The central heating has been turned on, silly hats, scarves, and gloves, are being worn, and those trusty thermal vests have emerged from their hibernation. Yup, Winter is definitely with us.
With temperatures around -4 C forecast for the rest of this week, we are hunkering down and concentrating on keeping warm. Hot cockle-warming soups for lunch. A toasted crumpet or mince pie with our afternoon cup of Lapsang. And Lady M has even placed the electric blanket under the bed. We are suddenly warmer than we need to be, but we're not complaining.
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As Alexander Pope assured us 'Hope springs eternal in the human breast', and here is a photo that I took yesterday morning of Daffs in the Churchyard. I think the plants have more foolish aspirations than are warranted, but it's lovely to see them even if it is a tad rash on their behalf!
It looks as if we even have a light (-2 C) frost this morning. I shall go prepared.
-4 does seem cold. Is that usual or Climate change.
ReplyDeleteIt certainly wasn't like this last year, and we were hoping for another mild winter. However, it's been quite miserable ever since we got back. I'm just about to take Billy for his morning walk.... it looks cold out there!
DeleteHusband played golf yesterday. He dressed in his thermals. They looked like Granddad's combinations. So sexy!
ReplyDeleteI'm just back from my early dog walk. There are lots of people about with silly hats and gloves, and even their dogs are made to look ridiculous; I spare Billy the humiliation.
DeleteMy friend gave me a thick woollen bobble hat for my birthday. I'm wondering if it will get cold enough to wear it. Probably, early days yet.
ReplyDeleteYou are having a serious freeze!
My dear wife has a very very silly red bobble hat with a big white bobble. She has now replaced it with an all white non-bobble hat. I think she must have seen her reflection in a shop window.
DeleteWinter is on the way,
ReplyDeleteIt certainly is here, although we now have beautiful sunshine.
DeleteWinter is here Cro.... I prefer bare feet all year round.... but, I am wearing socks today!
ReplyDeleteOne of our chickens came to the coop door, looked out, looked left and right.... stuck her neck out further and looked up..... and retreated back inside.
She's sitting in her nest box full of hay!!
I am tempted to do the same.....
I too am a bare-foot person, but like you I am now wearing some mini-socks. Billy didn't mind the cold this morning, but he does have a nice warm fur coat.
DeleteAlso, concurrent with your daffs, we have flowers here [Cosmos sulpureus - the yellow ones] that are in full bloom! Two months late...
DeleteFortunately they are in tubs, so they now grace the sejour with over 100 yellow/light orange flowers... yes, I wheeled the tubs indoors!!
Too good to let the freeze kill them.
I'll forget a Christmas tree this year... put the lights around the base of the tubs instead!
I would call this fairly typical winter weather in the UK. Last winter was one of the milder ones. The frosts are overnight to about -3 here and day time we get above freezing to about +3 to 5C. It is an Arctic snap. Nothing particularly unusual and won't last very long.
ReplyDeleteI didn't actually feel too cold this morning. It's mostly a matter of how one dresses.
DeleteI am just back from an early hospital appointment. It was a little slippery out there.
ReplyDeleteJust a hint of frost on the grass this morning, but bright and sunny now.
DeleteIt's where your Brighton dwelling being "bijou" comes in handy. Being small it'll be warmer (don't hold me to my self spun laws of physics).
ReplyDeleteOn a less happy note: The papers are full of the woe of those who crack under the pressure of energy prices rising. I can't imagine what it's like to freeze in your own abode. It seems depressing beyond words. Not to forget the health implications.
As to Lady M's electric blanket: Back in the Eighties my dear sweet mother-in-law employed those. Anything electric viewed by me with deep suspicion. Never mind sleeping on one. Now I luxuriate in my goose down duvet (yes, down, not feather - fit for the king's daughter on a pea). It is so warm yet as light as, well, gooses' down. Incredible. So there is one to put on your wish list should Kimbo run out of ideas what to give his mother and father for Christmas.
Other than that make sure you sit down when you open your next electricity bill. Which reminds me: Why is it that in England combined energy (gas and electricity) has been and still is cheaper than when using electricity only? I feel positively punished. Maybe Rachel knows the answer.
Brrr, indeed, though, as you say, sun is shining, and that's great,
U
Gas is quite simply cheaper to produce than electricity so has a lower tariff per kw than electricity.
DeleteIt is a tad on the cool side. I feel stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea. Shall I freeze to death or shut the windows and die from Covid?
ReplyDeleteThings can be bleak in Auchtermuchty. (Is that how you spell it?)
DeleteWe had a deep frost overnight, but this morning dawned bright and sunny with not a cloud in sight. Everywhere looks beautiful, shimmering spider webs on the trees, 'diamond encrusted' lawns, warm house and hot, fresh coffee, perfect!
ReplyDeleteOh, and I have the obligatory silly hat ready to wear when I go out later! X
Yes, that silly hat is obligatory in the depths of Winter. I have several.
DeleteI've just been out with Rick for his afternoon walk (I wore my silly bobble hat and thermal gloves). It was blinkin' freezing, even with the sun out. Brrr indeed.
ReplyDeleteBest to stay indoors by the fire.
DeleteSend some of your cold to Massachusetts. It is blooming 50 degrees F. It feels like Spring and not Winter. I want snow. Snow for Christmas would be great.
ReplyDeleteSusan, I cannot stand snow. It's wet, cold, and stays around for ages. No snow for me!
DeleteCold indeed but beautiful sun by day, glorious moon by night, blankets piled high I am snug as a bug in a rug
ReplyDeleteThat sounds exactly like here.
DeleteAdrian
ReplyDeleteDo both or either
Why use soup to warm your cockle? Try a knitted willie warmer instead. Can Lady Magnon do it? If not make a polite request of Briony - also in Brighton. She will need to measure up before she proceeds.
ReplyDeleteThat is the best part of winter: soup weather! I feel as if someone should go pop a jar over that flower: a little greenhouse to protect it from frost.
ReplyDeleteI noticed more up yesterday afternoon.
DeleteI love the idea of all the cosiness, but not the cold that necessitates such things.
ReplyDelete