05-14-04

Well it's a cold Spring here, I can't believe the year has almost half gone, and not been able to get anything growing outside yet !  I would love a polytunnel (do you call them hoop-houses ?) but my landlord won't allow it, so I have pots of small veggie plants all around the house right now, on every windowsill and available space !  I'm growing, kale, tomatos, spinach, beetroot, courgettes, pumpkins, lettuce and peppers, oh and plenty of beans for the freezer.   Outside in pots, I have strawberries, raspberries, black, white and redcurrants, I have even grown potatos in pots as I can't dig out any veggie beds.

03-03-04

If you want to know about the weather here, it's freezing !!  it's been minus 2 degrees for a couple of nights now, but not so cold as it is for my son who is in Belarus, Russia at the moment where it's been minus 18 degrees !! 

 

It is quite mild in the daytime, so my goats have been out, Angel, the one who thinks he's a dog !  is turning out to be quite naughty !  he climbs or leaps over everything just to follow me around,  I can't let him do it though in case he eats something poisonous here, and in case he 'gets to' the lady goats !!  wouldn't it be just awful if I were to have baby goats here, I don't know how I would cope (he he he)

The weather last night was awful.  Such strong winds, I thought my roof was coming off, it sounded like the roar of an earthquake, and the rain, was thundering down.  I was so worried for my animals.

 

But this morning it was so quiet and calm and peaceful and mild, uncanny really, just as if everything had blown itself out.

 

Many New Year celebrations were cancelled last night because of it, now that is unheard of here, even up in Scotland, where New Year is much more popular than Christmas, parties and fireworks had to be cancelled due to the bad weather for the sake of public safety.

We've had a couple of mild days here, but now the fog and frost have returned, it's always damp and cold, lots of mud ! it's good to get back indoors and dream of better things to come!  We've been promised snow for Christmas !  That will mean lots of pictures before it disappears again.

 

12-08-03

It's minus 4 here this morning, the frost is back !!  everywhere is white.  A little snow has been forecast, but we never get much of that here anymore.  We tend to have some heavy falls in the daytime, then it clears up overnight.  Sometimes it lasts a couple of days.  I've managed to get some garden cleaning done whilst it's been mild.

 

12-06-03

It's been very mild and quite warm here for a couple of days now, no rain ! but it's on its way back I'm afraid.  The sun has been shining so goats have been allowed out into the paddock for a while again.

 

12-01-03

Rain, rain, and more rain, !!  not cold, but WET !!  the tracks and entrances to the fields and paddocks are turning into a quagmire, I'm slipping  about all over the place.  Huge puddles appearing everywhere, the ducks love it.  Jeannie

 

11-22-03

We're experiencing our first fog now in good old U.K. !! and its a real bad one here, a pea-souper we call it.  Usually the fogs don't last long but today's has hung on, I can see about 15 feet right now, definitely not good for driving !!  but I've got to got out soon, the animals need feed.  There's something calming and scary at the same time about fog, it muffles all sounds, animals, traffic etc., it's like 'walking in a dream', with huge strange shapes looming out at you (trees!).

 

11-18-03

We've had gale force winds and horizontal rain these past few days !  I've not been able to stand up at some times the wind is so strong, rather unpleasant especially when having to be outdoors attending to all the animal chores.  All the animals (critters!) know the best place to be is in their shelters ! 

 

 There are no leaves left on the trees now, so it's all looking pretty bare and bleak.

11-15-03

We have had our first frost in this part of England !!  I woke up to find everything 'whiteover' and beautiful.  The trees, fields and plants take on a different look when covered in frost.  It's a cleansing thing, everything looks clean, fresh and Christmasy.  I love the way the leaves crunch under your feet when you walk on them, spiders webs turn into strings of diamonds - and they're free !!

 

The animals stay in until it's passed, not long, then we're rewarded with bright autumn sunshine, to melt the frost and dry the grass in the paddock ready for my 'family' of four legged friends to enjoy.

 

cold, but we still get warm afternoons to catch up on gardening jobs for the winter.

 

 11-11-03

It's cold in England !!

 

The leaves are falling so fast it's like a colourful snow storm.  Most people rush around to sweep them up, but I leave them, I'm not lazy, but nature usually takes care of things, the winds get so strong they get blown away, and the rest provide winter quarters for all sorts of creatures and insects, so why deprive them of their home.

 

The remaining apples and pears from the orchard have been blown down, and have been fed to the goats/rabbits etc.

 

It's beginning to look very bare with summer seemingly a distant memory, but this time of year brings its own beauty, and a calmness as things have stopped growing and settle down for their winter 'rest'.

 

10-18-03

The weather is just beginning to get colder with Autumn coming on, it's particularly lovely to see the gorgeous colours of the leaves at the moment and restful and melancholy time I always feel.

 

Crisp, cold mornings followed by warm, sunny afternoons are the order of the day at the moment, dryer than usual, so I'm still out with the hosepipe to keep the plants watered.