Our bedroom is on the west side of our house and we have blackout curtains so we never quite know what mornings will be like until those curtains are pulled back. Some days the sun is shining and concealed birds are all a twitter. On other days, droplets of water cascade from the sky or - as we exclaim in Yorkshire - "Bugger! It's pissing it down" which is surely more evocative than merely noting the presence of rain.
And this was this morning's view on December 11th - our first snow of the winter. No more than two or three inches. We thought it might hang around all day and freeze over tonight but the temperature rose above zero and by the middle of the afternoon the roads and pavements (American: sidewalks) were more or less clear.
You can see our sheep - Beau and Peep still grazing in the snow. Beau has been with us since October 2011 but Peep arrived at Christmastime that same year. The curtains are pulled back and there they are - as faithful as the rising sun.
Ooh, freezio!
ReplyDeleteFree Zio? Is he the President of El Salvador?
DeleteI love Beau and Peep! So happy that they have their winter coats on for this snow. Is this early in the season for snow in Yorkshire? We are expecting some tomorrow but it is not coming to us by way of England but by way of California!
ReplyDeleteIf it is coming from California it will probably be rainbow-coloured.
DeleteDo I see a little car that might belong to Phoebe back there too? Hope it has snow tires.
ReplyDeleteWell spotted Mary! To tell you the truth she never showed much interest in it over the summer.
DeleteThese short dark days were feared by our ancestors.
ReplyDeleteSnow was dreaded. Bronchitis, hunger, children with whooping cough.
*Sonnet 97 - How like a winter hath my absence been by William Shakespeare.*
Read by Tom O'Bedlam. YouTube.
Christina Rossetti wrote In the Bleak Midwinter in a dreary rooming house in London.
Thomas Hardy wrote The Darkling Thrush on the last day of 1900.
Sylvia Plath composed Waking in Winter shortly before her death, in one of the coldest winters in English history.
Let us outlive that shower of miserable so-and-so's who govern us in Westminster !
When the revolution finally comes, Lady Mone will get the Joan of Arc treatment. I have heard of people feathering their own nests but that is ridiculous!
DeleteSnow always looks so nice when it first arrives. We had snow last night as well, but just a sprinkle. Mostly it's just cold here.
ReplyDeleteI just checked on BBC Weather... Not too cold in Edmonton this week but significantly colder next week.
DeleteThe snow may have not lasted but gosh it looks pretty.
ReplyDeleteFreshly fallen snow is indeed pretty.
DeleteWith sheep like those, you have no need of a shepherd or a border collie. You don't have to worry about them following a child to school one day either. The perfect animal.
ReplyDeleteThey are indeed very obedient and quiet as church mice.
DeleteI always find snow so peaceful and beautiful, especially when seen in a photo or through the window of a nice warm house!
ReplyDeleteYou have enough snow to brag about. I hope you made a snow man and a few snow angels and played fox and geese.
ReplyDeleteI made a SnowKeith but he was half melted away by teatime.
DeleteBeau and Peep! That's adorable. We say it's pissing down too when it's raining hard enough that we can't see through it. Snow is pretty to look at, but I wouldn't want to have to live with it.
ReplyDeleteI have known many winters when snow never came. I call them green winters.
DeleteGreat view, made better by sheep.
ReplyDeleteMy sheep have brought joy, many comments and an ocular focus.
DeleteThat snow arrived in our parts a day later. It felt very fitting to see the snow fall from inside my well insulated and heated flat on that morning of the 3rd Advent Sunday.
ReplyDeleteThe first snowfall of the season always has a bit of magic to it, I find; I remember how I loved snow as a kid and how most of our winters had enough snow to go sledging on the fields and ice-skating on the lake.
Now, I think more of the practical aspects and the impact on public transport, and how sadly it all turns into grey-brown slush under the endless stream of cars on the roads.
Little Phoebe jumped for joy in the first snow that she has been conscious of. To use your word - "magic".
DeleteSnow makes such perfect pictures. The rounded shapes of the bushes, and the hint that maybe there will be no school or work for the day.
ReplyDeleteI love the way that heavy snow deadens all sounds... but of course what we had yesterday wasn't very heavy at all.
DeleteWe have had about 3 inches of snow over night here in Herts. It has scuppered my plans ( involving driving) for the day. Temps not supposed to get over freezing so not much will change.
ReplyDeleteI doubt that you southern softies will survive.
DeleteIt all looks very pretty YP, but much nicer to view from indoors. It's all the layers you need to dress in that make going out something of a chore.
ReplyDeleteLayers? I just wear my tiger skin thong and a pair of wellies, bellowing like Tarzan as I swing along.
DeleteDuh! some people will do anything to get their picture in the papers!
DeleteI bought a bucket of salt for the paths yesterday. No snow but lots of dangerous rural roads.
ReplyDeleteSalt? Why not pepper and vinegar too?
DeleteYesterday we had the most snow that I've seen for years here in Hertfordshire. It looks magical but has caused havoc on the roads ! Bo and Peep look brilliant and, your hedges look so beautifully clipped !!! XXXX
ReplyDeleteThanks for leaving this pleasant comment Jacqueline. When they ask you what you want for Christmas say, "I would like a sheep just like Beau".
DeleteWe had a similar event about two weeks ago and then none since which is fine by me. I don't know about England, but here they judge our snow future by water currents off our west coast. The scientists reading those tea leaves say we are in for a warmer and thus snowier winter. I hope they are wrong about the latter part.
ReplyDeleteSheffield is a very hilly city so when snow comes there's a lot of skidding and slipping. The main scientific method employed by weather experts is the flipping of a coin.
DeleteHow beautiful! Send some snow westward, please!
ReplyDeleteSome people see the beauty in snow while others see the inconvenience.
DeleteBeau and Peep, very clever! We've already had our first snow and I'm done with it for the winter. I doubt that it's finished with us though. :(
ReplyDeleteOur snow came a bit later than yours, but now we've had some too -- on the blog tomorrow!
ReplyDelete