Two days late

The snow, that is.

I woke up this morning to a fresh blanket of snow, we must have had about 2 inches on average.  It was so lovely to see the snowflakes clinging to the hedges and branches in such a delicate and fragile way.  On my little venture outdoors today I took some photos of animal tracks I noticed in the snow out the front of our house:

Penguin tracks.  I wish!

Fox tracks (left).  I know for a fact that these were left by a fox because I actually saw the little bugger late last night as I was staring out of the lounge room window!  Not sure about the smaller tracks on the right, possibly a cat?

Badgers on skis???

I have absolutely no idea what caused this but it freaked me out.  I actually thought someone was playing a practical joke.  There is a whole trail of these going right across the yard.  Can anyone give me a reasonable explanation for these bizarre "tracks"?  I thought maybe there were some sticks laying in the snow and someone had picked them up (why, I would have to ask!) but there were no footprints around.

Creepy.

This tree with the berries is the same one I cut some foliage from to decorate the fireplace for Christmas.

Andrew watching me prowl around the garden.

Jack barking at me as usual.  He loves going for walks in the snow with his owner Charlie.  They were out playing with one of the many squeaky toys Jack owns.

My poor little vegetable plots, barren and cold.

I would have dragged Andrew outdoors for a walk this morning as it is his weekend off at the moment, but he is still trying to overcome a horrible cold.  Instead, I whipped him into submission and he helped me tidy up the house.  We had some music to keep us motivated and it was a rather productive day.

Not sure what we'll do tomorrow, Andrew toyed with the idea of going to see our nephew Zack and join in with some snow activities but I really don't think it's a good idea for Andrew to be larking about outdoors.  We'll see how we feel in the morning.

More to come

The forecast is for more snow today (Sunday) and tomorrow.  In fact, it is starting to snow lightly as I type.  The snow we have had is still here but it has melted away a little.  I love being able to see the snow but it does have its downside - the roads are becoming too icy for me to drive, so I can't get into town to buy some groceries and I won't be able to get to work tomorrow.

I will post some more photos shortly, still waking up and I want some breakfast.

-3 celsius

Today's forecast was for all day sunshine so I was dying to go outdoors and go for a walk.  Andrew was home sick with a bad cold so I headed off on my own for a bit of adventure.

Small natural lake outside the village.

A lonely tree.

Sheep grazing up on Fontmell Down (strange that a hill is called a down, considering that I had to walk UP it to take this pic!)

Looking down over the village of Compton Abbas.

Umm...  a dead plant (sorry, don't know the species but looks similar to Fennel?  Suse, what do you think?)

Looking back up the track as I head back down into our village

Looking back toward the village and the Blackmore Vale in the background

Our house is almost smack bang in the centre of this photo (row of three cottages, just above the dark hedge but below the farm buildings).  If you want a better view, click on the photo and it should open a larger image.

More snow

Remains of 15th century Saxon church - we can see this from our bedroom window too

Wintery scene inside the Saxon church graveyard

Gravestone in Saxon church yard

Our house (not all of it - just the right half)

Village post box

Front of our house

House in the village with an interesting topiary tree

Converted church in the village

One of several thatched cottages

'The Old Reading Room' - I think this used to be a school house at one time

Baa Ram Ewe - some very obliging sheep who patiently posed for me.  One of them even came up for a scratch on the head.  They like to eat snow too!

Laneway through the village

I have fallen in love with English houses.  Can you see why??

Can't remember what these mushroomy things are called, or what they are supposedly for.

Resident snow man.

Snow.... almost

It snowed for about an hour yesterday.  I was so excited, I really hoped we'd get about 1-2 inches, just enough to blanket the garden & roof of the house so I could get some photos.  Sadly, it didn't do that and the snow melted away as soon as it stopped falling.

Don't know if you can make out the snowflakes falling.  It all melted away pretty quickly.

I decided to have a go at making a Christmas wreath today, thanks to a home decorating series called Kirstie's Home Made Christmas.  I didn't have any of the materials she had so I made do with some string and very flexible branches.

My first attempt at a (rather rubbish) Christmas wreath.  Cost me absolutely nothing so I'm happy!

Fireplace again with some berries and evergreen foliage along the mantle.

I've been going crazy with candle making again.  Andrew & I are giving candles as Christmas gifts to a few of our closest friend this year, so I have had fun making a mess in the kitchen.

The finished candles.  Some of the wicks need trimming before they are wrapped and packed into gift bags.

The next batch of various colours and shapes.  These candles will be used around our house.

The two large jars at the back are recycled salsa jars, the three small clear tealight holders are from Tesco (50p each! Bargain!!) and the purple and red tealight holders at the front are from Homebase (99p each!  Also a bargain!!).  Rather than put tealights in the tealight holders, I made wicks and stuck them inside the holders so I can pour the wax straight in.