DAFAD'S CATCH UP

Hello out there. Yes, Dafad is still in the land of the living and  I have been amazed at how many folk seem to miss the posts about what is happening up and around my local area.

This "post stroke" experience has been a strange one and I really didn't want to write about it, because I have suffered far less than some of those that I met in the hospital. So I don't really feel that I have much to maunder on about. But as a good friend said to me in a phone conversation recently, that folk need to know that Dafad is still here and coping.

Also to maybe write about how even a mini stroke can have such a big impact on life.

Having thought about it, I have to admit that he is right and maybe I need to share with others some of the problems that are associated with how even a small stroke can affect ones life. I was up beat when I came out of hospital, if you look back to March 1st, the day after I was released from hospital and, with friends, I (rather quietly) celebrated St David's day! I felt so good (just out of hospital) and felt I was doing really rather well.

But then the recovery journey began, more tests were to follow and as I was unable to drive, I had to rely on the generous hearted, retired farmer friend of mine (yes ... some farmers do retire!) Luckily his son and his wife are regenerating a farm which nearly ended up non productive as my friend, nearing the grand old age of 80 needed two hip replacements and as they were non forth coming, he eventually reduced his flock to zero.

Now those are sad days for any farmer to have to face ... but ... the good news is that the farm now has a wonderful couple restocking the land with good old Welsh Mountain and Texel breeds and thank goodness have had a good lambing. From what I hear there has been no sign of the dreaded Schmallenburg virus effecting our mountain lambing. Phew!

Dafad here has not been out and about much except to various hospital appointments.

One of which saw me fitted with little heart monitors for twenty four hours. I was told that I couldn't have a bath, a shower or ... get this ... go swimming! As if I would with all those wires running between the nipple like attachments and the monitor box tucked discreetly away in my clothing. Not that I had the energy to want to go for a dip anyway!

And no folks I don't mean a sheep dip. However, it was just good to be out of the house and especially good to be driven over the mountain road and to see the local scenery.

On our way back, looking at the sky, I insisted we stopped so I could take photographs. 

It may not seem much to all you out there, but just to breathe in the mountain air and look around my favourite stomping grounds was just a moment better than any tablets I take.

That was two weeks ago and amazingly as it may seem, our national flower, the lovely yellow daffodil, was still just in bud along the mountain road. "Down country"  as we refer to the land around Abergavenny they were blooming really well and at the hospital in a respite area of the grounds there was a carpet of brightly coloured crocus under the trees. 

So, for me "days out" at the moment are almost always medically related, boring really, which is why I have been so loathe to write about all this on Dafad's Days. Anyway ...
I have been put under pressure by genuine friends to at least write something about how even a mini stroke has greatly changed my life. I have seen others so worse off than me, that I feel in one way, I have very little to complain about. I think the daft dog suffers more than me due to the fact that he, like me misses the mountain scenery (and smells) but  is unable to fully understand why our life has suddenly changed. But ... having written that, he is incredibly patient with me. A smart minded Border Collie, he has been very patient.
I may call him "the mad mutt" or "the daft dog" but he is incredibly intelligent. In a way it is sad that having crepitus of the joints, he suffers too, but ... had he been trained as a working collie from a pup, he would now be one very frustrated dog, unable to work.
So ... in our own strange way we are well suited to each other.  A pair of crocks!
Anyway I've maundered on for far too long and just hope that I will see other sunsets ...

like this lovely one across the Argoed.

For all those who are post stroke or who are relatives having to cope with a family member who has suffered from a stroke, however minor or major. I understand better.

Patience, though not always easy to find at times, is a huge part of the healing process.

WEEKEND, WHITE OUT!

<<< This was the scene that met me on Saturday morning as I slowly got myself over to the Post Office. It seemed like a Christmas tree, three months out of season and with only a week to go before Easter. But we have been lucky over the last few days compared to so many other areas of U.K. 1000's of folk without electricity, the weight of snow causing damage to homes, roads totally blocked and airports closed. The countrywide  scenes on television and in the newspapers have been quite awesome and my heart goes out to all those that have really struggled and to the very many emergency services and technicians that have tried their best to ensure that folk are safe.

We have been O.K in this part of Wales, though no doubt the farmers have had a rough time with lambing.

But ... there are those further north who have already lost valuable stock under drifts of snow over 20 foot deep.
Last March was so very different to this, it was so much milder than this. My heart goes out to all those who deal with livestock in these bittter, winter, wind biting conditions. 

And of course there are our wild birds too...

After a lousy spring when blossoms got knocked of the trees with heavy rainfall, there were hardly any berries and fruits to keep them going through autumn and this winter.
I recently heard the sparrow chicks chittering in the eaves outside my bedroom window.
The jackdaws have been nattering vociferously in the trees by the quarry behind me.
I have yet to see lots of lambs bouncing about, as I've not managed to get out much and
being post stroke ... I am banned from driving until the Doc gives me the all clear to do so.
Luckily we have a Post Office in the village and a very substantially stocked local shop.
I've just heard on our local news that though we may not get much more snow, the very low temperatures will mean that there is little chance of melting for Easter time.
It has partially melted here on this south facing mountain side where we get sunshine.

But out at the back of the house where my bonsai trees are sheltered, it's a long slow melt.

Methinks we may see a lot of Snow Bunnies & Snow Eggs built around Easter time!

SPRING EQUINOX 2013

Hello folks. Welcome to Spring here where Dafad is managing rather well despite the very uninspiring Spring weather. The Vernal Equinox date was  in the diary for two days ago.

A good friend of mine had migrated from the Fenland Flats to stay with me and take in the healing air of the Welsh mountains for a few days. We decided to celebrate the start of Spring by going up to the trig point on top of the mountain for some "very fresh" air!

On the way up we noticed that (our national flowers) the daffodils in the verges along the mountain road were in bud, though not yet in bloom ... St David's Day was 22 days ago!

The sky moody

This hardly seemed like the approach of Spring ... on the mountain ground was snow!

Since that day we have had almost permanent rain but ... more snow is forecast. Blimey!
I feel so sorry for the local farmers who are struggling with dealing with lambing at the moment. Lambing can be hard at the best of times, but this weather just makes things worse. Cold bitter nights, keeping a check on ewes that seem to be struggling. Hard times.
Where we had parked there was a site of fly tipping, womble me, rescued a womble but more on that later. We were so cold that we headed for home but stopped on the way ...

My friend had never seen the lovely old church.
<<< St Illtyds churchyard looked beautiful in the late afternoon sunlight. Despite the hand-biting cold, it looked warm and inviting. The daffodils against an old stone wall were just beginning to flower and there were cowslips already in bloom. It seemed so very different from being on the mountain top as we stopped on our journey down for a short break before returning to the warmth of home.
But it had been a good thing for my friend from the Flat Fenlands to see just where I live, to take in the mountain air and be able to see 360 degrees around the area we live in. It can be, like drink, intoxicating and addictive. But back to the wombling side of my nature ... I have for many years been a "wombler" of fly tipping and as such have come home with ... "rescued items." That Womble is now safely warm, out of the Spring snow has been washed and dried and has a new home. 
The tiger is another rescue >>>

What you see is a bed spread that Dafad rescued some years ago. It was dumped on the mountain. I took it to the Dry Cleaners and lo and behold ... a seemingly brand new bed spread! Complete with a womble!
And with that for now ... I will say goodnight. this womble will fight to live another day and no doubt recycle other peoples rubbish in the future. Here's to "wombling" throughout the years ahead.
Meanwhile ... all across the U.K. more snow is forecast and I expect to wake to a white world. This is a really cold start to spring which will make what is left of the lambing even tougher for all our farmers. 

CHANGING DAYS.

As the day comes to an end, what a day today has been in both personal and world ways.

Though for these ewes on the commons, I guess they've not heard that there is new Pope!

Over 2000 years of Christian history have seen a change yet again. There have been 266 Popes at the head of the Catholic church and this is the first to be named Francis after that gentle monk of Assisi who has a fascinating history (too detailed to go into here, but please do google him) but he is also known as the patron saint of animals and the environment.

Which is why I mention all this today, because if there is such a thing as answered prayers then I hope his gentle spirit is looking over the state of our environment and farming today

because after these last few years, our climate is in turmoil and our farmers are struggling.

Now old Dafad here, has been out of touch with my farming community due to the stroke, followed by some short lived bug that knocked the stuffing out of me. But us old sheep are a hardy type and I've survived. I even managed to get on a bus today and get some much needed shopping from our local supermarket. My left side still isn't quite right and I had to use a trolley for relatively few items, and for the first time ever, had to ask the kindly lady to give me a hand with the packing and then taxied back home, feeling quite knackered.

But ... no knackers yard for me yet, thanks to my strong genes I'm made of more hardy stuff than some of those lowland types. I thrive on the Welsh hills, mentally at least and the human vets have indeed, saved me, there is life in me and the mad mutt yet. Sooo ....

I am looking forward to my recovery thanks to a wonderful, post stroke back up team, who I am slowly getting to know. There are tests ahead and physio to go through but there are times in my life when I've been through far worse. Sadly at the moment I am missing lambing time, something that I was so very much looking forward to this year. 

There are stiles to climb over and gates yet to go through, but I am on the mend and intent on getting back on top of the mountain with the mad mutt to inhale the fresh air!

FEELING DUMP IN THE DOWNS

I'm feeling rather fly tipped or dumped on the downs. Well that is what I feel like at the moment, I seem pick myself back up after my time spent in hospital, doing rather well and then  some  other nasty little bug knocks me back, I've had a weekend of coughing,  sneezing and not feeling like eating, which didn't make watching THE RBS 6 Nations as pleasurable as it could have been Humph! Still, I seem to be over the worst now, just a bit drenched out and having to build myself up again the level when I was when I came out of hospital. There is quite a way ahead to go in the months ahead, but with any luck and a lot of determination, Dafad will get there. 

And no We didn't go out playing in the snow, what there was of it, though I have just checked and it has been sneakily snowing more heavily whilst I've been holed up like an old badger face with a racking cough and the poor daft dog looking at me rather sadly.

Still he has been patient all over these last weeks hardly getting out.

With physio to go over the next few months & without more bugs, should be good soon!

DAFAD IS BACK.

Hello folks. Yep Dafad is back in the land of the living and quietly celebrating the fact that today ... being March the 1st is St Davids Day or as is said in Welsh, "Dydd Gwyl Dewi."

Now, it's been brought to my notice that folk have been missing the ramblings on my blog.

It's nice to know I've been missed, heaven knows why, the way I normally waffle on but there has been a good reason because I've not been well for some six months with one thing and another like pneumonia before Christmas, various other bugs were dealt with and the real crunch happened on Monday morning when I woke about half six only to find that my body was split into two. The left side of it had decided to go on strike, luckily I'm right handed so was still able to do some things like call an ambulance, I'd had a stroke.

Not totally debilitating but of concern enough for the paramedic to call for an ambulance and I was whizzed of to A&E at some speed and thanks to Nevill Hall Hospital and the wonderful teams of doctors and nursing staff, old Dafad here has survived and after lots of tests, x-rays, MRI scans etc etc, I was sent up to the Acute Stroke ward and gently nursed back to sort of normality. Not that Dafad's ever been what most folk call normal.

I was released late yesterday evening and picked up by a lovely female farmer friend, whilst her husband was still working late up on the farm. I owe them several drinks and ...

when I have gone through all the tests & physiotherapy that await me over the months ahead, I will be treating them both, to a slap up celebratory meal, somewhere really nice.

So ... worry you all less please I am alive and laughing at some of the ridiculous hurdles I've had to climb slowly over and the diversions I've had to go through. As the old Readers Digest always used to say ... Laughter is the best medicine. How very true that is!

On the ward we all, many much more seriously ill than me (to say the very least) we all ended up making silly, sometimes rather wry jokes about various situations and a lot of laughter could be heard emanating from our six bed room. It was all very healing stuff.

As for those still in Gilwern Ward & there are many of them, I wish you all the very best.

So ... I'm back in the land of the living and celebrating St Davids Day with a few friends.

A Rhymney Hobby Horse Ale for me please. Cheers!

"Iechyd da Dewi Sant!

HOMEWARD BOUND.

<<< This is where we walked yesterday along a stretch of the River Cam. The footpath sign showed an eel, a river dweller that was once caught here in large numbers and sold well in London markets but now, sadly traditional eel catchers have declined to the point that only one man, Peter Carter still catches eels in traditionally, hand crafted eel traps made of willow. A real skill that has been handed down through 500 years in Peter's family history. Nearly 50 years old, he has no-one left to carry on these ancient skills. European Eels are an unusual fish due to the fact that they have low calcium bones, the calcium content reducing even further as they get older.

Here along the river banks  >>>

there were hundreds of fresh water mussel shells. Now, it is obvious that something is eating them, most probably otters but it could also be some of the bird species along the River Cam. Along other rivers in my past I have seen much larger shell specimens but it is good to see the freshwater mussel in abundance, a sign of healthy waterways.

The scene and temperatures were almost autumnal and the daft dog decided to go swimming in the river. There was quite a strong current and it carried the mutt what seemed to be upstream, which was a bit confusing as one expects the river to flow North to South, here it is the other way round for some geological reason, but it seems weird.

Anyway ... said mud covered canine was happy. Mud wellied owner felt at peace with the world ... and watching the sun set in the west was peaceful ... if flat unlike being at home.

As the daylight dimmed, through the locally known "Military Bridge" we headed for our temporary home. Content for the day, but longing to get back home to much loved Wales.

We shall soon be on the journey homewards , back to the old well known tracks of home.

VALENTINE HIRAETH.

Now don't go expecting anything soppy from Ol' Dafad here. it's not my style. Also the observant amongst you may have noticed that yesterdays post was dated February 14th.

You didn't? Well no matter because I didn't realise until today that this old pooter was a day ahead of it's time, a problem hopefully just sorted, so it really is Valentines Day today.
As for my sheep back home ... methinks it's a bit late for the old ovine chat up lines.

The tups were doing all that back last October/November and are now well rested and as for the ewes, who were scanned quite a while back, they will be starting to lamb soon,

with the main lot being born over March and April when the hills will become alive with sounds of  tremulous young voices as the next generation starts springing over the fields.
Dafad here will be back home by then and ... apart from the worry about how the Schmallenburg virus will effect the lambing rate, I'm looking forward to being home.
Now ... for those who are not Welsh "Hiraeth" is a unique word in the language. Put at it's simplest it means homesickness, but it means far more than that, it is a sense of belonging to the land, feeling firmly rooted in Wales. Also nostalgia for the people, and obviously things like supporting the rugby teams either national or local and of course the wonderful sound of the Welsh male voice choirs. Wales is a land of poetry and song and the feelings of loyalty are strong but ... one can only really appreciate the meaning of the word once one has moved away from the home country and feel pulled magnetically to return ... home. And that is where Dafad will be heading shortly. Unlike me, the mad mutt is Welsh born and his excitement as we reach the border into Wales and increases as we travel over Bleanavon's bleak hills and head up the steep, windy mountain road towards home.

<<< Well at least the ducks may miss the dog or the other way round maybe and much as he has enjoyed the new scents in the fenland around here and has seen deer and hares running wild in the wide open, local fields. I just know that like me ... he would rather be back in mountain sheep country.
A border collie who knows which side of the border he would rather be. I'm looking forward to days on the mountain again, catching up with the farmers.

As the old, weather-wise country lore saying goes "Red sky at night ... shepherds delight!

ON THE BEET

Following my last post "A COP's CAUTION." I had to smile today as I drove along the same Fen road where I got cautioned for parking up for just a few minutes to take a photo. Just half a mile from where I had parked was a large lorry ... hazards brightly flashing ...

and there in the field, followed by a mass of seagulls, was a tractor harvesting sugar beet.

Now what is unusual about that, is the fact that this is mid February ... the harvest here is late, very late! Usually around here, the harvest is completed by late November, but the weather conditions have been so bad that the beet harvesters have not been able to work.

But just this one photograph will show you (poor as it is) what was happening today.

One man busily lifting the beet and a truck waiting to take it to the factory. What you see here is a root crop that will be turned into the sugar that you add to your drinks, food etc etc. The alternative to sugar cane, harvested abroad in "foreign lands" this is a home grown U.K crop and vital to our economy. I personally never buy cane sugar as I believe in supporting our local farmers. I once lived near the sugar beet factory in Bury St Edmunds and ... I have to admit that on processing days, the smell was strong, that combined with the local brewery and a perfume factory ... yes at times ones scent senses went into overdrive ... but it was all local industry hard at work and was acceptable.

Now, going back to me and my sense of humour, just after taking the above photo and ...

having driven off, I passed a police car, similar to that of the other day and I wondered ...

did that police officer, gently reprimand the patiently waiting beet transport truck with it's hazard lights flashing ... "You've parked in a dangerous place." Somehow, I think not.

See there is one rule for some and a different for others and that sadly is the way the world works. There is an old Yorkshire saying "Different strokes for different folks."

How very true that is.

P.S. today 14th Feb lots of "Mud on the road" signs magically appeared after a friend had an accident on a muddy bend late the other night, rolled her car right over on the roof and miraculously escaped out of the drivers window, which was open at the time of the accident. The car a solidly built Volvo got towed away and has been written off. On her behalf I went to see it today, to take photo's and was amazed she escaped without any injury at all. Unfortunately one of the hazards of farming country is that farm machinery, especially in these wet earth conditions, is that they leave mud on the roads, something us country folk accept as part and parcel of living rural life.One simply has to be observant and make due allowances for conditions in all types of weather.

A COP's CAUTION.

I have to share something with you that amused me on the 7th. We went out of the village with a friend going on a shopping errand. As we reached the outskirts of the village there had been a funeral of a well respected local pensioner,the church was obviously packed and there were cars everywhere. They stretched from one side of the church to the other, the cemetery car park was packed and  the farm near the church had cars parked along their driveway ... on top of that there were vehicles parked on the verge of the road leading out of the village. Not being a local. I drove on but noticed the sun in the sky looking rather spectacular ( a moment not to be missed) and me being me had to pull over on the side of the road to take a photograph. I deliberately parked on the verge of a long straight stretch of open road. Fenland ... clear visibility for miles ... I put the hazard warning lights on & walked back, some distance from the car to avoid telephone wires being in the photograph, got just the shot I wanted as seen here below and walked back.

Now here is the amusing bit, I ... got stopped by a police car with his hazards flashing and I quote ... "You've parked in a dangerous place." I told the concerned constable that I was just taking a photograph and he drove on. I had to smile as just half a mile down the road, he was about to encounter cars parked all along the verges, and pavements either side of the village church, the cemetery car park was packed. I later found out that there were 200 cars at the funeral which was for an old, much respected local farmer whose coffin was taken to church by a tractor and trailer. What a lovely way to go that final mile!

CALL DUCKS on SHROVE TUESDAY

On my last post. I wrote that I would tell you about the Anglo Saxon Village I visited on Sunday. It wasn't a long visit due to Dafad being tired and the weather a tad cold but what I saw and learned was so fascinating I got a booklet to read up about it more before I wrote a post about it. But due to other things happening around here I've not yet read up enough in the booklet to give you decent info, to go with the photo's so will give it a miss for now. That'll teach Daft Dafad not to plan ahead and make promises I can't keep. 

Now, for a while now I've been telling you about the Mad Mutt enjoying visiting the ducks on the village pond, but usually it is only a short, last thing at night walk and there has been no chance to photo them, so today I decided to go out in the daylight, to share the thirteen white aptly named Call Ducks. Bred originally to be decoys in duck hunting.

Luckily they are now just ornamental and are fed twice daily by willing volunteers in the village. Last time I was here there were only six, so it is nice to see the number increased.

When we were on the village green, they were all hunting for worms in the grass ... but as we approached they saw us and headed into and across the pond to greet us.

The sound is more quite muted with a long first note "Mwaaack ... mwack, mwack,mwack."

and I've learned to give them my version back, so an untranslatable conversation takes place. The daft dog no longer looks at me weird, but pricks up his ears and waits.

Normally they come close to the edge to look at this friendly four legged creature with his front paws in the water and they come in very close to us but today he dropped a ball in the water as it splashed they retreated to a safer distance. The dog looked rather sad that they'd scarpered. We continued on our way down to visit a friend who lives down ...

Being half term, she'd been busy making pancakes for some six children, only three of her own. The dog made instant friends and was kept amused by the kids as we had a warming mug of coffee and a chat about the local characters that give colour to village life.

WHAT A WIN!

Hello folks ... Ol' Dafad here hasn't been too grand over the last couple of weeks. It took an emergency visit to a human vet to get tests and wait two weeks for the swab to culture.

No I don't have SBV but the results demanded rather dramatic medication which knocked me for six. A course of tablets that left me feeling fairly weak and with horrible side effects but ... one thing that really cheered me up yesterday was that in Paris, we beat the French Blues 16-6! Yep, a good result for Wales  against the blues (who were not at all happy).

It was a a tonic I can tell you. The skies at the end of the day here in flat fenland were holding an unsure promise of snow, though the local weather forecast up here was vague.

I went out with a local friend to check out the local pub ... I was amongst English supporters ... but luckily met one Welsh person whose folks farm in the Welsh borders.

At least there was some solidarity about us winning, but I'm in foreign territory here.

I bet the English felt rather smug today, I missed the match due to another commitment but am guessing they feel rather smug after their win over the Irish today. Apparently it was a rather tense and scrappy match which England managed to win by a 12-6 margin.

Meanwhile I was at an Anglo Saxon Village, which is an archaeological site with lots of reconstructed buildings, it was fun but bitterly cold ... more on that tomorrow! Goodnite.

A WHITE WIN.

Well, I wrote it on last nights post that I hoped Italy would win today and they did 23-18. It was a white win for the Italian side and what I loved about today's match was that in the Stadio Olympico (Olympic Stadium to me & thee) there were 400 ex players that had won caps for playing for Italy. Each cap with the number of the order that the caps were awarded, it was an amazing sight to see them join in with the Italian National Anthem.

I was quite amazed and due to my relative ignorance I've googled the competitions history. I was amazed to read that the competition started between our four "nations" in 1882. France then joined in 1910 to make it five nations and the Italians were very late comers in the year 2000. Hence it now the RBS 6 Nations, supported by RBS, The Royal Bank of Scotland. What I didn't realise until today was that Italy have been playing rugby for so long and as I've written above have at least 400 caps to their team. I think that the presence of those 400 today, helped spur Italy on to win as they did today. I had other commitments today, so missed the match, but thanks to the power of the internet, have finally caught up with the salient points of the match and all I can say is well done Italy.

(just don't beat us when it's our turn to play you. not that I'm nationalistic you understand) Well O.K just a wee bit (a lot). But I also like to see the underdog come up trumps.

Of course I would like to see Wales go back to the heydays of the 70's when we had some very memorable players but ... whoever plays best on the day is the deserved winner.

And that is one of the things I love about Rugby. it is a game mostly for men, not prima donnas, unlike football. Our lads are tough and take the knocks. Here's to the rest of the Six Nations tournament!We've a while to go yet.  And with that folks ... I shall say ... goodnight.

RBS START 2013

Well what a day for rugby fans as the RBS six nations kicked off this afternoon but before that all began I went out shopping and ... more importantly gave the mad mutt a run <<< peaceful sunny scenes ... if viewed through a camera lens  but oh my goodness the fen wind was cold and old Dafad here was not quite prepared for just how breezy it was, not that the dog minded at all. This part of the fenland landscape is just on the outskirts of a local town and still has not recovered from rain and melting snow. Did the daft dog mind at all? No ... not a bit of it, he loved it. There was plenty of water to splash around in and ... a long length of wood to play with.

He reminded me of tight rope walker ... except he was on solid ground, but he was proud!

And ... the way he managed to navigate past various obstacles amazed me, unlike our Welsh side later on in the afternoon,  but I shall come to that later, he was happy and, as followers of my blog know, he is a real fan of anything that involves splashing in water.

He realised we were close to getting back to the car and his delaying tactics were just wonderful (if at times frustrating ... I wanted to get back and watch the rugby!) He paddled about in the water, as seen above ... pretending he had lost that rather large stick!
Anyway I finally got him back in the car, navigated through the shopping list and returned in time to see our first match of the RBS Six Nations. It used to be five nations. For those of you who don't know it is a match series played between, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, England France, then late comers in 2000 to make it six nations, the Italians joined in
Now Dafad here (understandably) is a Welsh supporter, but we, sadly  got beaten today by the Irish (Celtic rivalry 30-15 to the green isle ) and later England won over the Scots by a rather large margin. 38 - 18. Tomorrow it is the French v the Italians (outside our borders) but I so hope that the latecomers, the Italians win, they deserve a chance.
As for the long-stick carrying dog ... he doesn't care who wins the rugby, but I do!

Here's to Wales  I say!
Cariad a Cymru.

SNOWDROPS & LODES.

Well this is the last day of the first month of 2013 and what a month it has been weather wise across the the whole of U.K. One thing we haven't experienced (unsurprisingly) is a heat wave but that said despite the snow and ice, it has been a relatively mild month compared to many January's past. The snowdrops here are really coming into bloom at the moment and <<< these in a shady corner of the garden really caught in the sunlight this morning. Galanthus nivalis ... I love them, their delicate, drooping, tear drop flowers are such a wonderful sign of spring. The highest price ever paid for a single snowdrop bulb was for a genetic mutation named Elizabeth Harrison (with yellow markings not green ) it sold for £725 last year. to a well known Ipswich based seed company. The year before in 2011 a Galanthus 'Green Tear' variant sold for £360. How does one name these variants? A nursery man from Cambridgeshire, sadly named one variant he created "Mr Grumpy." because the green markings on the snow white petals looked rather like a glum face. I could never see  the delicate snowdrop as grumpy!
However after a wild, wind battering night, that kept the household awake. I was grumpy. All through the night the wind battered the house and blew things all over the lawns. The noise was horrendous and a sleepless night had by all. Late this afternoon ...?

More serene skies belying the bitter wind that blew harsh across the drenched fen landscape. There had been some signs of recent ploughing in the slightly higher fields ...
but in The Lode, a local man-made waterway connecting to the River Cam and ... thought to be Roman in origin the water was high. Lodes such as these were all once navigable.

But time and different needs for means of transport have made many of these once navigable waterways are now null and void for humans at least, though much wildlife now appreciates these normally serene wildlife "A roads" criss-crossing the fen landscape. Today ... wind rippled and with no signs of ducks, but visiting seagulls were enjoying it.
But at least for the bipedal dog walker the tracks that run along these large dykes help one to appreciate the fenland landscape with it's wide open spaces and continuous views.
Also as I discovered today, dogs are not the only quadrupeds to benefit from these tracks.

 <<< And ... marching across the landscape are these pylons delivering the modern electricity that we so rely on today. This line runs at right angles to the Lode, but I can't help but wonder what the Romans and later on the Dutch who improved the Fen drainage system dramatically would have thought of this energy in the sky, that marches across the landscape in longer, straighter lines and carries power suck long distances at such speed. How things have changed, yet in some ways here in the Fens remain "almost" the same as when the Romans & Dutch tried to tame this water drenched landscape. I often wonder what they would make of The Fens of today ... still different but more modernised and yet in some ways I wonder if those of old would recognise the landscape, especially the vast acres of arable planting which are so very different now  from agricultural past.

A WEATHER EYE

I was wrong the other day when I wrote that all the snow had gone, the local children had built a huge snow figure on the village green, which I only noticed at night when we went out for a short end of day walk to visit the ducks, something the daft dog loves to do.

Last night in the orange glow of the street light there was still a persistent pile left behind.

But something the recent thaw has allowed to show up in the garden are snowdrops ...

As you can see the nettles are doing rather well too and ... being munched by something. The early daffodils were budding well until the snow and then flowering slowed down but all around the garden thousands of leaves of the later varieties are pushing  up through the grass which will be left unmown until all the many different  varieties have bloomed.

As for the weather it is gustingly windy, the house getting regularly buffeted ... loudly!

Looking at the forecast for the next few days for here and back home, what a mixed bag of  varying types of weather are in store for us all, we're in for some unstable conditions.

This morning out in the very damp garden with the dogs, I noticed a small eye on a leaf.

It is the fading remnant of a peacock butterfly wing and looked rather bedraggledy sad.

We have a saying here about "Keeping a weather eye on the sky." This one certainly is.

SNOW ALL GO!

During the course of the night, the rain and the wind lashed very noisily at the windows ...

this morning when I looked out to survey the outside, to my absolute amazement ... this ...

no snow! Not a sign even in the coldest, most shaded places was there a sign of white stuff and the temperature was definitely higher, though still cold due to the blustery wind.

Jilly the adventurous little minx was intrigued by the sudden amount of water flooding the patio. Strangely enough my long legged collie who normally dives into ponds, lakes the sea etc, etc, was much more wary of a mere few inches of the wet stuff. But later in the day I drove out with him in the car to get a Sunday paper and to explore an area new to us. I saw no snow, anywhere!

It had all gone, magically erased from the flat fen surfaces overnight and ... with the sun out all looked green and healthy.

Having picked up the Sunday paper-weight, we drove out further afield to have a look around some of the local area & I just had to stop the car to take this post snow, sun warming  photo >>>

Winter fed cattle just relaxing in the warmth of the day amongst bales of winter feed. I found myself missing my local sheep. I spoke to one of my local farmers today and she told me that back home, the snow had been so high that the stone wall between their land and the commons was invisible under deep drifts of deep wind blown drifts but apparently overnight with similar weather to ours here, that problem had eased a bit overnight. We drove further on and I noticed a bridleway.

The widest bridleway I have ever seen named "Little London Drove." Now here we are miles away from London but obviously in it's history, this (now expansive) track has a long history of being an old drovers way from the Fens to the big city. It's possible that sheep, cattle and even geese headed their way towards the capital. But something else rather amused me ...

This "Highway Boundary" stone ... now look along the plough furrows in a straight line towards the trees in the distance and can you imagine a footpath across all that? Not one that either me or the dog wished to explore! And ... the very word "Highway" amused me,  because apart from a tractor who else would traverse that wellie clogging set of furrows except for "Keep our footpaths open!" enthusiasts. As for me. my wellies were already gathering up enough mud and the daft dog was decidedly dirty. There wasn't even a pocket of snow in the shade of the lanes but lots of mud!
We returned splattered with fenland splashes but happy. The earth was no longer frozen hard but soft ... 

and the local moles obviously appreciated the latest conditions too!