Jottings - February 14th - hibernating

 

Last week it was so very, very cold outside that getting up and doing something (anything) wasn't appealing. Days were dull and cold but with little snow, sunsets were fiery red, and the birdbath water froze solid for three days.

 Maybe the contrast between lovely warm indoors and freezing temperatures outside encourages us to be lazy; to curl up somewhere snug and semi-hibernate. Obviously if you have work to go to, a dog to walk, grocery-shopping to do, then staying huddled inside isn't an option. But I've nowhere I need to go and, having seen forecasts for heavy snow, did my shopping early. 

So I stayed in. 

I tended to the sourdough (made my best loaf so far, plus naan, pizza and dumplings from the discard), 

I started reading Troy by Stephen Fry (one of my Christmas presents) and continued my Wii Lego journey through Middle Earth - that's nearly finished with just a few irritating tasks left to do, and I've decided to start a Lego Pirates of the Caribbean alongside.  Made cake with aquafaba, coconut water and blackberries from the freezer 

I finished the gloves/hat/scarf set made with another Christmas present, and I'm now at that 'find the next project' stage. 

Other places had huge snow drifts or beautiful icicles worth walking to see. We just had cold, iron-hard ground with the lightest covering of snow. On Tuesday I went out in the hope of finding some snow away from pavements and roads ... but didn't, although falling snow made pretty stars on my coat. 

Too Cold To Snow?

While the rest of the country has been smothered by snow or wandering through ice-encrusted wonderlands, this is as exciting as things got here.

It's definitely been cold - so cold that the water in the bird bath has been frozen solid for three days (don't worry I've put out a plantpot saucer of water and if the ice won't tip out in the mornings I'll just put out another) - and snow has fallen, but for some reason it hasn't settled. 

On Tuesday I went out for a short walk, hoping that by moving slightly uphill and away from houses/pavements/roads there'd be more snow. 

There wasn't.

But I've tried to make it look as snowy as possible.

Looking north into Derbyshire, there were certainly more signs of the white stuff.

While we were out more snow fell, coming down in perfect snowflake shapes that lingered on my coat. I've never seen this before, and it's magical.

That snow shower gave a light coating to ground and branches, but didn't last long.

 

Chatsworth February half-term

An amazingly warm day for February - and the only dry one this week - so as Chatsworth farmyard and shops were open we decided to visit.
As we half-expected, the farmyard and play area were very busy but away from there the grounds were quiet and peaceful.
the gardens aren't open yet so we decided to walk up to the Hunting Tower - teenager has never been up there - and along to the Viaduct.
It was even warm enough to sit out in the Stables Courtyard for lunch!

an early infinity pool

the Viaduct

lunch! carrot and pumpkin soup