Just when we thought it was all over!

After last weeks dramas with the snow and all the hassle with transport etc etc, things seemed to be getting back to normal yesterday. I even manage to clear enough of the remaining ice and snow of the veg patch to find the parsnips and manage to dig one out,. managed to get a leek out of the ground too, normality!

Then about tea time....here we go again!




These were taken at about 9pm.

The good news is that it is melting fast this morning. Hopefully it will be a bit warmer over the weekend, I am getting stir crazy as I want to get out into the garden to do some prep work on a couple of beds. I also want to pot up some seeds or at least start stratifying them.

New seeds and old technology

The postman brought me a nice surprise on Saturday, my seeds from the RHS seed share arrived. This is always a lift at this time of year when you find out if you got what you asked for of what substitutes you have got. The next step is to sort out what you need to do with them, unlike seed you buy there are no instructions on the packet, instead you look them up in the Germination guide. This means you end up with piles that need stratication, and piles that need sowing at different times. You also need to look up the varieties and make notes of the size and requirements of the adult plant (assuming they germinate).




They other thing that happened over the weekend was actually due to blogging. One of the things that running my 2 blogs has done is that has has re-kindled my passion for photography. Since we moved I have been so busy with the house etc that I haven't been out taking pictures, as often as I should, and when I have it has been all digital stuff with my Nikon SLR.
Anyway I made a decision yesterday whilst shopping in Cambridge, I bought some 35mmFILM.....remember that?? I have decided to take my lovely Leica M6 out of retirement and prove to myself I can still take real pictures. I know I will end up having to scan the results so I can show them to you and the results aren't instant but what the heck!

A village in bloom day

Cardoon

we woke on Saturday morning to a heavy frost on to of the remaining snow, it was -6.5 outside. We had an early start as Sharron had a Tennis course to go to in bedfordshire and she needed to leave by 8.

my plans for the day were centred around the Village in Bloom project, we had arranged to spend the morning clearing the conservation area and improving the wildlife habitat. We had agreed to meet on site at 10, when I got there peter was already there cutting back the blackthorn, Phil, Ruth and Annabel arrived soon after. We managed to clear the circular path around the site before we decided to retire to the church coffee morning Organised by Sally and Avril. Sally had arranged for a special cake to be made and raffled between the conservation workers it looked fantastic decorated with all sorts of bugs and things.

After coffee the 5 of us walked around the village to identify village trees suitable to be used in the nest box project we are running as part of in bloom. We identified at least 12 now it just down to negotiating with the people on whose land they are growing on.

I spent the rest of the day watching the cricket.... lest said about that the better!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

Well we missed out on the snow at the start of the week with only a light dusting, but today...!
After a failed attempt to drive down to the station which ended with us being pulled back onto the road by a 4x4 I went out to take some pictures.


I found this Acconite poking throught the snow.



my broad beans should be nice and safe under the frames I put over them to stop the pigeons.



We took Boris out for a walk, he likes to lay in wait and ambush us, unfortunately he doesn't understand the concept of Camouflage.





This was the view along the lane looking back towards our house.



And this is a view of one of the oldest houses (actually an ex-pub).


Finally a view down the fields towards St Ives.


All very pretty but hopefully it won't stay to long!

What a difference a day makes.

Well I spent all weekend working on the kitchen and I think we are finally getting towards the end of it!


The sink is all plumbed in and working, the worktops are in place and most of the painting is done. All that remains to do is finishing off the trim, painting window frames and replacing a pane of faded plastic (why did they do that!!) in the window with glass.

Well after yesterdays snow (it was quite light around here) today is the day of the deep freeze. All the hard surfaces outside are sheet ice, glinting in the sunshine. The weather forecasts are a little vague as to what we should expect today but my barometer is settled between Rain and Change so maybe we will get more snow later.

I just watched a fox resplendent in it's thick winter coat crossing the fields. Sadly it ws to far away for a photograph but I watched it foraging through the binoculars I keep on my desk.