Sunday 5 February 2012

*Happy Dance* Time

YAY! At last!
After one of the weirdest, mildest winters in ages - and a vastly different one to last year, we've finally got some snow! It was a bitterly cold minus 9 yesterday morning and the snow arrived bang on the time predicted by the weathermen....so they can get it right sometimes then!


Whilst my inner 8 year old was doing the Happy Dance, Nala the kitten was slightly less impressed with her first foray into the big white world!

Sedum heads


A splash of colour from the Cornus

My solar powered Japanese lanterns won't be doing a lot tonight :P

This red bush Acer seemed so much more vibrant this morning than it looks in the photo.

Ceefer cat (who's cool about the snow) inspecting the Acer in the Japanese Garden.

The Tea House and top pond

As I had recently spotted a couple of fish that the heron must have missed, Himself decided to gently break the ice on the pond for them. A fox had had a wander across the pond in the night!

Are you dancing happy?! :D

19 comments:

Liz said...

Hi Liz,

Indeed the weatherman did get the snow right, shame he didn't get the promise of rain/sleet after to wash it all away correct!
Grrrr.
Dreading the drive to work in the morning, dunno what to do :(
Finger's crossed that it's gone by morning and I need not worry.

BilboWaggins said...

Dear Inner-8-year-old, good job you're not here then, still Green and Pleasant Land on the west coast {grin}.

Lovely photos, you're right, Nala doesn't look very impressed at all!

Catherine@AGardenerinProgress said...

The first snow of the winter is always the best. You had a late one, we've had just our only one a couple of weeks ago. This weekend it's been like spring.
Enjoy your pretty snow!

Britta said...

Dear Liz,
beautiful snow photos! Your cat doesn't look that happy - but very decorative. Berling is so cold - minus 17°C sometimes in daytime, though dry and sunny - that even an ardent walker like me only skips out for a few minutes. But we don't have very much snow.

Nutty Gnome said...

Hi Liz, hope your drive to work was okay this morning - the roads seem okay here in Chesterfield, but I know there was a crash on the Dronfield bypass.I phoned Andy to check he was okay as he goes that way to Rotherham. The accident was on the other side, fortunately, but it had taken them 1&1/2 hours by that point and they were still on the Sheffield ring road!
Not sure you're going to get your rain today either...it's forecast to drop to about -7 again and it keeps trying to snow again here! Just drive carefully eh!

Nutty Gnome said...

Hi Bilbo - my inner 8 year old would be well hacked off at knowing that there was snow in the country but not where I was!!!

Nala has only just been allowed to start going out (now she's been 'done'!), so the change was a shock to her at first. She soon got to grips with it though and loved it ...but her paw pads were a bit red last night!

Nutty Gnome said...

Hi Catherine - I bet your little gardeners loved the snow?! More snow and severe cold is forecast here, but I don't think we'll reach last year's dizzy heights of -15 and 2" of snow!

It's still a bit of a shock to the system after our ridiculously warm winter so far - and I suspect that all the flowers that had bloomed early will be shrivelled up and feeling very sorry for themselves right now! :(

Nutty Gnome said...

Hi Britta, -9 here on Saturday was cold enough for me thanks!!! :P

Actually I don't mind very dry cold, but the damp cold we often get here chills me right through - so I do cope better when it's much colder and drier! Perverse or what?!

Sue Garrett said...

I', not really a snow person - I like to look at it but that is all!

I think we compare this year with last and think mild but we have had plenty of winters without snow really. I thought plants were really early this year until I looked back at photos taken in past years and maybe they aren't really!

Pondside said...

A good layer of snow makes the garden look like a fairyland! Enjoy it while it lasts!

Sue Catmint said...

thank you for sharing your fairyland garden that is completely foreign to anything I have ever experienced. Nala is very cute.

Nutty Gnome said...

Hi Sue. You're right about having plenty of winters without snow and last year was a bit excessive snow-wise, but this year - round here anyway, has definitely been very mild. I can't remember another winter in the 10 years we've been in this house that I've been able to garden without 83 layers on in December! :)

Nutty Gnome said...

Hi Pondside - nice to see you again :) I'm enjoying the snow and secretly hoping for a bit more! It's all a bit icy at the moment and forecast to be minus 9 or 10 here tonight :(
I do love how pretty the garden and the hills in the distance look in the snow :)

Nutty Gnome said...

Hi Catmint - I guess you don't get much snow in Melbourne then? Lol!

If you think this is a fairyland, have a look at the following link :D

http://nuttygnome.blogspot.com/2010/12/i-think-i-know-where-narnia-is.html

Now THAT'S a fairyland!!!

Yes, Nala is cute ...but not aas cute as Ceefer (who is my cat - or I'm his main staff, I'm not quite sure which way round it is some days!)

RURAL said...

So it was -9 C? Just like here? Wow that's cold for you guys isn't it?

Dry cold, or moist cold? Brrrrr...

Can you show more pics of the tea house next time? That looks wonderful.

Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams

Casa Mariposa said...

Please tell your snow to send some to Virginia/DC!! I didn't realize your pond went around the tea house!! That is the coolest thing ever!

Nutty Gnome said...

Hi Jen, you're right, -9 is chuffin' cold for here! Not as bad as last winter when we got down to -15 though!!!

I will indeed be doing a post on the finishing off of the tea house very soon. It is a thing of beauty and is now in work as my treatment room - I do reiki, reflexology and teach tai chi. (It's a bit cosy for tai chi, but do-able on a 1-1 basis)

I've promised Bilbo Waggins a post on finishing off the pond extension, then I'll do the tea house post!

Lavender and Vanilla Friends of the Gardens said...

Hi Liz, it seems you can frolic in the snow and have after a nice cup of tea in your lovely tea house! I have not been around in the blog scene so much anymore. The plants look pretty with there white hats. You and your garden have a rest, while mine is on the prowl...weeds..hot and humid but autumn is just around the corner. Best wishes T♥

Kathryn/plantwhateverbringsyoujoy.com said...

Hi, Liz, Can't believe you are celebrating snow! LOL! Perhaps it's gone by now and you are bathed in soft sunshine these afternoons! Surprised to hear you have a fox around! But fox, fish, heron all sounds enticing and poetic and fun and full of life. xoxo