Tuesday, 28 January 2020

The strange dead January of 1940

The start of the year has been a strange. The Soviets have pushed at the Finns again, and again been defeated, loosing multiple divisions. On the 28th, numbers of Soviet troops were forced to surrender around Lake Ladoga. A German plane containing plans for the invasion of the low countries crashed in Belgium, which has roused those smaller, vulnerable nations, to our benefit I suspect. There have been ships lost, but U-boats sunk in return. The war has stalled.

Convalescence
By far the worst has been the weather. On the 17th of January the temperature fell and the Thames has actually frozen - for the first time since 1888, according to the paper. Lucky we have a full coal bunker, through we've been sparring with it, only heating the living room. A tree has come down in the garden, which I will split up and season, so at least we should be alright next year.

Then there is the vexed subject of teeth. I went to the dentist just before Christmas with a wobbly tooth, and have ended up with two extractions, and some more painful procedures all of which have left me weak, more than a little dizzy, and almost disinterested in the news. We took advantage of a chance to get up to the beach hut, but it was so cold we could only manage a couple of hours. There is barbed wire along parts of the beech now at Hunstanton, which wasn't there before, though I find it hard to image why the Germans would attack 'Time and Tide'.


No comments:

Post a Comment