Bye Bye Winter

Welcome to a dull and cold South Manchester where it is not raining. It’s my day off today and I have just jet-washed my car.

Let’s answer some daft questions from Sunday Stealing. 

1.  What is your favourite thing about winter?

The end of it. Winter is almost over and the weather is starting to improve. There are buds on the trees, spring flowers are starting to bloom, the magnolia in my front garden is also starting to bloom. Days when I have to de-ice the car have gone for a few months and there is little or no chance of snow from now until the end of the year.

Actually, my answer above isn’t quite true because I like Christmas and New Year. 

2. What is your favourite winter sport?

Football is played in winter; does that count? I guess the question relates to specific winter sports, i.e. those in the Winter Olympics. The truth is I don’t have one but I quite like to watch things like bobsleigh and luge. The luge in particular looks extremely dangerous and exciting. It is a sport I would never attempt no matter how exhilarating it seems.

3. What is the best winter treat?

All of the food that you get  around Christmas time. There are a lot of foods that you only eat at that time, like mince pies, turkey and brussels  sprouts (obviously not together). Christmas is the only time of the year that I eat cake and chocolate regularly. 

4. What is the earliest time in the year it ever snowed where you live?

We don’t get much snow in Manchester. We did get a single downfall late last year but that was it. If it’s going to snow it will usually be in January. A few years ago we did have an arctic couple of weeks in January here. It snowed heavily and temperatures really plummeted leaving conditions outside quite treacherous. Thankfully that is a rare event here.

5. What is the best way to stay warm in the winter?

We usually have the heating on in winter and can boost the temperature with a blast from our gas fire. We have one in the lounge and another in the room we are in at the moment. Of course, layers help too. I have about four really thick woolly jumpers that keep me cosy around the house. 

6. What are your favourite things that are paper?

Books of course. 

I read books on my Kindle these days but I still have a collection of reference books and a few hardbacked books on the bookshelf in the lounge and scattered around the house. I have a few in the loft too. 

My prize one is a large Bible that I inherited from my Grandad on my mother’s side. It is leather bound with gold edged pages and published in the 1950’s. My grandad was a strict Roman Catholic so he cherished it. He passed it one to my mum who has passed it on to me. My own sons are not Roman Catholics but I will probably pass it onto my eldest lad because it is a nice book and possibly will increase in value. 

7. What are your favourite things that are cotton?

I have a few cotton shirts. I imagine it is one of those. 

8. What are your favourite things that are leather?

I have a leather jacket that I wear to rock gigs sometimes. It is getting on a bit now (like me) so I may replace it sooner rather than later.

9. What are your favourite things that are floral?

I actually do not think that I possess anything that is floral. I certainly do not have any floral clothing. To be honest, I’m not a fan. Mrs PM has floral items though.

10. What are your favourite things that are wood?

I would say that this is the wooden furniture we have scattered throughout the house. 

11. If you think your house is haunted, what should you do?

There is a weird part of me that would be excited if my house were haunted. I would be scared I think but it would definitely confirm that there is some form of afterlife. If my house were haunted I would try to capture evidence and post it out there as proof. 

Maybe I would consider bringing in experts of the scientific variety. The big problem with that there are too many charlatans out there and I wouldn’t trust a single one of them.

12. When should you investigate a strange noise in your basement?

I am grateful that I don’t have a basement. 

Horror films and books usually use basements as a place where nasty things appear, so I would be a little worried if I had one. I think if I were alone in the house and I heard a strange noise in the basement, I would make sure that it had a lock and I would investigate next day. Either that or I would make sure that the cats were around to confirm whether or not there was anything supernatural down there. Cats are alleged to be sensitive to such things. 

13. How do you know if an abandoned building is safe to visit?

Usually such buildings have a sign that says “Dangerous building” or “Do not trespass”. I wouldn’t tempt fate unless I knew it was safe. 

14. How do you decide whether to solve a problem as a team, or split up and go it alone?

I work in a team and we tend to be very helpful to each other. We all have similar skills but some of us specialise in certain areas. I think if a problem or area of work falls into my area of expertise, I would go it alone. However, I would also do so in other areas but I would seek assistance if I came up against a tough problem and a different team member could resolve it quicker than I could. 

15. Where do you store your knives and where would you look if one was missing?

We have kitchen knives and if there is one missing I would check the dishwasher, because that is where it is likely to be.