Thursday 1 March 2018

Thursday

A quarter past one at lunch time and for the first time since I got up this morning it has just stopped snowing.   It is that powdery snow (good for skiing apparently, but not good for snowballs) which is blowing around in a much stronger easterly wind.   In addition it is absolutely bitterly cold.   I am not going out.  I feel sorry for Tess, who keeps asking to go out, runs up and down the path, daren't go on to the lawn where the snow is deeper than her little legs, does a quick wee and runs back in.   I have just had an e mail from the dog walking service to say they are not coming today.  I have rung friend J, who only lives a short distance down the road, and she is going to take Tess for a short walk for me in about an hour.   Thank goodness.  And thank you J too.
 
I read in this morning's Times (which was absolutely on  time after no appearance yesterday) where a Headmaster of a Private Day School in the South of the country had written to parents inviting them to keep their children away from school if they wanted them to play in the snow.   He said memories of snow like this would last them all their lives and would be more important than a couple of days schooling while this weather remains. I must say that I agree with him.   Children kept in lessons will spend more time looking out of the window and longing to be out there playing in it than they will on concentrating on what they are supposed to be learning.  (when I was a child the classroom windows were too high up for kids to look out and see what was happening outside!)

It is snowing again - five minute break is all that we have had.  Outside in the back garden sits a hen fieldfare.   Her feather are all fluffed out to keep warm.   She has been here off and on for a couple of days.   Next door has two berried bushes and both are covered, but she has made no attempt to eat them.   She can fly because when I stood in the window and she saw me she flew off into a nearby tree.    Is she sick I wonder?   Fieldfares move around in flocks - in fact there was a flock in the trees opposite but she made no attempt to join them. I fully expect that one morning I shall find her dead somewhere in the garden.

Nature can be so cruel and as several of you have said - lambing is about to get underway; in fact is well underway in many areas.   Many farmers I suspect will lamb indoors (if they have anything like enough room to do so) but that also has its problems.   Sheep are outdoor animals - indoors brings on all kinds of threats of dire things like pheumonia.   A worrying time for all farmer I am sure.

Folk like me, long retired, warm, plenty of food in store, no real worries, are the lucky ones really.   The only problem for me is cabin fever and luckily my son has been unable to get to work this week.   Yesterday he called round and stayed to chat for an hour, today he rang me and chatted for an hour.
Similarly, in the evenings, various friends and also my niece, ring and chat - thank goodness for the telephone!

No end in sight at present for the cold weather - but it is March 1st today (white rabbits!) - meteorologically the first day of Spring (obviously postponed) so I am glad I am still sticking to the old-fashioned March 21st.   So everyone - it will be Spring in three weeks time - can't come soon enough can it

 

29 comments:

Mac n' Janet said...

I get cabin fever because I'm avoiding crowds since I started chemo. Read, watch tv (it's awful), cross-stitch, work a puzzle. Not very lively though.

Minigranny said...

Glad that your friend will take Tess out! We are tucked in warm at home too which is lovely. So agree with that headmaster - I was shocked the read in the paper yesterday about one Head who had forbidden pupils from touching the snow for fear of injuries.

sausage said...

Cabin fever here too.Husband is walking around house like a caged animal.There is plenty to do,sort out books,clothes to take to charity shops in preparation for our move back down south.

jinxxxygirl said...

Brrr... Pat! Stay warm.. Its a little chilly here and has rained for the last week though none expected today.. We shall dry out for a few days at least.. I shall be caulking around doorways and putting more mud on the walls downstairs...maybe some more woodburning..and making a pot of spaghetti and meatballs.. Thats about the extent of it today.. You and Tess take care.. Hugs! deb

Derek Faulkner said...

Cabin fever here as well. The dog and I are used to our couple of hours every morning on the nature reserve but it's 8 miles away and the road across the marsh to get to it is sheet ice and snow drifts. Three days stuck indoors and we're climbing the walls but currently we have a wind chill of -9 degrees outside.

angryparsnip said...

The heater was on yesterday but in the lowest settings. I have a small heater that I turn on to warm up the air in my studio and bedroom. I really do not like a very warm rooms. But if I lived where you did with such cold/freezing weather for months not just a few days like mine... I would have a heater on.
I am happy Tess will have her walk.

cheers, parsnip

Rachel Phillips said...

Too cold to make snowmen. We have wind chill official figure of -14 but it feels much lower.

Derek Faulkner said...

Blimey Rachel and I thought it was cold here!

The Weaver of Grass said...

General idea seems universally to keep warm.

Joanne Noragon said...

Here's to the headmaster, and his perfect scheme. Those children will be in their glory.

Heather said...

It has snowed all day, but only the very fine powdery stuff. Had it been full scale flakes no doubt we'd be up to our knees by now. About 65 years ago I would have loved that! Full marks to that headmaster - what a sensible and understanding man.
I am quite happy to hibernate for a little longer and have plenty to keep me amused and occupied.
Hope you can get out soon to enjoy one of your lovely lunches with friends.

justjill said...

Fieldfares do appear on their own. Not sure why unless they spread out looking for food, now there are not as many berries. They will eat the same as Blackbirds. If you have a spare apple?!

Sue in Suffolk said...

We were supposed to go to Addenbrookes but the drifts were too big, No cabin fever here.......yet...... just glad to be in the warm!

Sue said...

Definitely stay indoors weather. Missing my log fire at the moment, central heating is warm but not cosy.

Anonymous said...

I had to get out this afternoon after a day of being cooped up. Knew I wouldn’t be hungry for supper otherwise. An hour walking along snowy lanes and through the woods in a blizzard - wonderful!

Poor Tess with the snow being deeper than she is tall. Poppy was very cold when we got back from our walk so she wore her coat for half an hour and I lit the fire for her.

I’ve seen a couple of solitary fieldfare today- one in our garden, one on the Lane. It may just be the weather that’s caused non-flocking behaviour. Fingers crossed.

Stay warm and cosy indoors.

Rachel Phillips said...

It appears this thing they are calling Storm Emma is hitting us hard in the east Derek. I assumed the blizzard was all part of the same thing from Siberia but the weather people seem to have separated it into two. Madness. So anyway, Emma is here now.

Derek Faulkner said...

It's certainly going to be a long and bitter cold night. In the gathering gloom I'm just looking at some horses on the marsh across the road, feel so sorry for them with not a stick of shelter. I just couldn't leave animals as exposed as that.

John "By Stargoose And Hanglands" said...

I keep wrapped up in lots of layers of clothes, though yesterday I saw a young man on Cambridge station wearing just jeans and a T-shirt bearing the legend "Tough Guy". I suppose they don't make T-shirts explicit enough to say what he really was!

Librarian said...

Just a very normal Thursday here for me; warmer than it has been so far this week (-12C until yesterday, -7 today when I left the house). 20 minutes of walking to my client's office, thankfully no train ride to this one, so no standing around on freezing windswept platforms. The office is warm and somis my flat; for the walk there and back, I wear my warmest padded coat, gloves, scarf, boots - the lot! Everybody on the streets looks like they are about to embark on a polar expedition.
So good of your friend to take Tess out when not even the official dog walkers can make it.

busybusybeejay said...

ST David's Day here in Wales but the weather has overtaken celebrations.Very,very cold.Our granddaughter is supposed to be flying out of Gatwick to Vietnam tonight at the start of a 7 week adventure with three friends.

Doc said...

I think we are over with the snow for this year. So thankful that we don’t have your current weather, I can’t stand being trapped indoors for long.

Chris said...

March has certainly come in like a lion for you (we had more lamb like weather) so you can expect much more pleasant weather for the end of the month. We will likely be the opposite!

Cro Magnon said...

Don't worry about your cabin fever, much better to stay in the warm and read, or watch TV, or listen to The Archers.

Frances said...

Good to hear that you are keeping warm, and lots of phone calls to keep you company. Don't worry about Tess not getting a walk every day......the odd ones missed will not hurt her ! I am not taking the yorkie out in this weather......the schnauzer doesn't seem to mind the cold with his warm coat on.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Thanks everyone for the comments. No Times printed today -now that is a tragedy - shall have tolook what else is available when I go into town for lunch (oh yes we are going to manage that as the main road is clear!)

Tom Stephenson said...

I enjoy the snow, but from the inside of a warm (ish) house - or pub.

Derek Faulkner said...

Several hours of freezing rain here on Sheppey has coated everything in ice and made walking anywhere almost suicidal. Can't see out of some of the house windows due to the frozen rain on them.

Sue said...

Slight cabin fever going on here too. Once we have dealt with the outdoor jobs, mainly thawing out drinkers and sorting out the animals, we have to come in to thaw ourselves out and then the urge to stay indoors just wins every time.

It's a problem for short legged little dogs at the moment isn't it. Suky runs around trying to find the lowest snowfall so that when she crouches for a wee her entire undercarriage isn't resting on snow ... I bet she's wishing she were a little boy doggy at the moment :-)

Mavis although a small dog has longer legs so she isn't as bad. Both dogs are having a mad half hour morning and evening playing in the snow in our paddock but there have been no proper doggy walks, but they really aren't seeming to mind at all.

Stay warm. xx

Pamela Terry and Edward said...

I have to say that puppy Andrew would love snow, no doubt about it. We've had an early spring here. Everything is in bloom. A bit worrying because we all know more cold weather will come. Stay warm! xx