New paintings and regular art updates.
I wasn’t driving last night so I had a small gin and lots of tonic. But when the drink came it had a sprig of rosemary in it along with the ice. It was delicious, tasty, refreshing. I had the glass topped up with more tonic water. It was very delicious.
I liked the look of the crystal cut glass so took a photo of it. I don’t take many photos of food and drink but I just liked the image. I might play around with it in photodirector.
The last lot of snow fell a few weeks ago, now here is a threat of more. The forecast is for wet weather coming up from the south hitting cold air in the north. Wherever it clashes we will get the snow.
There is also the risk of ice, and possibly heavy sleet and high winds. Oh what fun. I’m staying in and snuggling if I can. We live in a city and don’t get things too bad. But even so we can sometimes get gridlocked as there are a lot of bottlenecks in the road system. It once took me three hours to dive home two miles due to abandoned vehicles.
How do you feel about cold weather?
Britain is a temperate but also a maritime country. It sits in a position where winds come from all directions and can get hot but also quite cold. That variation in weather means the British are always talking about the it!
As the world warms up we are getting less cold weather, but we don’t always have warm temperatures. Some years ago the country was covered in snow for a few weeks. Satellite pictures showed a totally white surface of the country, which was brilliant white with snow and ice.
So how do I feel about the cold? I have not really experienced very cold weather. But I have lived in cold houses. Huddling around a coal fire when I was a student, with not enough money to burn coal! I remember one day chopping up an old chair to keep warm. That was the year a crank on my then boyfriends bike snapped because it was so cold.
On another occasion we went cycle camping one Easter. The weather was fine on our travel to the camp site, then it snowed. We set up camp then found places in the town to keep warm. We sat in a warm pub till closing time, then had to go back. You know its cold when you put on two pairs of trousers and four tops to go to sleep in a sleeping bag inside a tent!
So on the whole I can cope with the cold. I don’t like not being able to heat our house as I get older, but I can put on more jumpers and a coat.
What I hate is too much heat….
The fruit hanging at the bottom of this little tree is a lemon. Hubby bought the plant at the weekend because our lemon tree died a few years ago. This is sitting on top of our cat tree by the radiator so it can get full sun and warmth. Ii would have put it on the window ledge but I think it would be too hot directly above the radiator. I hope that this lemon and another one which is higher up the tree will ripen. If it does we will have it sliced with ice in a cool drink this summer. X
I just found this photo and remembered the morning I sat in my car and saw these spectacular frosty fronds inside the windscreen. I think it was when the heater in the car was broken. It was a few years ago. I don’t think we have had such a cold spell in a few years. Yes it gets cold, but not this cold. It’s due to get cold again this weekend, a few snow showers, maybe some rain.
I remember when I was a child having frosts like this on the inside of our bedroom windows, Jack Frost really did visit in those days. We even had snow in June one year. We had been on the train and when the sky turned orange grey and the snow fell. But that was fifty years ago. Times change.
The snow was heavier a couple of years ago. You can see the streaks of it falling on this photo. I love the quiet hush as it muffles sound.
But the heaviest snow was several years ago. I remember cycling on a tandem from Stoke to Stone (about eight miles). It was a least thirty years ago and me and my hubby had no car yet. We decided to visit some friends. It started to snow but we were warmly dressed so we got on the main road. But the snow came down thick and fast. I remember a friend who was with us decided to turn round and go home. But we continued along a dark country road through Barlaston and on to Stone. By the time we got there it was like being on a snow plough! We were starting to slide and slip because of the ice and catching the snow with our pedals! There was no other traffic and the snow was illuminated in orange patches by the street lamps. We met our friends and left the tandem at their house. I remember going to the pub and sitting in front of a roaring fire. When we came out there was about two foot of deep snow. We stayed overnight at our friend’s after falling off the tandem when we tried to ride off!
The sun is actually shining today. But its freezing cold again. Its about 15°C in here. We had a gas engineer out yesterday because one of our radiators isn’t working. He’s a lovely man and comes round every year to service the boiler, which he also did yesterday. He checked the radiator and its actually seized up in the closed position (we probably shut it off one summer), he didn’t dare try and fix it because of the risk the valve might break and leak. So we are going to have to get a new one. Thankfully that’s included in the yearly maintenance contract.
The poor man was rushed off his feet, he’d been working till 8pm the previous night. He said many people don’t get their central heating system serviced until it breaks down. Then they struggle to find a firm that can fix them. Sometimes it’s just a small problem, but it can stop the system working. I know it costs money, but I think it was worth having it regularly checked.
Sundays #bandofsketchers prompt was Antarctica. As penguins live in Antarctica I decided to draw one swimming in the sea. I did think about drawing them huddled together with chicks but they look so streamlined in the water. As usual a felt pen drawing.
Ice or a plastic star? Just a Christmas decoration…. Its too cold outside to go and take photos, but the frost as sparkling on the pavement earlier this evening. I’d been out to panto rehearsal, and walked across the road to the shops and I had to hold onto a handrail because it was so slippery. There was a report on this evenings TV decrying the poor standard of housing in the UK and the cost for the poorest people to heat their homes. If you want to know its 10% in France and 18% in the UK.
So tonight it’s going to be minus 10°C in places. That’s quite cold for this country.
❄
We hear snow is coming
It’s wet outside
Falling on frozen ground
One large fluffy snowflake
Fluttered past the kitchen window
A fleet footed hexagonal marvel
Precursor to a flurry?
Who knows
White Christmas?
Too soon to know
Flitting across the sky?
Santa’s sleigh gliding through
White whimseys of snow…
Mallaband-Brown