Winter got colder and colder

The snow has been on the ground for nearly two weeks now and it has been so cold (-18 one night ) that it has turned to little ice flakes which shimmer and sparkle in the sun.  Very pretty but hopeless for snowballs as it just turns to powder.  So we played with the icicles instead!

We have been feeding the birds three times a day and putting out water too.  The blue tits, great tits, robins, goldfinches, nuthatches and occasionally the woodpecker all come flocking to the bird table as soon as the sunflower seed is put out.  If Mark is late they congregate in the lime tree and the plum trees by the side of the studio and wait to be fed and then as soon as the seed is on the table they are there!   The other day a pheasant came along too and pecked a few seeds from the snow around the table before being shooed away.  We still have a couple of baskets of apples left, which are starting to get soft and wrinkly, so we have been putting these out on the ground for the blackbirds, which have also demolished some squash, resulting in spectacularly orange droppings all around the front garden! On our walks around our grounds we have spotted feathers in the snow which are probably where the sparrowhawk has made a kill.  Goodness knows what has happened underground in all of the mouse holes and tunnels but I am hoping for the best, or worst, depending on your viewpoint.

In the greenhouse things are looking a bit bleak.  Despite wrapping the geraniums and other tender plants in fleece, old sacks, bubblewrap, carpet and anything else to hand the -18C that we had a few nights ago has left them all limp and soggy.  No doubt there will be a few casualties outdoors too so i'll be doing lots of cuttings and divisions of the things that have survived.

The thing that has been lovely though is the amount of sunshine we have been having, as you can see - lovely blue sky!

Hope all of you reading this have been keeping warm!

There are a few more photos of icicles and snow in the photostream on our blog page at www.chenevaux.blogspot.com