The snow came back

Sunday doesn't half come around quick when you're busy like we have been this week, carrying on from the beginning of the week. I don't want this to take all afternoon to type so I'm just going to get straight into it, and stick to a chronological arrangement to make going through the pictures quicker (and ensure I don't forget some, like I did last time like talking about how the birds have come back in the past few weeks and singing up a storm which is gorgeous).

Thursday

Thursday was a particularly busy day for me at my desk which is never a good thing really. I like to be able to step away and do a few bits and pieces if possible. That wasn't really the case at all though I did go on a short road trip in the late afternoon.

The last overgrown bit of the garden

It gets quite overcast

A was feeling quite energetic and took herself out into the garden in the afternoon to attack the final overgrown section up behind where the trees are growing. She did a little bit of pulling out of dead brush but it quickly became apparent that it was more overgrown than we realised. I haven't got any detail pictures but the tree to the left on the bank has loads of very straight branches growing straight up and is encroaching quite badly on the rest of the garden. This will need to be attacked with the chainsaw and other more substantial tools and so this task was shelved for a bit. The weather was really starting to draw in and so it was that later, when A reminded me about the forecast, that we headed over to the carpenters to pick up more sawdust (he was in and had huge piles of it for us and we filled six sacks) and then the garage-shop to pick up the new batteries for Thomas and Lucy.

Cheesy bites and cheesy chips

The cheese was quite stringy

Neither of us were in the mood for cooking that evening so we chose to go to our favourite restaurant for dinner, as we're trying to do once a week every week. After a few minutes looking through the menu we decided to go for a mix and match meal like I always used to have, with cheesy chips and chicken wings and duck hearts and other good stuff like that. This ended up being a good choice, and the puppies were happy too as we took them some meat home for their dinner. All in all Thursday was a bit of a non-day for both of us, other than the town run.

Friday

Dehumidifier going to remove the slight flood

We both slept pretty well Thursday night and weren't up at all in the night for the puppies, which is unusual. The only disruption was me waking thinking I heard one of them drinking from a puddle on the bedroom floor and turning the lights on to see we had a small flood, but not enough for any drinking to be going on. We put towels against the bottom of the balcony door and were back to sleep quite quickly.

Sassy's run with lots of sticky sleet on it

Slowly building a layer on the balcony tiles

Wind whipping the sleet across the patio

Just about done on their play outside for the day

When we woke the next day it was to a white world once again. This wasn't really snow, more a wet sticky sleet, but it was falling quite fast and settling everywhere. Sassy's cage was completely coated in it and the floor of the balcony was slowly building up quite a covering. We did kick the puppies out for a run and they tore around the top bank for about 5 minutes before deciding to come in and not really going out much after that. It was very cold, with quite high winds driving the snow from the north, and I certainly wasn't planning on being outside very much either.

Soft boiled eggs with toast soldiers. Our new egg cups, too

Ready to start the narrow edge bit

How I left it at the end of the day

I had to work Friday morning to make up for the half day I missed on Tuesday with the BBQ. I got loads done but didn't hit my target sadly so I'm under pressure on Monday. I did get time to cook us some lovely soft boiled duck eggs for breakfast which we ate in our new egg cups. After this I was stuck to my desk all morning until after lunch trying to get my task finished. Eventually I gave up the effort and went through to Sassy's Room to continue the flooring. I worked til just after five and at least with this managed to hit my target. I was now left with the platform and the fiddly bits around that end of the room, which I would begin on Saturday.

The sleety snow continues to fall

A lovely wintry scene

The raised beds, doing their jobs well

I was pretty exhausted by this time having been at it since 9am without much of a break so I took the chance to chill out. It was still snowing, and had been all day, so before I sank onto the sofa for the rest of the evening I got some pictures to show you. It just hadn't let up and even though it never got to be a heavy fall it was getting deep. Once the pictures had been taken I joined A in the lounge with a beer and put a Bruce Springsteen Live blu-ray on. A took herself off for a nap during the evening and I ended up having a lovely pizza on my own on the sofa while watching the boys do their thing on stage. It was a very peaceful relaxing way to spend the time and when A got up and joined me, just as the concert finished, we sat together for a bit longer before we headed to bed. I had gone out to shut the fowl away in just my slip on sandals earlier and sunk past my ankles into the snow. Bare foot. It reminded me of when we got here last year and I walked up the lane barefoot in the snow.

Saturday

With the super early night the night before I was expecting us to wake up early on Saturday but that didn't happen; we must both have needed the rest. The snow stopped during the evening and didn't resume so when we got up eventually, after the sun was up, it was to a bright day with melting happening everywhere.

The view looking west

These BBQs were useful only a few days ago

The sun shines through gaps in the clouds

Julian with his cap of snow

A thin sheet of ice over the pond

First foray of the day, and avoiding the snow

I took a stroll around with my camera once I was up and about first of all going onto the roof terrace to get pictures across the valley looking west. I was also in the right place at the right time to see as the sun just broke through the clouds and shot some beams through further breaks in the cloud onto distant villages. The BBQs, used on a few days before, are now very much out of action; what a difference a few days makes. It was then time to walk along to let the birds out, past a buried Julian (who needs some work doing to make him waterproof again; a task for this summer I think) and into their enclosure where once again the pond was frozen. It didn't stay like that for long; as I was in there filling their water back up the sun broke through once more and it was really warm while the sun was not behind a cloud. As soon as it went in the temperature really dropped. The girls were not best pleased with the snow and only pecked around the clear area near the house.

A kicking snow for the puppies to chase

Filling in the old screw holes

The dodgy edges of the platform are filled

I went back inside with every intention of doing loads of work in Sassy's Room but first I wanted a brew. While this was being made A went outside for a stroll with the puppies and kicked snow for them to chase, which they did with much gusto. After my cuppa I got stuck in to measuring lengths of wood and fitting the final beams onto the floor. A was also feeling motivated and she took the table top outside and filled the screwholes with wood-filler, so when we put it back together there is material for the new screws to bite on. After this she got the stain and continued that task, getting the last chair almost completed. I was initially planning on laying all the rest of the floor but it quickly became apparent that I would need to fix the platform before I could do anything more so A got her mixing tool out and made a very large bucket of teracol which I then spent some time pouring behind my forms. I ended up with just about enough mix to finish the job, though I had to stay in there for a while and keep smoothing it and adding more as the voids below were slowly sunk into and filled.

Louise with her big smile

Both of them grinning away

Chasing through the snow

Stopped to watch the cows

I had every intention after this point of continuing to work in there, maybe scraping the walls a bit or putting some more of the beams down near the door to the laboratory room but when I went back in after eating some lunch I realised all I wanted was to relax and enjoy the lounge in the daylight, something I've not had much chance to do. This was a very sensible decision and I spent the time chatting to A, playing with the puppies, reading my Model Railway magazine and designing the first layout I am going to build. The puppies weren't only inside annoying us; they were outside in the sun playing in the snow and having a great time, though when they were barking at the cows that wasn't great. Which reminds me. On Friday Rambo got in so much trouble as he chased the cows really badly as they tried to go up our side lane. One was so scared it turned and ran back down, and the gap there is barely wide enough for that. I felt so terrible as the Little Lady had to go chasing off down the field, in the snow, to try and get them back so I shouted at Rambo to get straight in and he must have heard in my voice so he obeyed straight away. Since then, unless we are outside with him, he's been kept on his long lead so he can't do this again; I cannot risk him causing an injury to any livestock with his stupid barking at things that aren't on his land. I'd not mind so much if he was also good at barking when something is ON our land but in that case he just stands and looks at the intruder. As you can tell I got quite frustrated with this.

Our first chili baby of the year

Sunset reflected on ice and water on the balcony

The colours of dusk

Looking across the valley in the evening

The neighbours can't have been too unhappy with us, however, as midway through the morning, just as A was making a plate of scrambled eggs for us both, the Special One turned up with some lovely bread fresh from their oven. He didn't stay long but he did make encouraging noises about my floor. A had planted up some Crossley Special chili seeds into the heated propagator which I put on my desk. On checking them I found that we already had one baby, of which A was most excited to hear. The relaxing afternoon made its way eventually into a chilled out evening and I was in and out on the balcony getting pictures as the sky changed colour. For our evening viewing we settled down to watch The Deer Hunter which was brilliant but even though we started early it went on until late and we were both shattered when it finished. It had been a lovely day, a much needed relax for me, but with some good progress also.

Sunday

We slept well again without any disturbances which was good; the girls are starting to get good at going through the night, once more. It was a lovely lie in for us as well.

Sassy hopping over to say hello

Frosty Pear tree

The fog cleared fast

I got up about usual time and went to let the birds out while the kettle boiled and then I brought it back to bed. In that time I also fed and watered Sassy (her water was frozen from the night before) and took the camera round for some pictures. It was foggy when I first left the bedroom but as I watched the sun burned through and it cleared almost instantaneously. Sassy was out and about as soon as she saw me, coming to say hi to me and to the puppies who joined me on the balcony for a few seconds before dashing back to bed and the warmth.

A polishing the unit

A spiders web, covered in frost icicles

Thelma with her current favourite stick

Frost sparkles and sends spikes pointing upwards

The saplings are decorated

A very full ash bucket

Spread over the dirt around the orchard

When we finally did get out of bed properly we were neither of us very interested in doing a full clean through. That isn't to say we didn't do anything at all; A hoovered Room 13 and I tidied up in the corridor and then together we tried to fit the dark wood unit into one piece. We don't have quite the correct bolts for it unfortunately but we did manage to make it secure which is sufficient until it gets moved downstairs. I then had my weekly jobs first of all emptying the humanure buckets and then taking the ash can outside to spread on the garden. I chose the orchard this week and spent a fair while just taking snaps of things out there before eventually shaking the ash all over the place, including me, but mainly on the mud.

The ridge over the valley pokes just above the fog below

A beautiful day, this is my view as I'm sat now

And so the rest of the day has unfolded with me sat where I am now. At first I was drawing out ideas for the first section of my layout that I am planning, and it is getting much closer to a suitable plan, while A was playing Wii and shouting at the TV. Then I put my drawing board down and picked this laptop up to do the blog which you have been with me doing ever since. Dinner is going to be early today (it is on and cooking and smelling divine already) and then we'll probably get a snooze in before getting up to watch the Super Bowl. Maybe. It's been such a glorious day today and now I'm ready for summer when it'll be warm enough to enjoy the glorious days while outside.

I'm going to sign this off now and I'll see you all on Wednesday.