Woah, that cold spell caught us out, didn't it? Totally unprepared for it, was I. Yesterday morning I was out in a tee shirt, putting the naughty chicken in her temporary run and by then end of the day I was lifting five cms of snow off her house before settling her down for the night. The chicks had the right answer to it all by putting themselves on the perch early and fluffing themselves up to trap warm air. One of the reasons we chose that breed (Wynadotte) was for their hardiness, surviving happily in minus 0 degree temperatures. I still was concerned for Sweetie in her little house though as it was bitterly cold. This morning she proved that despite her diminutive size she is a toughie, she's happily in her run having a dig around.
The first photograph below was taken about 2.00pm, the same scene is captured again only two hours later. The light fading fast, I snapped a few more photographs before huddling in for the evening.
The outside tap had frozen as had the water in the hose! I touched one of my old cream coloured roses and it was like the Snow Queen had passed over it. I could have snapped the petal just by pinching it. Just hours later, the roses had become snow balls on sticks. They were completely laden with snow, to the point where some of the branches were boughing over and touching the ground. I knocked off some snow to release three little roses but it wasn't long before they were snow-capped again.
Before it got too bad, I filled the feeders with peanuts so the blue and great tits would have some food and let the neighbour's cat in for a warm. Then, as the daylight crept away amidst a flurry of snowflakes I took some photos to show how beautiful it looked.
My borders were completely blanketed and the bird bath had gone from an ice rink to a dome of snow. The ancient oak behind us looked wonderful against the white of the sky. It really was a majestic sight.
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