A world of ice plants

Winter has well and truly landed. Not only have we been scraping thick ice off the cars each day this week, but the air has actually started to dry as the water in it freezes. This sounds like an oxymoron but it is actually true.

We regularly measure the levels of moisture in the house and in this weather they actually fall to a low level.

But isn’t it fantastic to experience?

Ok – I will grant you, struggling into work in the cold is a challenge, but to stand outside in the dark late at night, with the lights off and gaze up at the stars that now seem like they have come closer to earth than ever is another seasonal moment to remember.

If you live in the city, I suspect it is hard to get away from light pollution and you may not have appreciated just how clear it has been, but out in the countryside where we are, the sky has been clearer than ever. It is definitely a “Glad to be Alive” moment.

I am not much of a star gazer normally but the true intensity of the twinkling lights at the moment makes you feel very small in this galaxy of stars. I wish that I was able to photograph this for this blog, but a small point and snap camera doesn’t appreciate the enormity of the night sky.

Move over I'm cold!

As you would expect the two cats have rather turned their noses up at the winter wonderland outside. My regular 4am – 5am call to arms has disappeared and been replaced with an early morning cuddle. As the night begins to fade and the house has no trace of last night’s heat the need to warm up takes hold of them and they seek a warm spot beside me.

Having spent the whole of the previous day moping around and asking for food to relieve the boredom, they now feel the need to sleep for England. The daily routine goes out of the window and they can still be asleep at lunch-time or later if it is really cold.

Their coats are now beautiful, although the previously bald belly of one of them still has yet to fill out completely. This leaves him rather exposed if he lingers anywhere chilly. But with the radiators on longer than normal, they spend a good amount sitting on one or other of them soaking up the heat. There is no stranger sight than two paws pulling the bathroom door open, 4 feet off the ground, as the cat uses his radiator station point as leverage.

Food sources dry up in the big freeze

Looking out over the frozen ground got me thinking about all the little garden creatures that hibernate and how tough they must be to survive this kind of weather.

Our biting insects now die off having buried their eggs under the ground. But most wildlife doesn’t have this lifecycle and depends on hibernation as their means of living through winter. With the plentiful supply of water last week followed by the deep cold of this week, the choice of location for their burrow is critical if they want to survive.

Hedgehogs are becoming increasingly rare in gardens and are one of the worst selectors of a cosy home. They will often bed down in leaf mounds or bonfire piles and can easily be torched as part of an autumn spectacle.  

We don’t have a hedgehog, much to our annoyance, but if you see them in the garden during summer, be careful what you do during the winter.

All amphibians hibernate and slink off to find a cosy corner undisturbed. We have a set of greenhouse amphibians who spend their lives hiding amongst the flowers and plants. They seem to like the dry conditions which is a surprise as one always imagines amphibians being water creatures. As much as we encourage them outside they always return. Considering the door is rarely open, they must have found a sneaky entrance somewhere to get in.

Bats need a consistent relatively warm temperature to hibernate in. Although we can have lots of bats in the summer, the winter temperatures in our roof will vary hugely and the bulk of them always disappear at the end of the summer to find a better site.

What lies beneath

Before the current cold snap and with the huge number of leaves still resident on our lawn, our leaf coloured cat has discovered that he can become invisible by lying amongst them. He is very clever, because there is one particular bunch that are cat coloured and he can snuggle right in. If this was a jungle creature we would marvel at it, but today I am just whistling at him and trying to alert the birds to his presence.

The leaf pile has now reached a size that things can hide in it. See what I found when I was loading it up this week.

Icicles don't stop the pheasants

Our resident pheasants are still about. The bird seed that we provide to keep the birds going forms a staple diet for them during the harsher weather.

The badgers do not hibernate but become less active and don’t hoover up the spare seed like they do in the summer. The harder ground prevents the worms coming up and the badgers will typically bulk up in autumn to ride out the less plentiful times during winter by sleeping in and cuddling up.

Therefore, there is more for the pheasants to eat each day. The sanctity of our garden is a welcome respite from the hunters that surround us.

Frosty colours

Looking back in the archives at some of the adverts I came across this one from last year. Being that it has a cat theme and he looks a bit like one of ours I have included it here for your entertainment. Our cat is equally naughty and will quite likely repeat this story in the future.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuRn2S7iPNU

I am also a technologist and I couldn’t help but marvel at the faces of the people in the advert below using the latest in photographic technology.

The amazing array of digital devices that we have today that can all take photographs belies the feeling towards this product that was once felt.

Also, stay on past this advert to see the latest in refined drinking that has a link to our region.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkMFUTANQf4

Twinkling flowers

I’ve included a few pictures from our wintery garden this week amongst the blog. I couldn’t resist photographing the garden in all of its majesty.

The picture round features a city location. We ventured out this week to explore this city further. It is somewhere in the south west of England, hopefully not too hard to identify.

Have a great weekend!

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