Thursday 17 January 2013

A Black and White World ...



I opened the bedroom curtains a little and peered outside - still dark.  I went downstairs and pulled on my thick padded wax jacket and slipped my feet into my walking boots.  Gingerly I made my way down the garden path to start the car up to de-frost, crunching and crackling as I carefully stepped, frightened of slipping on the icey path.  The car door was hard to open, it had frozen and was stuck.  Whilst the car was warming up and the ice clearing from the windows I went back into the garden to feed the birds who were waiting in the trees and on the path.  Poor little things must have a cold night of it, shivering and huddling together for warmth.  After filling the bird feeders, putting down apples, crushing fat balls and spreading them on the grass, I sprinkled seed on the path for the ground feeders.  Hardly had I finished when about twenty birds came down and started pecking at the seed.  The water in the bird bath has been frozen solid for two days, but  the pump  is kept going in the pond and they come down to drink where there is no ice.



I drove slowly up to the plot to feed my sheep, even though the roads had been gritted there was black ice and freezing fog.  The whole world seemed be like a black and white movie, no colour anywhere.  The sheep were in their shed where they had spent the night on a thick layer of straw with plenty of hay to eat.  I had to climb over the gate as the padlock was frozen and they waited patiently whilst I tried to undo the shed door without removing my gloves, my fingers were already numb.  I gave them some sheep mix to eat and replenished their hay, putting one or two piles outdoors for them as well.


I had brought my camera with me to try and capture the frosted hedgerows and trees, but it seems the camera got confused by the black and white world and on checking the pictures when I returned home they all had a blue tint to them.  The temperature seemed to stay the same all day, and the snow still lays on the ground, the sun never broke through and the day never got brighter.



 Winter has definitely arrived.

32 comments:

  1. I remember coming back from a visit with friends in some snowy place. My mom asked me why I took all these photos in black and white. I hadn't ;-)

    I like the bluish tint of your frigid looking photos. They and your descriptions really tell the story of BRRRRRRRRRR.

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    1. Yes I agree the bluey tint does seem to enhance the coldness of the pictures.

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  2. It really is cold everywhere right now, some places outside London had minus 10 last night. Minus 10!! Fortunately it's not that cold in inner London but minus 3-4 is more than cold enough.

    Loved your photos and the story, I can't wait for spring to return :-)

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    1. Luckily I have plenty of thick winter sweaters stored away for just such occasions as these.

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  3. I didn't know that you have sheep. My husband wants sheep. Looks pretty frozen where you are at. We have a bit of a warming trend going on here. It has been pretty cold--well, really cold. Good to feed the birds. Little guys need the extra help, don't they? Stay warm.

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    1. It has all come as a bit of a shock Ann after a couple of weeks of milder weather - but it is January so it should be the weather we expect at this time of year.

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  4. Your photos capture the freezing temperatures really well! Having animals is not much fun in this cold. I used to hate going out first thing in the morning to break the ice on the hen's water.

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    1. I know what you mean - this morning it took me ages to break the 2 inches of ice of the water buckets.

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  5. Your weather is like ours, yesterday was better but also colder. I had the same problem with my camera Monday when it was snowing, a lot of blue photos. I wondered if I had done something wrong with the camera, but it will have been the cold or darkness I suppose.

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    1. Oh I'm glad someone else has had problems I thought my camera was telling me it was broken.

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  6. Brr, think we may have similar scenes to greet us tomorrow.

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    1. We haven't had any more snow since the first fall but what did fall shows no sign of disappearing yet.

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  7. What beautiful pictures, I think the blue tint makes them all the prettier!
    The birds must be loving you, it is such a hard time for them and people often forget to break the ice on the water.
    Well, I'm sitting indoors freezing here and waiting for our snow, and when I read of you de-frosting the car, clambering over fences, crunching down paths etc I got steadily colder!!! I do love your sheep, I would love to have a few....so VERY jealous!!!xxxxx

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    1. It is actually getting worse as we speak - it might look nice - but it does make life difficult.

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  8. Looks nice but I'd rather not have any, especially here in London when it always causes such chaos.
    If the forecast is right it could be like that here tomorrow onwards. If it is I shall venture to the plot for some photos. Flighty xx

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    1. It has been snowing all afternoon and there are still the odd flakes coming down - I am dreading waking up to a few inches - it really does make life impossible.

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  9. Oh dear it does sound bad there. Hard to imagine in our summer.

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    1. It is pretty bad Heather - I understand you are in the middle of a heatwave - I find that hard to imagine too.

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  10. So chilly.... I do hope you haven't woken up to any more overnight, though. And you've remeinded me to go and find my boots and feed my birds. Preferably without feeding next door's cat too.

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    1. Since we no longer have any neighbourhood cats we have seen many more ground feeding birds than ever before, which is great.

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  11. What a chilly post - I was tensing along with you as you trudged down to the car. Glad I don't have sheep to care for, it always sounds so appealing, until you think about having to go come rain, shine, snow...

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    1. You're right there Janet - this weather isn't very pleasant for the sheep either - the worst job is trying to break the ice on the water every morning.

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  12. Mercy! Winter is rough on man and beast! I've always wanted goats but your morning trek makes me feel a little less envious of those who keep farm animals!

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    1. It is starting to get a bit scarey now - it hasn't stopped snowing all day - not so much as a winter wonderland, more of a winter nightmare.

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  13. Winter is certainly so pretty to look at through your photographs though I wouldn't fancy having to look after livestock at this time of year.

    I can't wait for natural light to appear again in the evenings.

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    1. This winter seems never ending - roll on spring.

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  14. You've described a cold day so well. My sheep are also looking very sorry for themselves at the moment and the wild birds are seizing their food as soon as I put it down for them. Just hope this snow and ice melts soon.

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    1. The weather has got even worse since this post - it hasn't stopped snowing all day - it will certainly take a lot of effort in the morning to go and check on the sheep. And as for the birds, they are eating me out of house and home, poor things.

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  15. Some great photos, hope you haven't had too much more, we had loads last night in Huddersfield, lovely to look at but difficult if you need to get out and about. Your sheep need you. Think the thaw is coming at the weekend!

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    1. It didn't snow yesterday and is thawing slightly - it certainly makes life a bit more difficult.

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  16. Send some of that snow my way please!!! Love the blog :)

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    1. Thanks - you're welcome to any amount of snow - I'll be glad to get rid of it.

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