Snow oh the title is too short

I actually did something right. I got round the shops before the snow fell.

I have liver (and bacon) and ground beef, brussels sprouts and broccoli (my usual shop had no PSB but the other shop did, but at £6.99/kilo I decided to pass) peppers chillies garlic and mushrooms. And coffee. And still more pheasants than I can shake a stick at, so I can live with being snowed in for a while. Oh and Halloumi, that always helps.

Yes we had a fair amount of snow yesterday too enough to keep me indoors for the day, quite the opposite today after a cold frosty start the sun came out ice and snow melted making for a proper winters day, got some shopping in and then enjoyed an hours walk 

No snow of late but bitterly cold winds   whatever happened to global warming 

Well it didn't last long in the end.

I went for a walk along by the river and through the park. The first crocus hordes are now out along with all the snowdrops.

Drove home past a nearby cottage whose garden is full of Winter Aconites

https://img.crocdn.co.uk/images/products2/pl/20/00/00/76/pl2000007644_card2_lg.jpg

that always cheers me up.

Still a serious lack of winter birds, no Redwings or Fieldfares, or Siskins in the alders, but a friend from the other end of the road has a load of Goldfinches in his garden.

Back to dull and rainy today. Ah well, I polished off some salmon with spinach and I'll probably make a prawn curry later.

No more snow but further signs of spring, the first few primroses in some of the field ditches and the first glimmerings of green buds on some of the quickthorn. Oh and I spotted the first wallflower of the season in a neighbour's garden. I walked on one of the commons listening to Greenfinches, Goldfinches and Linnets in song, and the pond has now filled back up. Still not much over the fields though, but the sun is setting ever later and ever further north. More wind and rain though.

This has been the shortest and lousiest herring season I can remember, and I haven't had so little PSB in years either.

Had a heavy fall of snow Sunday night I was at my sisters for dinner and had to leave early not till I'd eaten though, didn't want to take a chance of getting stuck there. Thankfully by mid morning the following day it had thawed and the roads were clear.

No more snow forecast but it remains bitterly cold 

It's actually improved here temperature-wise after a couple of days with a dire wind. Lots more crocuses out and the first few daffodils. It rained so much the river went over the fields again but the water drained back into the channel fairly quickly. In a few north-facing spots there was still ice on the ground despite the sun. The car's temperature gauge actually went into double figures, first time in ages.

Snow's back but not (yet) as bad as elsewhere, or as bad as predicted. Gritters have been out and the road down to the town and the Co-Op car park were pretty clear after lunch so I did some hunting and gathering.

Heavy covering of snow this morning but thankfully after a few more flurry's it finally stopped and the sun came out by mid afternoon the snow had mostly thawed and the roads are ok, will see what tomorrow brings if it's bad again might have to give the funeral a miss

Snow seems to have been evaporating but the temperature is dire. Doesn't look good in the north or the southwest though.

chris c wrote:Snow seems to have been evaporating but the temperature is dire. Doesn't look good in the north or the southwest though.

Heavy snowfall again yesterday morning, thankfully it eased off and started thawing by midday so we set off for the funeral the sky's were clear and the sun was out all was ok till we hit junction 34 the sky went black and a we had a blizzard visibility was poor we were due to come off at the next junction on route to the crem, I did think about turning back for home but to my surprise when we exited the M6 we drove into clear skies with no sign of snow   so we took a chance and carried on to our destination, our return journey was fine with no snow and the M6 traffic was not to bad either

As an aside it's us meat-eaters that are the reason for all this snow 

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/uk-weather-snow-extremes-cold-meat-eating-climate-change-methane-cattle-cows-a8234236.html

I call bullshit. Literally. Apart from the carbon sequestration from grazing land, the huge quantities of diesel and chemicals required for grain agriculture, what about all those vegan farts?

Glad you got there and back OK, unlike many in the news reports. I don't know if it is just me getting old but the cold here has been unbearable. I can literally feel the heat being sucked out through the windows despite the double glazing. Yesterday was dire, I had to go see friends and then walk round the town shopping. Today it looks like it is thawing but doesn't quite feel like it yet.

Sunset looked nothing like this



Now I have to wait until this time next year.

We've been lucky with the snow though there has been heavy falls the roads have cleared quickly though outlying areas have not been so fortunate  in places they've had to wait for the snow ploughs before being able to get out

I think the worst part of the cold weather is the freezing winds I don't recall it ever being so bone chillingly cold 

Rain has washed almost all the snow away here now. As a consequence the river has been over its banks and covered the footpath in the town nature reserve, and there are various other flood warnings.

Yes bone chilling about describes it. The east winds on the coast here can be dire, they basically come straight from the Urals with no high ground in between but this year they have been extra dire.

I saw a news item about Bewcastle in Cumbria that took me back, I used to have friends there, and it was still snowed in.

Ping Derek, how are you surviving?

Went for a walk on one of the drier commons, and came back via a lane along the top of a hill. Not even a very high one but the ditches were still full of snow and there were huge banks alongside the road.

I decided to go for a second walk which involved driving up another little lane to the top of a slightly larger hill. On the south side there were still some major snow banks and part of the road needed great care, I was sliding around a bit. The top of the hill still had snow in all the ditches and under the hedges, and the north side was about a foot deep and completely impassable. Obviously it had drifted a lot in the winds.

Much more birdsong though, including several Skylarks, and a small flock of Fieldfares clacking away.

I think I saw a Peregrine which had taken down a Woodpigeon that wasn't quite dead yet, the two were thrashing about on the ground, but it was behind a hedge and some trees on a bend so couldn't stop to look.

Ah well, I had liver and bacon, with a giant mushroom and Brussels sprouts, which keep coming to the end of their season and them making a comeback. A friend has grown proper old fashioned purple sprouting broccoli, I'll see if he has any left after the pigeons have had their fill.

Winter is back with a bang   woke this morning to a heavy fall of snow making the roads hazardous and causing a few accidents, I heard reports of people being stuck in their cars and some even being unable to leave home.

So far just more rain down here.

I'm pretty sure I can remember the days when the worst of the winter was in December and January, now it stretches into February and this year March. Some outliers though, one year back in the nineties (I think) there was a hard frost in May that killed all the flower buds on the hydrangeas, and once when I was very young (fifties or early sixties) there was a blizzard in June, but it didn't last long.

Well we've had the 'Beast From The East' (snow) and 'The Pest From The West' (rain) ... I'm so pleased we hadn't planned to move home when it was snowing ...

A lovely day today but more cold weather expected at the weekend.
Think it may just be frosty, no snow, but time will tell.

Maybe folks should keep the snow shovels handy - just in case.

All the best Jan

It absolutely bucketed down last night (or the night before, I don't remember now) and the river is nearly over the fields again. The poor old daffodils have emerged from the roadside snow banks just in time to get buried again by the sound of things to come.

The weather was glorious today, and the spring flowers were looking very cheerful

Could be different tomorrow as 'The Beast From The East Two' is approaching.

Snow shovels at the ready !!!

Keep warm everybody.

All the best Jan

Yes I had a nice walk in the woods and finally heard a few Siskins singing away in the treetops, yet another common thing that has been scarce this winter, they should by now be in the alders by the river and a few other places.

Now the snow has cleared out of the ditches little posies of primroses are popping up everywhere, and the roadside daffodils are starting to show.

Just in time to be snowed under again. So far just a sprinkling here but it is infernally cold again.

Meanwhile reports of early Chiffchaffs and Sand Martins arriving, and a number of Black Redstarts up and down the coast. Oh and there was a massive bumble bee in the garden yesterday but not many flowers for her.

It's been a mostly sunny day with the odd light flurry of snow but in the last couple of hours just when I thought we were going to miss the worst of the weather we've had a heavy fall of snow  

Snowed yesterday and during the night so we have a white world out there again !
Don't think the roads are too bad - time will tell.

I need to get some fresh food today ... and replenish the tea bags too (most important LOL!)

Take Care

All the best Jan

Just can't make its mind up. Today was wall to wall sunshine but I don't think it got above freezing once. I'll need to go shopping tomorrow which is allegedly going to be warmer.