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.