.

Second episode of The Paras - Men of War was on tonight. Followed the final test, called P Company. Brutal.

I've just watched the first instalment of The Paras on ITV (9pm start). Two more to go. Compelling viewing for a civvy like me! It was brutal, funny, poignant at different times but I now have a handle on why they do bonkers things in training. I'm looking forward to part 2 when apparently the training involves stuff that is even more bonkers.

I would suggest that most people who follow a religion believe in one god but I wouldn't say that most religions believe in one god. Given that all religions do vary in their theology, some people will fight over their differences which are very important to them as a faith can be deeply held.

The three biggest religions don't have such 'good books' as they all believe that God is a god of justice as well as a god of love to one degree or another. I don't know much about Hinduism (other than it seems to include every god there is!) but I do know about the three 'religions of the book'. I do know that a lot of Christians get confused about 'works' vs 'grace'.

Wow. If it wasn't for the red phone box I would have thought those photos were of a different country. The winter of 2010 brought some proper snowfalls (a foot deep around my house here in Sintellins) but at no time did anywhere look like that. Amazing.

I've just seen this on Twitter. Grim.

You thought that was bad ... ... take a look at this!

What a great shame. Hopefully the stocks won't have been too depleted.

This looks like it was fun!

Blimey! Douglas harbour on the Isle of Man was a right old mess after high tide. The wind over the last 48 hours has been horrendous. I woke to a scene of destruction in my back yard this morning, which is a first. Usually just a plant has been blown over but my little greenhouse was destroyed, as were some of my carefully tended plants.

This made me laugh: martin‏ @Maart2704 Follow Follow @Maart2704 Getting bloody ridiculous now on m62. (Part of the M62 is closed at the moment due to the weather apparently)

I know. But I was hoping the forecasts were wrong! I wish they'd been wrong about the wind. I keep thinking the roof is going to blow off the house.

There has been some serious snowfall around the country. I was really surprised when I watched the TV news update this evening. I am so used to the media going overboard about snow that I didn't expect to actually see some pretty deep snow in places. Still no new snow here though. BORING!

Very boring today here in Sintellins. There is a strong wind blowing which is bleedin Baltic but the only snow on the ground is what was left of last night's snowfall, and it's turned into annoying areas of ice.

I couldn't stand that heat every day, as I found when I stayed in Australia for a few months.

...

It's properly snowing here in St Helens at the moment. Bigly flakes and the lot. If this keeps up all night then we will have about a foot of the stuff on the ground by the morning. Yay!

Did you get the snow?

Channel Islands and snow just don't fit together in my head. I always think of warm sunshine and beaches when I think of the Channel Islands. But the snow in your picture just enhances how pretty the scene is.

Had some snow overnight here in St Helens and its still around where the sun isn't hitting. Tis cold. But there was much worse in 2009 & 2010 when we had a foot of the glorious stuff here. Not sure what the fuss is about but perhaps worse is to come.

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