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Saturday, December 05, 2015

WINTER

I tend to change my blog-head image in line with the seasons. I like to reflect aspects of this "Little Corner of the Earth". Hence you will now find a snowy landscape looking towards the scarp which defines the limit of Romney Marsh.

I know, I know….the weather is at present pretty clement for December but in my book the winter months are December, January & February and that means snow. I quite enjoy snow, more so now I am retired and can choose when to enjoy it and when to leave it alone.

 I am 76 (very nearly 77) and I can only remember two white Christmases; that clichéd description of an event often described but seldom happening.

To be out in the snow by purpose is to become an adventurer, a lone individual. Motorcycling can be difficult in snow although I can remember, when young, some joyous occasions when it was done by choice. 


and others, when commuting to army camp, when my frozen, set knees would not let me get off the bike and sheets of ice fell from me!

But cycling, provided the roads are not iced can be most pleasant. Floating through an unpeopled, silent landscape. It’s good when you leave off, too. To sit somewhere, unhitch the flask of brandy-slugged coffee and perhaps the odd mince pie or two, gradually feeling warmth returning to frozen extremities as the liquid does its job.


My daughter, of old blog signature HHnB (now sadly no “B” as Bryn the Australian Blue Heeler succumbed to old age last year) and her husband are returning to the UK from Australia to spend a month with us over Christmas. She is so hoping for some snow. An English girl, she remembers snow with affection – even rain and mud will be a pleasure!
  

She copes (just about, with air con) in the Perth W.A. climate but always longs for British weather and this will be the first time in some 15 years that they have returned in winter. So we hope for a little of the white stuff to “please a lady”
When icicles hang by the wall,
And Dick the shepherd blows his nail,
And Tom bears logs into the hall,
And milk comes frozen home in pail,
When blood is nipp’d and ways be foul,
Then nightly sings the staring owl
Tu-whit;
Tu-who, a merry note,
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.


8 comments:

Lucy said...

Lovely to know HHB will be overwintering with you!

Our hardy winter travellers are currently held on the other side of the Channel by seasonal gales, and we're hope we will be able to make it to snowy Iceland.

pohanginapete said...

I enjoy snow, too, but that's at least partly because it's a novelty for me unless I make an effort to seek it out. That usually requires a long climb onto the tops of the Ruahine Range. Here, of course, we're in early summer, and I have to say I prefer the warmth and the long days.

Anonymous said...

Hallo Pa,
See you soon!
I remember that school coat. Gabardine. The scarf was yellow and the gum boots de rigueur!
HHB The daughter x

artpropelled said...

Love the new header. Rather envious of your cool weather. Please send the daughter my love and hope you all have a wonderful month together.

Avus said...

Lucy:
I hope the winds drops for you (and for me - it precludes cycling at present and I am going stir-crazy!)
P'Pete:
Yes, I must admit that warm, sunny days are beginning to be my preference too, since arthritis increases with age - cold and damp don't help.
Duaghter:
Don't you look the image of a neat and tidy schoolgirl. See you on Tuesday. x
Robyn:
Thanks for visiting and your approval of the header. I shall see Susan on Tuesday when they arrive from Oz to spend Christmas with us and shall convey your felicitations to her.

Rodrob said...

Avus: I think I could have done without learning that Blue Dog was done for. The initials HHB came easily to hand and there was always this minor conceit that the Voice Of Western Australia was in some way connected with the British government or, perhaps, Buck Palace. Mind you I suppose any abbreviation would be just as evocative. My regards to the Voice and hubby, still grandly bearded I assume. She tolerated my endless questions about the nature of Oz, occasionally comments on Tone Deaf (sadly anonymously self-identified as Anonymous) and once posted a photograph of her book-shelf which led to a pleasant twenty minutes with a magnifying glass, as I tried to read the spines.

Roderick Robinson said...

Gros Calin is a Blogger aberration, a blast from the past, the result of tinkering with the sign-in procedure. It is for one thing a very funny novel (in French) by Romain Gary, it is also a fledgling blog done entirely in French that seemed like a good idea back in 2009, very quickly less so. One of those show-off gestures by the most pretentious of your commenters - otherwise known as RR.

Avus said...

RR:
I hope my daughter sees your comment (she will anyway in a couple of days time when she arrives here).
see also my next post