An eventful weekend

nature, wildlife, ecology, biology, garden, illustration, Hannah Foley, illustrator, education, children, kids, family, drawing, sketching, agapanthus, hebe, primroses, campanula, chives, albrighton rambler, bird feeder, robin, goldfinch, wren, blue titDid you survive the snow? Apart from the odd mound left from road clearing, ours has all gone. After living in Scotland I find snow so evocative, especially being in a rural community.  As many of you will know, country snow is a very different experience to city snow. I can see us all now, heaving our way through silent fields watched by the farm bulls, stocially munching on steaming silage. I have a beautiful memory of waking up at midnight and looking out of the window to see the valley covered in a fresh fall, reflecting back the moonlight as if it were daytime. Those of you who have been reading my blog for a while will remember a number of posts reporting our many Scottish snow antics at the time! Big Dreamer and I had to keep pinching ourselves that the electricity didn’t go off once the whole of this weekend. That would have been standard on the farm. I don’t think Big Dreamer will ever forget the week Little Owl and I were away one winter. Snow meant he had to sleep by the wood burner to keep warm, and he fed himself tins of beans and soup heated up on the top.

Despite having electricity and easy access to shops here this weekend, it ended up being an eventful few days in our house. The roofers arrived on Thursday morning but by lunchtime the snow was coming down so thickly they couldn’t see to work, leaving us with a still incomplete roof. The builders covered the roof as best they could and were all set to head home too when there was an almighty crash. Little Owl’s school had been closed so we were all cosied up around the wood burner when we heard the noise. Peeking out of the lounge door, the dust gradually settled to reveal lumps of plaster and other debris all down the stairs and throughout the hall. The apprentice had fallen through the ceiling. Fortunately he was fine, and even more fortunately he came through at pretty much the exact spot where they’ll be breaking through to put in the stairs. Small mercies.

The kids had a great time in the snow on Friday. They spent hours out with all the other children in the street pulling each other along on sledges and having snowball fights. It was a wonderful novelty to be able to play in the road, buried cars stuck fast in their parking spaces. Wren was not quite so sure and got cold pretty quickly so I set up crèche for the under 2s and we watched all the fun from the window. Then on Saturday the thaw began and that’s when the leaks started to appear. First through Little Owl’s ceiling. Melting snow seems to have a particular aptitude for finding little crannies where you thought there couldn’t possibly be any. Soon the attic was filled with every sort of container we could find, to catch all the drips. It was an enormous relief to see both the builders’ and roofers’ vans pull up outside the house this morning!

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One Response to An eventful weekend

  1. Evy Browning says:

    Love the little blue tit & what looks like a goldfinch on the nut feeder. Good thing the snow didn’t last for long – having been snowed in half way up a Welsh hillside with views across the town of Brecon in the valley below I can picture your moonlit scene somewhat. Glad you didn’t lose the electricity. Good thing the apprentice survived without damage & he made a useful hole – don’t suppose he’ll be using that method again in a hurry if he can help it.

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