Snow!

The last time I remember proper snow was in 1978. I was still at school and it was the half-term holiday. My brother and I were staying with our grandparents, about a mile and a half away from home. My grandmother and I walked through a blizzard a few hundred yards to check my Great-Gran was warm and had all she needed, walked back and went to bed. The next morning everything was still and blue-white. The snow was several feet deep. My Mum and Dad had to walk to my grandparents' house to collect us and then we walked home, Dad towing my brother on a toboggan, me trying to hitch the dog to it, like a husky. The next day we dug out the back entrance to our house so we could drive in and out. The snow lasted about 7 days and I was ecstatic, as my 3-day half-term turned into a whole week.

The snow we've had so far this winter is nothing like as bad as that, but half the country has ground to a halt or is in hibernation. I've managed to get to work, through especially hazardous conditions this morning. Many of my colleagues have not. I'm not criticising them; everyone has to take responsibility for their own personal safety and assess their own risk. (Do I sound like a Health & Safety manual?) The simple fact (in my world) is that we are just not used to such extreme conditions. People make light of this weather and complain about the advice to stay indoors, that years ago we knew what to do and just kept going and that people can't cope with it, but the long and the short of it is we've had so many mild winters for so long now we have no idea how to handle even a light sprinkling of the white stuff.

Dave's been birdwatching. We've only had a bird feeder outside for a few weeks, but already he's accumulated an amazing list of species; robin, blackbird, coal tit, great tit, chaffinch, starling, greenfinch, pied wagtail, sparrow, woodpigeon, collared dove, rook, carrion crow, song thrush and the current highlight, a green woodpecker. Feeding and watering our feathered friends has become a daily task and in return they're providing especially him with plenty of entertainment. Here are our two most regular visitors:

The pied wagtail:

and one, extremely feisty and territorial blackbird:


Austin has really settled in. to his new home. He now lives under the breakfast bar when he's not hopping around the house and running up and down the hallways. He has his little peccadilloes. For instance, he won't, whatever you do, even if you are brandishing his favourite treats, put a delicate little bunny foot onto cold tile. Hence the mat outside his cage.


Eventually we'll find him a better permanent home, but for now, this will do nicely.

So inevitably I have to talk about the shawl. I'm still utterly faithful to it, but it's boring to photograph. 4.5 repeats down, hoping for half way at the weekend.