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Saturday 08 December 2012
Natures the Star
We had Saturday out in Lincolnshire taking photographs of the landscape and steam trains heading into Lincoln for the annual “Lindum Fayre” or Christmas Market. The weather was sunny and reasonably mild.
After lunch and photographs of steam trains completed we decided to spend some time at Clumber Park on the way home. This is where we met the real star of the day a grey squirrel who was far too inquisitive for his own good.
This squirrel was only too happy to pose for his portrait taking in close up. He was far too near the video camera to take clear pictures but he remained by our feet for a several minutes picking up what looked like sunflower seeds from the path. Whatever they were we hadn’t put them there although I think he/she thought we had.
Me and my camera didn’t seem to faze the squirrel at all in its hunt for more seeds. Eventually after posing for hundreds and pictures and several minutes of video the noise from others approaching caused it to head for the safety of some nearby bushes.
All that was left was to get some pictures of the setting sun and head for home.
I’ll post some video of the squirrel once I’ve had a chance to do some editing.
Sunday 09 December 2012
It’s Not Eating Our Nuts
Sunday was the warmest day of the month but you wouldn’t have guessed it out in the gale force wind.
It was a day for staying in and editing the video footage from Saturday’s visit to Clumber Park. If you haven’t yet found the finished video of our squirrel via links to YouTube or one of our Facebook pages you can watch it below.
Monday 10 December 2012
Mushy Bananas
Monday wasn’t too bad a day. The gale force wind of the previous couple of days had dropped but along with that so had the temperature. We had some sunshine mixed with a few drops of rain on and off all day.
In the garden the frosts have now taken their toll on our more tender perennial plants. The frost effects differ from plant to plant. Our banana Musa Bajoo just goes soft and mushy a little like a giant frosted lettuce leaf.
Our bonsaied gunnera has also felt the cold but rather than turning to mush its leaves turn crisp and brown..
I’ve a little bit of straw left at the allotments which I might bring back to the garden just to give the roots of the banana plant and the crown of the gunnera a little winter protection. For a little added protection I might move the gunnera into our cold greenhouse. The problem with doing that is that it may grow away far too quickly early next spring which I don’t want to happen.
Tuesday 11 December 2012
Brrrrrrrrrr
Well the predicted cold spell for this week has certainly arrived. With the temperature just making it to 4°C the frost hung about all day in the spots sheltered from the sunshine.
Wednesday 12 December 2012
Coldest So Far
Wednesday was the coldest day of winter so far with the average daily temperature
not even making it into positive territory. The average for the day was -
In the garden it was tricky to keep the bird bath free of ice. No sooner was warm water added than it started to freeze over again. The blackbirds decided the better option for taking a bath was to use our pond.
Thursday 13 December 2012
Coldest Day Since December 2010
Thursday was cold and foggy with temperatures remaining below freezing all day. It
gave us our coldest daily average temperature since that record breaking December
of 2010. Yesterday’s daily average was -
These icicles formed on the string stretched across the pond as heron protection. A lovely bird but it does have a nasty habit of eating our pond fish if no protection is in place.
The birds made great use of the ice free patches of water in the pond to drink and bath from as it proved difficult to keep the bird bath ice free.
This redwing is a rare visitor to our garden. We only usually spot one when the weather is really bad. It didn’t stay for long and we didn’t see it make a return visit.
Friday 14 December 2012
What a Change
The forecasters were right and Friday brought wind, rain and much milder conditions. Friday morning was treacherous due to black ice forming on roads and footpaths as the temperature hovered around freezing point but by lunchtime it was much milder and pouring down with rain.
After a week of fluctuating temperatures we now seem to be back to the same conditions as last weekend with our weather dominated by systems coming in off the Atlantic keeping it milder and wetter. At least I’ll be spared the task of trying to keep the bird bath ice free.