Snow...
Snow on a Cordyline
Snow. Snow? Snow! I slept inside the house last night, and I didn't hear a thing. But there was no wind - just snuffly, silent snow falling. Wow. Not so much snow, yet. But quite enough for me. Please feel free to stop at any time... No, honestly, just a tiny helping is quite sufficient.
Wednesday 12th July
Dawn, and the birdies are already fluttering around their feeding station. Every minute counts? I have lard balls, fresh apples, and a shelf of canned fruit for them. I left the cottage window open for Minimus my cottage cat overnight. Small, thought. The house is much warmer to sleep in than my cottage. This is probably obvious. Who would be foolish enough to sleep in a shed in their garden over winter? Hmm...
It is still snowing very gently, and I hope there are no power outages (country trees, ill-designed for heavy white covering, can topple down over power lines). Yeay for the log burner, and all my firewood. And for my warm, sheltering house.
Winnie in the Snow
So here's my dreamy plan. Enjoy another cup of tea, then take Winnie for a winter wonderland wander with the camera, and check on Minimus. And here's my action plan. If it keeps snowing, wander around every half an hour knocking accumulated snow off evergreen shrubs (e.g. Pittosporums) with a stout stick. Minimise the damage. But also take photographs. And don't get the camera wet!
Later, Lunchtime...
Well, it's a bit brighter out there. Buster the Brave has finally been outside on the patio to experience snow (oops - encouraged by the gentlest scoop of my foot). The birds are now demolishing their second lard ball of the day. This is serious eating weather!
Winnie and Me in the Snow
Winnie and I have plodded around the garden just the once. I'd throw her tennis ball, and as she'd take ages to retrieve it (her sense of smell in the snow isn't so good) I'd whack snow off Phormiums and shrubs, as gently as I could. Everything gets so squashed and flattened. Oh well. Guess it's not the best of real gardening days. Might weed out some more spelling mistakes from the web-garden.
Little Snow Drops
And apologies to my northern, totally snow-experienced gardening friends. The white stuff still has novelty value down here for me, so there will be regular updates throughout the day! Yawn yawn...
Later, Mid-Afternoon...
Winnie and I have done some more wandering. The sun is out! Phew. So there is now slush and snow starting to melt. I hope it will not freeze later tonight - it's only reached one degree Celsius outside all day. Get on with it, sun! This snow event should be over just as quickly as it began.
Bright Yellow Jonquils
I've fed out some hay for the ram and the ewes in the orchard - their grass is totally snow-covered. I've wheeled another barrow of firewood over to the house. Now it's just raining (there's suddenly no wind) and the skies are all grey and dark. But it's not too cold for Histeria the Hunter. Today she's brought me two mice, and a little yellow bird. Blast! I think I'll sleep back in the cottage tonight. Minimus my cottage cat misses me!