Oh, The Weather Outside is Frightful.....

Yeah. So. Bit nippy. I've been at my sisters place kitten sitting and all was going swimmingly....until it suddenly went all winter.  The rest of the country has been languishing under harsh blizzard and icy conditions for the past week, but so far the very south has been immune...much to my disappointment.

Then last night the disgusting freezing murk, which had been the weather condition of choice for the last few days, was happily replaced by perfectly formed crystals of H2O falling....and most importantly settling...we all got a little excited, apart from the kittens that is who were utterly confused.

Like a small child at Christmas I was up at the crack of dawn...after politely declining the request to go out the night before to build a snowman in my pyjamas at 11pm, as suggested by a certain Floridian...*coughs* Kim *coughs*...up and out shortly after 8am I wandered through Old Portchester Village to the Castle.

How about this for some stereotypical winter scenes

Unfortunately the gates to Castle were shut, but I managed to walk all the way round the outer wall.

And the snow was virtually untouched since it was so early...after I'd wandered around...not so much...meh

Stopped by this lamp post to see if Mr. Tumnus was about, alas no

I did manage to get a pic of the church through the gate, that sky looks a little ominus

I found a little wooded glen which had yet to be explored in the snow which was frightfully festive indeed.

Yet still no characters from Narnia....starting to think that it's not a real place y'know ;-)

 And then there was the village itself, ancient thatched cottages with rickety roofs and fences...how very 'Ye Olde England'

Unfortunately the snow was too powdery to attempt a decent snowman, but I did find enough to thrash my sister in a snowball fight, her partner's sudden disappearance as the snowballs started flying shows what a big wimp she is.  I did however end up, rather suspiciously I might add, with a self imploding snowball which covered my face and most of my upper body with snow....and that stuff gets everywhere, including the underside of my glasses, in my mouth and up my nose....good times!


Shortly after we retreated back into the flat to thaw out and I'm currently relaxing under a warm blanket with A Muppets Christmas Carol on the telly....even contemplating cracking open the hot chocolate, on the whole a un-sucky snow day.

Snow Day!...Again

Most of the country is still snow bound, we really don't handle even a light dusting of the white stuff too well on these shores...Oh, how Canadians and Scadanavians must be chortling at our British uselessness.  Schools are still closed, many roads are still impassable, pavements are a lawsuit waiting to happen and services are limited (we've had no post since last Tuesday, all rubbish collections are off kilter), salt for the roads are in desperate short supply in some areas, shops have little but sprouts to offer (which may lead to further disruptions....Greenhouse gas, weird weather, Arctic winter in UK, nothing but sprouts in shops....Greenhouse Gas etc) and still those pesky Arctic conditions refuse to loosen their grip.

Today I managed to leave the house and venture to one of my most favourite places, and one which I have never seen in such conditions...mainly because in my 30 years I have NEVER seen such conditions...so, to Kingley Vale where I ooh-ed and ahh-ed at the scenery, engaged in some snow realted activites and completely pummled dear 'ol dad with snowballs:

In the summer it looks like this...

And today...

 

 

 

 

 

 Assortment of wintery scenes.....

 

 

 

 

Not my handywork, but this was a full size Igloo

 

My attempt at a snow Dalek....didn't really have the right utensils (ie a couple of plungers and a whisk)

 

 

Crikey...those drifts are deep....

 

Actually the snow was about 8-10 inches and my tomfoolary led to the following situation....

The Big Freeze

It's only 2 degrees warmer than the South Pole in some areas of the UK as 'The Big Freeze' continues, I've never known such a continuous cold snap in my lifetime...and, all travel, power and food issues aside, I must say I much prefer it to the copious amounts of rain we experienced a couple of months ago....* I reserve the right to change my mind when I can no longer feel my toes.

Britain from space 7th January 2010

Dad and I ventured out today locally it dropped to -7 last night and all the snow has now turned to compacted ice, but the sun had his hat on and it was all sparkling like glitter.  Many roads are closed up to the Downs National Park area, so we decided not to chance it, instead we wandered over to Pagham Nature Reserve....somewhere I frequent during the summer months due to it's peace and quiet

This was the view from my bedroom window on Tuesday evening

Looking towards the Downs from Pagham Harbour

 

At low tide the Harbour is frozen solid

 

Icicles hanging off my favourite bench

 

 

Nearby fields

 

Snow covered Goodwood visible in the distance

 

My favourite spot to sit in the summertime

 

 

My view after I slipped and fell on my arse.....

 

Actually I managed to stay upright and would have bounced anyway since I was wrapped up in many many layers, it's bloomin' taters in the mould

 

I'm sure the sunset was amazing but I was beginning to lose the feeling in my fingers and toes so opted not to hang about

The resident pony.....

Who wanted to eat my scarf