Snowy Sunday

This was the garden scene this morning so no work outside today. The spring bulbs have taken a bashing, just as well I photographed them yesterday.

Seasonal pots

Did I mention that I like to have a selection of cheery seasonal pots at the front door? I should have kept quiet, tonight those on the balcony look like this. The ground was white over when I woke this morning and around 3 inches more snow fell during the day. Fortunately the roads have been kept clear and the forecast is for better weather tomorrow. Just when you think spring has arrived.

Blue sky thinking*

It was a fabulous day today, cold but bright. I should have taken my camera to work as during my lunchtime walk I saw some uplifting images of bare silver birch trees silhoutted against a clear azure sky. I am fortunate to work in a smart residential part of Edinburgh, convenient for a local library and with many beautiful gardens for me to admire whilst I stroll. I mark the progress of my own garden against those in the town and I am certainly a good week behind. Hopefully I'll have something to report by the weekend, especially if we get more sunshine.

As I didn't have my camera I offer a window of blue that I snapped at the Getty Centre in Malibu last year, same sensation of sky and texture as I enjoyed today but with heat.

* an irritating bit of mangement speak that apparently means brainstorming, a creative technique designed to generate ideas

Blackout

What a week its turning out to be. I was feeling much more relaxed driving home last night as the predicted snow turned to rain, even thinking to myself that rain can be a good thing. It was extremely windy when we went to bed, the lights flicked on and off a few times. I woke around 2, checked the time on the radio alarm and listened to the wind gusting away. Shortly after that the glow from the alarm was extinguished and the room plunged into total blackness, a power cut. The power was still off at 4 am when Mr FF set his watch alarm by candlelight so that I didn't sleep in.
Having imagined it would be wonderful to live a gentile life in the times of Cranford or Sense and Sensibility, I've changed my mind. Our village doesn't have gas so everything we do is electrically powered though we have a multifuel stove that we keep running all night at this time of year so we did have some heat. Getting up and dressed for work (I abandoned the idea of shower and hair wash) was difficult and to add to the stress the new and rather large sofa that we had ordered in the sales arrived at approximately 7.45 am. The delivery men didn't seem best pleased as they struggled up the front steps even though I'd lit a few candles!
No wonder those Jane Austin girls just sat at home waiting for a beau to appear, I had wondered why they didn't go out and find work when they fell on hard times. I know now, its far too difficult to get yourself up and looking respectable by candlelight. I was glad to get into the office for a coffee and to slick down my spiky hair.
The power eventually came back on early afternoon, not that I'm complaining, over 10,000 houses in Scotland were without electricity today and many still are.

Gridlock Day

Despite my best efforts I didn't get into work today. There was snow overnight and whilst the local roads were fairly clear after about 8 miles of driving they were rutted and icy with packed snow. I heard on the local radio that the road I use was blocked by lorries unable to negotiate the descent towards Edinburgh so I turned off on an alternative route. So did everyone else, I was queued from about 10 miles out of town and the only time the traffic moved was when someone turned round and went back. When I spoke to my office I heard that Edinburgh was no better with journeys of a few miles taking more than an hour and that others from my direction had given up and gone home. When I could find a place to turn round I did so, 2.5 hours after leaving home and having made precious little progress. The road was no better on the way back, in fact worse as there had been less traffic on it. No sign of a gritter or snow plough until I got back to our tiny village, which can't have more than a hundred houses, to find the local authority busy gritting the footpaths. I should be into work tomorrow because the snow isn't forecast to fall until later in the day, just right for the journey home. Give me strength (or take me back to Palm Springs I don't mind which).

Winter Weather

There was snow on the ground when I left home yesterday morning and showers on and off throughout the day. I left work early to get home before dark and had an interesting journey that took me twice as long as normal to travel 22 miles. The streets of Edinburgh were icy and once out of the city the roads were snowy. I managed to slither my way up the untreated back lane to our house, down into our road and got stuck at the bottom of our drive. Mr FF kindly shovelled the drive and got the car up and safely into the garage. I did mention to him that when the car starts to slide a warning light appears on the display panel, he said he's never seen it before which could be taken as a reflection on my driving!

We woke this morning to still more snow and a few showers are forecast before the temperature warms up tomorrow. I've only ventured out to top up the bird feeders, its far too wintery for a flipflop wearer like me.

Weather Report

I can't believe how cold it has been this week. Every evening after dinner we have lit the stove in our little tv room and Cleo has languished in front of it until she gets overheated. On Tuesday morning there was a layer of ice on the bird bath and plants in the herbaceous border were dusted with white frost. Its still September, I haven't finished with summer yet, I'm not ready to hang up my flip flops.