I''m Having A Snow Day!

Yes, the Beast From The East has finally arrived and I'm having a Snow Day!

A few flurries of the white stuff descended on us yesterday evening.

On awakening this morning I ran hurriedly to the bathroom.  No not because of a senior bladder moment.  I ran excitedly, as a child would, to look out of the bathroom window.

The frosted up window bodes well.

And yes there is a sprinkling of snow.

But hardly beast from the east stuff.

I excitedly phoned Son and yes, the schools were closed as heavier snow was forecast for later in the day.  Goodoh, this day has all the makings of a Snow Day, so I declared it mine too.

So, what springs to mind?  What to wear, of course!

The beast we've been entertaining this past week has manifested itself in bitterly cold but dry and sunny days and I've been dressing up snuggly.

But after seeing what was out in my garden, I realised something seasonal was required for today's dressing.  Something with snowflakes and little crystal embellishments giving the appearance of scattered snow, methinks, like on this jumper from George.  Some jumpers just look warm.  This jumper IS warm! I wore it with grey camisole, jeans and scarf and of course the furry boots had to come out to snow-play too.

Dressed snuggly I ventured outdoors.  Hmmmm, still not much snow.  TP said that the Scandinavians, who have kindly sent us this weather, would be sniggering when they saw this.

But I dashed around the garden snapping so excitedly.

I was like a kid in a sweet shop   Snow-Pout with a camera.

OK so this is a bit embaressing and here I have to fess up.  Yes, I haven't de-headed these hydrangeas!  Oh the shame.

No toasty tush to be had sitting out here today

No leisurely breakfast under the pergola either.

And even the birds haven't come out to feed.

Yet as soon as I stepped back in the house, this little robin did indeed come out to seed-up for his Snow Day.

I really was like an excited kid.   Snow is a rare occurrence over here, here being an island surrounded by salty air which usually breaks down any lurking snow.  

I've been excitedly following the snow forecast for days.  TP spent many years on Dartmoor so he sees snow as a general inconvenience and has ignored the forecast, that being one snowflake's worth for most of the day and a whopping two snow flakes at midday.

But all I saw outside was just a sprinkling of snow on the ground and the occasional falling snow flake.  Not very beast-like.  Not like the blizzards currently gripping the unfortunate UK right now.
I looked out the window expectantly.  I looked at my watch aggitatedly.  11.35am.  Hmmn, according to the forecast we're due two whole snowflakes at 12pm.  It'd better up its game sharpish.

Well, the weather must have been listening in on my conversation with TP because about two minutes later a few bigger flakes started falling and within 5-10 minutes the snow was falling in an orderly Beast From The East fashion.


It started to get atmospheric.

The outside boiler's steam was blasting through the ice-cold air.

I thought it looked quite ethereal.  Or a bit Dr Zhivago, steam train on icy St Petersburg station.

So as I type, it's now snowing in a less wimpy fashion.

There has been a flurry of activity in Bird World after the snow started to fall proper.

Emergency tree meetings have been held.

They must be tweeting their game plan.

This great tit's plan seems to be to nip out to the "shops" to stock pile on seed before the snow fall gets too heavy for his little wings to carry him.

 Yup, this day has all the makings of a Super Snow Day.

I'll share some snowier scenes with you tomorrow.

And yes, as you can probably tell, I am super excited today.  My excitement is child-like because we Islanders don't see much snow -  but 3-4 cm of snow has fallen!

I've just heard that a severe weather warning has been issued.  Islanders have been advised not to leave their homes unless their journey is absolutely necessary.  

Those in the UK have been told they will need a big coat.

Yes, we don't get much snow over here ...

A la perchoine.

P.s.  If you want the statistics on how excited I am about snow, just count how many "excited"s (or derivatives thereof) there are in this post!

Easy Pickings

Hi my dearies, I hope 2018 is treating you fine so far.  I think the general trend for the new year is for us to resolve to have no resolutions.  They don't seem to work and tend to be rather draconian, perhaps that is why they aren't favoured.  I prefer a light touch with most things these days.  Little tweaks to our lifestyles make a difference.

So no resolutions other than to tackle things with that light touch.

Like reoccurring minor health probs.  Of late I get sinusitis each year around Christmas time.  Yeah, great eh!  But now that I recognise what it is and that it's an annual thing, when the going gets tough I don't fret but simply take to antibiotics after a few weeks.  This winter's started on Christmas Day and I'm now on penicillin and feeling so much better.

I have to start feeling better because of a big parcel which has arrived at the door. 

#so excited as it contains a little surprise.  More on that in my next post!

In the meantime, I keep snug in grey suede boots and a muffler.

My Dotty P bardots are perfect for this time of year.

I can play around with the neckline, depending on the weather ... and my state of health!  Such a great innovation.  Here I wanted snuggly neck rather than chilly bardot shoulders.

The bardot and coated jeans combo (yes, THEM again!) is starting to feeling like my Winter Uniform at the moment.  But I need warmth and comfort and they are delivering that in spades.  Simple winter dressing, easy pickings when I want an outfit to find itself.  And all I can add on this is that it could be a lot worse, it could be harem pants and t shirt, ad infinitum, which is what I wore during last winter's poorliness!

I'm wondering if you have a Winter Uniform?  Something that you find yourself not wanting to prise yourself out of?  Or going to with little thought?  Maybe it looks a lot like mine.  Or maybe you stay uber-glam even as the temperatures drop or when you're feeling poorly.

And now let's move away from what this sniffly old bird's wearing and see what a truly beautiful bird wears!

His amazing OOTD, every day.  Brown, purple and electric blue - who would have known those colours would work together?!

 This beautiful pheasant has been popping round to the Chez Pout Bistro of late.  He's been picking up the morsels dropped by the diners who can make it up on to the bird table and the hanging feeders.  He's too big to swing from the feeders so for him it's the easy pickings, no effort required.

Check out his white shirt collar!

He's become really quite matey.  He's curious about us. I'm thinking he'd like to pop into the house, but I'm not too sure how Bertie would take it.

A la perchoine.