Wednesday 22 November 2017

Being British

Being British there is always the weather to talk about.   In fact I suspect it is our main topic of conversation.   It is either too hot or too cold, too wet or too dry, too windy or we could do with a good strong wind to dry things up a bit.   Maybe there are one or two days - most likely in Spring - when the weather is 'just right' for us all.  And we wallow in it.

Well today was definitely not one of the just right days.  You wouldn't call it a grey day - more of a black day.   Great black clouds have puthered across the sky all day and the rain has fallen heavily.   In addition the wind has been too strong for me to walk far.

Luckily it is the day when friend S sometimes calls to take Tess for a walk and she called today and braved the weather to take her up to the top of the road and then into the field.   Tess would love that as I know she misses the grass.

Now, at five o'clock, it is pitch dark.   My son has just been and helped me to organise my garage in a better way.    That doesn't mean I shall be able to get my car in but I shall be able to use my tumble drier.   I think the car is destined to stay on the drive but when I look down the road almost everyone seems to leave their car outside overnight.    Do you leave your cars out or do you put them away?   I would be interested to know because several folk have told me it is actually better for the car to stay outside.
 

29 comments:

justjill said...

We have almost always had a garage. But never, ever had a car in any of them! On the way to the tip stuff, charity shop, paint pots, lawn mower etc. etc. Where do people who put cars in garages keep all the other 'stuff'?! Forgot, when the kids were small chest freezer and tumble dryer were in the garage.

Mac n' Janet said...

We park ours in the garage, always have, even when we had 2 cars.

Sue said...

We used to park our car in the garage and never had to scrape the ice off the windscreen. Earlier this summer our daughter moved out of her flat so our garage is now full of her furniture. Could be some ice scraping this winter!

Rachel Phillips said...

Today has been windy and sunny here with a mild southerly wind. I always put my car away and am quite anal about it.

Bea said...

We live sort of close to the ocean & put our car away. -salt air is corrosive. Also, we have to contend with car break-ins quite often around these parts.

Jules said...

I don't know anyone who uses their garage to put their car in. X

John "By Stargoose And Hanglands" said...

I keep my bicycle in the shed. Does that count?
Congratulations on using the word "puthering" - an excellent word which is not used half enough these days.

angryparsnip said...

Always put my car in the garage. I lived by the ocean and the salt air was so bad. plus we had break-in's.
Now I live in the desert and the pack rats will destroy the inside of your car, build nests, eat your wires.
One year we had $ 7,000. worth of damage on one car.
I can not belive leaving you car outside in freezing weather can be good for it.
Plus the hassle of warming it up and scraping off ice and digging it out from the snow on your driveway.
When we have visitors I have a bright light that we put on the ground where the engine is to help keep the
packrats out.

cheers, parsnip

Sue in Suffolk said...

I love weather!
Fine here all day, sunny this morning and very windy now.

Nobody in the whole road we were in in Ipswich could put their cars away as the garages were set just slightly behind the houses and when they were built in the 40's cars were very tiny so could squeeze by. Only a robin reliant or a smart car could get in!
We have a double garage here but only room in one half for a car

Lucy Corrander Now in Halifax! said...

It's so windy as I write this the house is jumping up and down and my laptop is shuddering.

Simon Douglas Thompson said...

The weather has been grey and gusty all day, but not much rain. And odd mizzly bit, but ok. A mercy for my cycling commutes!

Derek Faulkner said...

I have had a garage at the top of my drive since I moved here 31 years ago and a car has never been near it - like most people I know the garage is used as a storage area for all manner of gardening tools and machinery and just about everything that can't be stored indoors.
As for today's weather, well it has been cloudless and sunny the whole day and a bit windy and our drought goes on.

Iris said...

We always put both of our cars inside the garage every night. Our neighborhood has been plagued by groups of youths (caught on security cameras) roaming around in the middle of the night, breaking into cars. Happened again, and again, and again .... A lot of our neighbors have so many cars (and so much crap in their double/tripple garages that they park all of their cars in their driveways and along the side of the street. Looks like a dang Walmart parking lot around here. You can probably tell my thoughts on it. But that does not mean that you should put your car away. If it's better for you to park it in your driveway, then do so.

Jennifer said...

I try to put my car in the garage whenever possible. We are still paying for it and trying to minimize paint fading. My husband has a super old work truck so he doesn't bother to put it inside.

Jill said...

I park in the garage. I especially appreciate the luxury in the winter. Not having to warm the car up and sweep snow off is lovely. I have the extra luxury of a heated garage too, so I am spoiled! I was never a garage Parker until about 6 years ago when I become single and that meant I had a garage instead of a workshop!

Gwil W said...

We pay to park in the street. Hardly anybody has a garage. Nobody is allowed to park in the street during the day without displaying an authorization or purchasing a ticket. At night it's free.

Barbara said...

I have to admit, I had to look up "puthered". But, what a great word!
We might not be British, but we talk about the weather almost without end. I thought perhaps it was an occupational hazard of being in agriculture.

Joanne Noragon said...

I think it's better to keep the car out of the weather. It's better for the driver, too, to get into a car that doesn't need released from a coat of ice or a load of snow. Sadly, I no longer have a garage.

Jane Karwat said...

Canadians are obsessed with winter weather. I park in my driveway as I do not have a garage.

Kathy said...

Normally my car goes in the garage, but at the moment, Hubby has his model railway all around the garage, it will be up until after Christmas for the Grandchildren to play with it, after that it will be taken down and my car will go back in the garage when I am not going to use it, it definitely helps I think to keep it indoors. So pleased to catch up with your blog and know that you are settled in your new home. Take Care.

the veg artist said...

Many modern cars are just too big to get into the garages of houses built more than 30/40 years ago - you'd be hard pressed to get a Mini into ours, and then it would be difficult to get out of the car easily! I've heard that it's better for them to stay outside - something to do with how they dry off, if I remember rightly. We've had torrential rain here in West Wales, with flooding in places. Weather, eh! Who'd have it!

Chris said...

I have a lovely big double garage but only put my car inside if a snow storm is forecast. So I keep half of it clear of any tools, gardening equipment or "junk". We also have the marauding teenagers but having a car in the driveway will often deter them from breaking into the house. There's nothing to steal in my car!

rue said...

In the UK I never put my car in the garage, the garage was a large shed I guess. In Chicago we keep cars in the garage, too cold and too much snow.

Cro Magnon said...

'Puthered'? Now I know that you really are foreigners up in Yorkshire.

Car is always outside, and always with the key in it.

Librarian said...

I don't drive and don't own a car, but most people here prefer to have their cars in a garage overnight. Apparently, it even makes a difference in insurance tariffs and prices for reselling a car, as it is generally thought to be in better condition.

As for the weather - you could also say it is a typical German thing to talk about it, or, more likely, to complain! Our summers are too hot or too rainy, our winters are too cold or do not have enough snow...
(Not my opinion - just repeating what I often hear.)

Heather said...

My husband used to put the car into the garage overnight because he got a better rate on his insurance, but many of our neighbours' garages were so full you wouldn't have got a push bike in!
I love that word 'puthered' - I haven't heard it before, but then I'm a southener.
I have often said we don't have a climate in the UK, we just get weather. It must be almost impossible to predict it sometimes.

P. said...

I never put mine in the garage. As justjill said "Where do people who put cars in garages keep all the other 'stuff'?!" I think the same. :D
Anyway, it's much better to have the car outside, it's just to get in and go.

About the weather: in a country where we have too much of perfect days, a "black day" would be a blessing. We are praying for it.

Minigranny said...

I was fascinated by 'puthered' as it's not one I've heard before and I'm from Yorkshire! I've always left my car outside except when going away for a long time mainly as there was very little room in any of our garages.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Sorry about 'puthered' - probably a Lincolnshire word. I have always used it and it seems from your replies that quite a few of you know it too.
Interesting comments on cars and garages. My garage is only just wide enough to fit my car in and there is a gas boiler on the wall. At the far end I have my tumble drier andmy freezer which don't help. I think I had better buy a windscreen cover for cold mornings to come. Thanks for your comments.