........with reference to the previous post

..............sorry John..............

A Sweet Outbreak

When the weathers all snow and ice and the best place is with your feet up by the roaring log fire.

What better to time to break into that box with the glamorous gold packing.

....the penultimate box of Sweet Georgia Browns...

.....That elegant box of salty sweet confections.......

That scrumptious soft chewy toffee with those oh ever so slightly salted pecans, topped with a generous globule of shiny brown chocolate. A sweetmeat to nibble on, slowly, to savour that salty sweet taste melting in your mouth.

.......Only one box left, oh no............

What will Poor Robin Do Then, Poor Thing.

Yesterday morning I gingerly poked my head out of the back door. It was fresh and frosty, but no icy wind to contend with. No snow for us. The rest of the country was suffering. But here, the birds were twittering away with their pre spring dawn chorus.

This morning at the same time. What a difference. There was an eerie silence. Not a bird in sight or a bird song to be heard. A 6inch thick pall of wet snow covered the ground. Clogging up the bushed and trees. Gradually, they came, searching in the snow for food. The robin, blackbirds, starlings, sparrow, tits, finches, magpies and doves. In the trees the little gold finches pecked away at the seed feeders as did the blue tits. The poor ground feeding birds were suffering so I donned waterproof shoes, coat, hat, gloves and bravely shoveled a path through the snow to put their food out where they would normally look for it.

Take some melted fat preferable suet

add bird seed, oats, seed, nuts and dried fruits.

Mix well and allow to set.

Winter ambrosia for birds.

So please, feed the birds when our weathers icy and snow covered or we wont have their wonderful songs to listen to and their antics to entertain us

An Almost Canadian Day!

We woke this morning to a day of potential chaos. Two decades of drivers out there with no experience of driving in these conditions. Who would want to be driving today. Not a day for Seniors to add to the chaos either so sadly we cancel our lunch appointment.

It was definitely a morning for this.

and this.

Actually we love stomach lining, gloopy, porridge running with sweet maple syrup.

Hats, scarves and gloves are essential this morning .

Well sitting by the fire knitting them are!

A 'white out'? well almost. Six inches of the white stuff dumped on us overnight. The most snow we've had since the mid 1980's. But still not as much as I experienced over the last two months in Canada. It's a different snow as well. Over there it was dry and powdery, here it's heavy and wet and quickly turns to slush.

A winter wonderland?

Definitely for the kids!

Just about every school in Cambridgeshire closed. Over 1400 schools. The radio news readers were having trouble keeping up with reading out the closures.
Our schools didn't close when we were kids in the 1950's. We also had much more snow then and more often. We walked to school, in wellie boots with our gym plimsolls to change into. We were expected to get there and teachers were expected to turn up. We made slides in the playground and had snowball fights. In general we had FUN even if we got wet gloves and frozen fingers.

Do you like my very own skating rink.

Hope the poor fish are OK under that lot.

The car had to be dug out.

Before 'Nearly Canadian Dave' could get to work.

My poor sweet smelling, winter flowering Viburnum bush has suffered badly. I'll have to wait and see what other plants have suffered.

A Cold Lazy Saturday

I had a much better sleep last night and have felt more refreshed today. I think I'm finally beating the jet lag at last. I haven't ventured out today though except for a brief dash out into the garden, It's dry sunny and very cold outside with a harsh Artic wind. The sunrise this morning from my bedroom window was a n unbelievable brilliant red, not a good omen though if you believe the 'Old Wives Tales'

We're told to expect snow next week by the Met men. Since we had so much snow while we were in Canada I fully expect we'll have more dumped on us again. The early spring flowers below are defying the cold weather. They certainly cheer me up when I look out into the rather bleak garden. Well the flowers and the birds. The little robins been foraging for food around the garden. I see little flashes of his orange/red breast darting in and out of the bushes and I hear his loud, solo song during the night on my trek to the bathroom.

My lovely double snowdrops and wild self seeded primroses.

I decided today I should sort out my yarn stash. Pants (Nancylee) had packed it in a vacuum bag to make the pile smaller in my luggage.I tipped it all out onto the spare bed and added the stash I'd already accumulated. What a pile! It took a while to sort and packed it into ziplock bags to protect it. Now I need to make room for it in my office as it takes up three draws in the guest room. We've had a log fire today to insulate us from the creeping cold and save on gas of course. The resident 'log splitter' braved the chilly weather this afternoon and split another pile of logs ready to burn. You can't beat a log fire for warmth and ambience. Just a pity about the mess it can make.

Nearly Canadian Dave, the wood cutter!

The Jet Lag Continues

When I said yesterday that the jet lag was subsiding. I lied. Last night I managed just a measly three hours sleep. I did want to go swimming this morning but decided to go home after dropping Dave at work. I thought I could read and nap but I went the whole hog and went back to bed. And slept for another three hours. It's got me through the rest of the day though.

Unpacking two months worth of 'stuff' from suitcases takes a little time. The cases are now stowed away in the attic once more. The big problem that's troubling me now is finding room for all those new acquisition's (read clothes!) It's rather like stuffing a quart into a pint pot. They wont go. We need a radical rethink of wardrobe/draw space. I had a drastic turnout to charity shops a few months ago so that's not an option. We should have listened to me before we went to the 'shop till you drop' capital. I said we shouldn't buy more new clothes! Why didn't we listen? I still think the small bedroom should become a walk in wardrobe. Sorry G but you haven't been to stay with us for absolutely ages now and if you did you'd have to sleep in the 'big peoples' room. You don't mind. Good. Now what do I do with a spare bed? Oh I cant think this out now. I'm off to bed.
Goodnight.

The Jet lag is beginning to subside and I've not been quite so tired today. Got to get back into the thick of it tomorrow so I must set my alarm clock tonight as my bio clocks still not quite on British time yet!

We had the roofers in today so hopefully no more rain leaks now in our bedroom. Apparently there's a probability it had been leaking for a long time and maybe even since the house was built as the leak was due to some shoddy building. The felt on the roof where the window apex joins the roof was not wide enough. Or something like that!

We've been out furniture hunting today as we both need new comfortable chairs and a renovation in the lounge. I can't tell you how many chairs we tried out, but we eventually made a preliminary decision. The purchase will be delayed until I have the kitchen renovation well in hand. I think project managing that will be quite a challenge. The 'other half 'has fancy ideas and we only have a limited budget. Should be fun though. Mmmm........... or will it!

Haven't had the camera out today but was looking through the album. Thought you might like this one from ..............oh so long ago...............too long. But maybe I wasn't such a bad looking bird then. What was that about age and withering.........

Oh and I found this piece in the International News...............................

+Seven diners in northern Japan fell ill after eating blowfish testicles prepared in a restaurant not authorised to serve the poisonous delicacy.

The owner of the restaurant in Tsuruoka city, who is also the chef, had no license to serve blowfish and was being questioned on suspicion of professional negligence, police official Yoshihito Iwase said.

Blowfish, while extremely poisonous if not prepared properly, is considered a delicacy in Japan and is consumed by thrill-seeking gourmets.

I cant say I liked sushi when I tried it................... I like the idea even less now, Ive eaten Sharks fin, birds nest soup squid, Chickens feet, and all sorts of other dubious food considered delicacy but ............Poisonous blowfish testicles Uggg.. No way man!