My friends, thank you for your patience. I feel that at last I have now recovered from experiencing the harshest of winter weather that I have ever known. We were fortunate, in that neither the water pump nor pipes froze; unlike ninety per cent of our neighbours. The only problem we had was that the outdoor calor gas tank froze and Yuletide lunch was cooked on the old range.
I had an unusual experience. Of being frozen to rear end of the pick-up truck which was delivering some turf and logs to us. At first I though that perhaps my down filled jacket was caught on the tailgate, yet when I looked carefully the vehicle was perfectly smooth with no projections. It was then I realised that my body heat, being vented through the coat, was turning to moisture then icing up on the truck!
This friendly fellow has the ability to communicate with us by tapping on the window when the bird feeders are getting low. The odd thing is that he doesn't feed from them, for he is a ground feeder. To conserve the supply of peanuts Mrs H cooked up some cous cous, putting it out in the front and back gardens. It attracted the Blackbirds, Sparrows, Robins and a solitary Thrush who fed regularily all through the cold spell. What was amazing was that one of the outdoor cats sat at the edge of a bush and made no attempt to attack them, likewise they seemed not to be bothered by her presence either.
We didn't get that much snow, only about two or three inches. Much worse was the ice which made disciplined drivers of us all. By keeping the speed to 20mph & in second gear I was ableto get around quite safely.
Our water barrel froze solid and fell off it's plinth on the night of the 24th Dec. After ten days of milder weather I was able to up end it and tip out this giant sized ice lolly with it's inner cavern.
There is a face in profile in the light of this photo
which captured my attention.
Our water barrel froze solid and fell off it's plinth on the night of the 24th Dec. After ten days of milder weather I was able to up end it and tip out this giant sized ice lolly with it's inner cavern.Today is a balmy 8 degrees and it feels like summer. We even have small green shoots of bulbs poking through the surface of the soil, a sign that Spring is on it's way and it can't come to soon.
That is a really beautiful picture of the lane. It is very mild here in Essex too, but I can't help feeling that Mother Nature has more nasty weather to throw at us before the winter is out!
ReplyDeleteYour winter has been colder then ours, we're still getting snow though, lots and lots of snow! Its pretty in the pictures,I say, as I look at them from inside my cozy wee home :)
ReplyDeleteOh, my gosh, Mel...you have had a time with winter this year. Frozen to the back end...I had to laugh..you do make me laugh. That ice is incredible.
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