Too Much Weather !!!

I saw the first snowdrops coming through the snow at the weekend. The snow finally disappeared today in our northeast facing garden as the weather turned mild.
atb
Derek

Derek wrote:I saw the first snowdrops coming through the snow at the weekend. The snow finally disappeared today in our northeast facing garden as the weather turned mild.
atb
Derek

Not had much in the way of snow here, after a very pleasant day Wednesday sunny with only a light breeze back to normal overcast with a bitterly cold wind

I've spent the whole wet, mild winter saying "id rather it was cold and dry" well after this cold snap....gimme the rain

Well out earlier and I originally put a thicker coat on ... then decided to change it!
Glad I did the temperature had gone up ... knowing our weather the summer shorts will be out soon  

Not the same in the US though

" More than 50 million people across more than a dozen states have been warned to stay at home as it moves north.
The nation's capital, Washington, could lie under a record 30in (76cm) of snow by the time the storm passes on Sunday.
At least nine people have been killed and a state of emergency declared in 10 states. Transport services have been cancelled, and homes are without power.
The weather system affects a huge swathe of the country, from Arkansas in the south to Massachusetts in the north-east.
Supermarkets ran out of food amid a rush for supplies before the first snowflakes fell on Friday."

Story line here
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-35374741

A whole bunch more daffs and snowdrops out in various places around these parts.

We lack rabbits but have hares instead, probably one reason for fewer foxes (both are rampant further east on the sands). Not many badgers either, though they had to fence parts of the reserve at Minsmere to keep them from eating all the eggs and baby birds. Loads of deer though, and a damn rat which has dug out the mole runs and pops up under one of my bird feeders.

There used to be a LOT of urban foxes when I lived in Bristol, and quite a few in Surrey, including in the garden and running up and down the road trying to break into the garbage bins.

Walked a couple of miles down the coast from Walberswick again today. When I started the wind was getting up, by the time I turned back it was blowing half a hoolie, so I returned much faster than I went out. The sun was mostly out, which was nice.

When I got home, as the sun was going down, a blackbird was singing its little heart out on a neighbour's chimney.

I had breakfast around 10, my usual thickly buttered oatcake with smoked salmon, and dinner around 6 - a huge slice of lamb's liver and a portobello lightly fried in olive oil, three slices of grilled bacon, half a dozen brussels sprouts, a couple more buttered oatcakes, a glass of carmenere and a square of 85% chocolate. Then crashed out for a couple of hours.

To our DUK visitors, how can I improve on this? Eat carbs every two hours, regain 15kg, blow my BG into the rafters, halve my HDL and multiply my trigs will help my health how exactly?

Well that walk sounds great, as does the breakfast and dinner ... but I think we may need to make the most of any dry time to enjoy a walk as apparently:




Huge swathes of the UK are braced for a deluge of rain which could pour more misery on communities still reeling from flooding after Christmas.
The remnants of storm Jonas, which blanketed much of the east coast of America in deep snow, have begun to sweep in from the Atlantic, prompting widespread weather and flood alerts.
Environment Secretary Elizabeth Truss has chaired an emergency meeting in order to co-ordinate the Government's response to the expected rainfall, which could be as much as 100mm (3.9ins) in hilly areas.
Warnings are in place across Wales, Scotland, Lancashire, Cumbria, Yorkshire and Devon and Cornwall, many of which were saturated during the wettest December on record.
Scores of flood alerts were in place on Tuesday morning and the Environment Agency (EA) said areas already affected by record river levels, including Cumbria, Lancashire and Yorkshire, were likely to be at risk of flooding as heavy rain throughout Tuesday and into Wednesday could cause river levels to rise and drains to flood.
The Met Office has issued yellow warnings for heavy rain and severe gales in these areas, with forecasters predicting around 30 to 50mm of rain in most areas. Parts of Scotland are likely to face winds of up to 70mph.
Laura Caldwell, a forecaster at MeteoGroup, said heavy rain had hit western Scotland and north-west England overnight.
She said: "Between 10 and 25mm fell in a few hours overnight in those areas and through the course of today the rain will sweep across most of the UK. Southern Scotland, the west of England and Wales will be particularly affected.
"This is the remnants of storm Jonas. The warmer, very moist, tropical air is bringing in this potentially very high rainfall."
Ms Truss, who chaired a COBR committee last night, said the military were on standby and pumps had been deployed in order to deal with any flooding as she attempted to reassure "anxious" flood-hit communities.
A second band of heavy rain is forecast for Friday, according to the Met Office, with yellow warnings already in place for parts of Scotland, Northern Ireland, north-east England and Wales.

As reported here
http://www.aol.co.uk/news/2016/01/26/new-flood-fears-as-storm-jonas-heads-for-uk/?icid=maing-grid7%7Cukt1%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D423924

.... perhaps I'll just stay in and prepare a great LCHF meal ... this one's nice...

https://lowcarbdiabetic.forumotion.co.uk/t1262-greek-style-moussaka-tastes-delicious?highlight=moussaka

All the best Jan

We missed most of the rain this far east, but not the wind which was pretty horrendous. Tomorrow the sun's supposed to be out again, shall I go for another long walk or do the gardening?

In the interests of full disclosure, later on monday night I had a second meal, a small quantity of boiled rice, about the same quantity of almonds toasted on olive oil, then I threw in the rice and a tin of mackerel.

Largely because of the weather I had spent some time alternating between active days and sedentary days, and noticed that while I didn't eat more after my walks or gardening exertions I would be hungrier the following day.

This makes sense from a hunter-gatherer perspective, while my body thinks I am hunting and gathering it keeps me from hunger. Then when I stop it assumes I have hunted and gathered enough and should eat it and racks up the hunger.

Still not a patch on the MUST EAT NOW!!! carb cravings I used to suffer from though.

Best part of the wind is that I seem to have adopted a Kestrel, as a change from the usual Sparrowhawks, and it has been hovering over the garden in a most spectacular display with its wings and body and tail twisting this way and that while its head remains motionless.

I went for another walk in the sun, but left it a bit late to go out, I was enjoying sitting indoors with the heating on looking out the window, then driving around with the heater on looking through the windscreen.

Walked around the coast near Hollesley where the RSPB have been transforming some scraggy watermeadows just inland from the sea wall by digging out some shallow lagoons and channels into what is already quite a fine reserve, and which backs onto a Suffolk Wildlife Trust reserve on the coast itself.

There was a Glossy Ibis, usually a misnomer as Scruffy Ibis would be more apt - but this one actually was quite shiny. Unfortunately to see it I plunged into some water and mud which filled one of my boots. I will need to visit the shoe shop tomorrow for some replacements. A couple of Whooper Swans flew over, whooping which was convenient, and a whole bunch of geese flew down the coast too far out to identify, except for about 15 Brent Geese which landed in the lagoon alongside the gazillions of assorted ducks and numerous waders. As the sun set I felt as if I was in a Peter Scott painting. 

Came back to some more liver, bacon, mushrooms and purple sprouting broccoli. I buy two or three slices of lamb's liver every couple of weeks now, it's cheap as chips, takes no time to cook and is full of nutrition.

No doubt DUK and dieticians will try to scare you off "because of all that fat", I say bring it on!

Where was that flood then?

Woke up to a fine if cold morning the sun came out and it looked like being a fine day  , decided that after doing some shopping that I might go for a walk but alas it was not to be for 

Heh heh, BTDT.

My friend who is a fencing contractor among other things has been rushed off his feet since the previous storm. He only just got round to replacing a neighbour's fence and I was half expecting it to be blown down again but we got away with it, it was blowy but not as bad as elsewhere, looking at the news reports from Scotland...

Went to the podiatrist in my carpet slippers - my boots are currently residing in a bucket - and bought me a new pair of Apex boots (used to be Aetrex) which are lightweight and supremely comfortable but NOT waterproof. Once I had a funny half hour and was looking for my boots everywhere before realising I was already wearing them - they are so comfortable I assumed I was still wearing my slippers. 

I also bought a pair of Chathams which are not only waterproof but half price, and just for good measure replaced the slippers too. The technology of shoes has improved immeasurably in recent years, though they are pricey. 

Went for a drive through numerous villages looking at the snowdrops and daffs in the churchyards and elsewhere, then walked up the lane across the fields from here. I was beginning to think I wasn't going to make it but the howling wind was largely broken up by the hedges. Dropped by some friends who live there and have a gorgeous daughter and two of the cutest grandkids, one of whom is a Thomas The Tank Engine fan - that took me back half a century or more.

Got back home and fed my face with a chicken and prawn curry. The wind has mostly dropped but it's started raining again. Now the kitchen sink drain is blocked and even my giant plunger wouldn't clear it (they can't touch you for it) <sigh> one step forward, two steps back

My fencing panels are intact despite a howling gale this morning that said I've replaced four in the last year, wish I could say the same for my neighbour though most of the panels on his side have already blown out.

We're lucky to have a competent guy living just up the road, though most of his work is agricultural he will also do domestic stuff to the same standard. I can't remember any storms of any ferocity prior to 1987, then there was another not so bad one (in the south) in 1991. Nowadays they are much more common. An ill wind blows him a half decent bank balance. I'll ask if he wants a working holiday up north <G>

chris c wrote:We're lucky to have a competent guy living just up the road, though most of his work is agricultural he will also do domestic stuff to the same standard. I can't remember any storms of any ferocity prior to 1987, then there was another not so bad one (in the south) in 1991. Nowadays they are much more common. An ill wind blows him a half decent bank balance. I'll ask if he wants a working holiday up north <G>

Won't get much work off me Chris I replace all the panels myself a local company delivers free at a very competitive price 

It's the RSPB Garden Birdwatch weekend, I wonder if the unusual weather this winter could affect which birds are seen in gardens ... time will tell.

It's turned a little colder today so I think some of the birds may be 'shivering' ...important to keep garden feeders stocked so that birds can find food whatever the weather.

All the best Jan

niece is doing bird watch at school . part of nature or science lesson i think . she is enjoying it .

Sharon wrote:niece is doing bird watch at school . part of nature or science lesson i think . she is enjoying it .

I think the RSPB are usually well supported  for the Garden Watch and similar studies ... and if things like this are used in schools it can start the younger generation being interested in nature and the living world, which I think can be good.

All the best Jan

That's a pied wagtail. Sometimes you might see a paler continental version, the white wagtail. The other common one is the grey wagtail which is predominantly yellow. Yellow wagtails which are even yellower aren't nearly so common now.

Pied wagtails often roost communally, often in towns. They nest on a neighbour's roof, under the solar panel.

Not that much in the garden this winter, I suspect the mild weather means there's still a lot of natural food around. I mainly have chaffinches and greenfinches plus a few blackbirds and robins and dunnocks, and rooks and jackdaws enough to make a Hitchcock film. No pheasants or partridges for a long time and even the fat bastard pigeons don't hang around that long when there are fields of rape to be eaten.

I fitted in a couple of walks today, although fairly short ones, as it sounds as if the weather will be back with a vengeance tomorrow. Remains to be seen how much of it makes it this far south and east. Looks like Scotland will get the worst of it again

chris c wrote:
I fitted in a couple of walks today, although fairly short ones, as it sounds as if the weather will be back with a vengeance tomorrow. Remains to be seen how much of it makes it this far south and east. Looks like Scotland will get the worst of it again

Lucky you  it's never stopped raining here very windy too   a walk is out of the question

Hi Chris,
It looks like a summer male alba to me.
atb
Derek

chris c wrote:That's a pied wagtail. Sometimes you might see a paler continental version, the white wagtail. The other common one is the grey wagtail which is predominantly yellow. Yellow wagtails which are even yellower aren't nearly so common now.

Pied wagtails often roost communally, often in towns. They nest on a neighbour's roof, under the solar panel.

Not that much in the garden this winter, I suspect the mild weather means there's still a lot of natural food around. I mainly have chaffinches and greenfinches plus a few blackbirds and robins and dunnocks, and rooks and jackdaws enough to make a Hitchcock film. No pheasants or partridges for a long time and even the fat bastard pigeons don't hang around that long when there are fields of rape to be eaten.

I fitted in a couple of walks today, although fairly short ones, as it sounds as if the weather will be back with a vengeance tomorrow. Remains to be seen how much of it makes it this far south and east. Looks like Scotland will get the worst of it again

Derek wrote:Hi Chris,
It looks like a summer male alba to me.
atb
Derek

One of us may have a monitor that needs adjusting! Looks too dark from over here.

I saw a definite white wagtail on the beach last spring along with a bunch of ordinary pieds - it was much lighter, almost like a herring gull in a flock of lesser blackbacks. But then it was probably still in winter plumage.

chris c wrote:

Derek wrote:Hi Chris,
It looks like a summer male alba to me.
atb
Derek

One of us may have a monitor that needs adjusting! Looks too dark from over here.

I saw a definite white wagtail on the beach last spring along with a bunch of ordinary pieds - it was much lighter, almost like a herring gull in a flock of lesser blackbacks. But then it was probably still in winter plumage.

Chris,
it doesn't have a black back like Pied or the messy flank line of Pied. Looked at it on several computer systems including smart phone

D.