Saturday 1 February 2014

Winter is here.

Outside, the wind is howling, the sleet is horizontal and we are now staying in by the wood burner for the night.   Yes, at last, on the first day of February, winter has arrived.   And yet all day here the sun has been shining and there is quite a bit of warmth already in the sun.

We have not had snow here but it is on all the hills round us and there is a biting wind.   The forecasters tell us that the temperatures will go up again tomorrow.

Because the winter has been so wet and mild, so many plants are further on than they should be.   The hazel and alder catkins are coming out - on Thursday the farmer found some which were long and heavy with pollen.   This means there will be no hazel nuts this year as there will be no bees out to pollinate the catkins when they need it.

Our friend and neighbour has lambs, so the lambing season has started.   I shall ring him in the morning to see if I can go round and photograph them - if so they will be on my blog shortly.   Very few farmers round here start this early because of the risk of bad weather - the advantage of course is that the lamb is ready for market early and fetches a better price.  A short life but a merry one as they say - no room for sentimentality in farming I fear.

10 comments:

Heather said...

The wind is roaring round the house today with more heavy rain as an accompaniment. It is quite a bit colder too, so not at all pleasant outside. In spite of all that we have two daffodils almost out but I wonder how long they will stand up in the wind. Poor lambs born in these conditions.

MorningAJ said...

It's been lovely here today but got windy this evening. No snow around here either.

Cro Magnon said...

Plenty of Lambs here, and catkins, and rain. My main worry is that we're going to have an awful lot of bugs in the veg' garden, later on.

angryparsnip said...

Gosh what weather to be born in. I know it is nature but so cold.
I hope you are all warm and dry.

cheers, parsnip

John "By Stargoose And Hanglands" said...

I think you'll find that hazel is pollinated by the wind rather than bees so you should be OK for hazel nuts - plenty of wind at least!

Anonymous said...

Pat we reached 45 degree heat today (113) !
I have a screen-saver featuring snow to make me feel cooler - even reading about cold roaring winds helps.
Looking forward to your lamb pics.

Maureen @ Josephina Ballerina said...

Good day, Pat! Six in the morning here on the east coast of the US, but 11 there, I think. Such a bummer about no hazelnuts this year! And strange that winter has hit just as the Chinese Spring Festival is going on. I'm an acupuncturist and fairly steeped in Chinese theory of life. To the Chinese folks regarding the seasons, it's not about the temperature, it's about the light. And, I heard the first truly spring sounding bird yesterday. A-TWEETA-TWEETA-TWEETA! And, it's supposed to snow tomorrow. Weird.

The Weaver of Grass said...

John's comment is interesting - catkins are pollinated by the wind - well we have had plenty of that so perhaps absence of bees is not so important after all.
Thanks for the visit.

Crafty Green Poet said...

oh I look forward to the photos of the lambs!

thousandflower said...

Hazelnuts are wind pollinated not insect so freezing temps won't stop the pollen from blowing from tree to tree. Lots of rain might be more of a problem making the pollen damp.

It is getting cold again here, too. It's been very moderated for most of January so having it get cold again is a nuisance.