A wonderful Winter walk in Yorkshire and back to the Vienne and minus 15!

Flew back today after spending a very pleasurable week in my home town of York (N.Yorks, UK) and in the company of my outstanding fiancee Gabrielle. Certainly not as cold there as it is back here in the middle of France - I've returned to -15C, frozen pipes and 10" of snow! As I write I'm defrosting bowls of snow in front of a roaring fire so that I can make myself a cup of coffee whilst Balloo's frozen water bowl is likewise defrosting so that he can slake his thirst. The cistern on the toilet is just a square block of ice and has cracked the pot surround, so obvious issues there ..... there's always a bucket I suppose but visiting the bathroom is like stepping back into the ice age!

So I'm staying put in the only warm place in the barn, in front of the wood burner ... oh and I have Bailey's courtesy of a special offer in duty free at East Midlands airport - so I'm more or less sorted!

Took my point n shoot camera back to the UK and whilst out on a late afternoon walk around the fields in Askham Bryan with Gabz I took these snaps.

This was a classic point and shoot moment as 2 happy girls ran past in the snow while we were walking through the Church yard ... to be honest Gabz was slightly unsure about whether I should be taking such pictures but I think its anonymous enough and I'm pleased with the shot

No anonymous girls in this shot, Gabz up and over a stile!

The evening sunlight, low in the sky was playing all sorts of tricks and in this shot the diffused light is because the setting sun was shining through a distant gate and illuminating the low lying freezing fog that began to chill us to the bone!

Talk about the 'bleak mid winter'! If you look closely you can see a cold looking moon (a sliver away from being a full one) rising in the background to this chilly hedgerow scene, but honestly who would be striding out on such an evening!

All credit to Gabz for spotting the setting sun through the mist as we trudged happily back for a cup of hot tea, I would have walked past this misty sunset (well it was on my blind side!). Wasn't sure which of the 2 pics came out best so I've posted both.

A lovely walk but hot tea never tasted so good afterwards!

Ok, well it was way too late to venture out with my camera on my return to La Macherie but tomorrow will see me out and about and I'm sure there are some wonderful Winter scenes out there just waiting to be captured ... tomorrow, but for now it's back to my good friend Mr Bailey and my guitar mistress Takemine!

A cold snap with plenty of snow in the Vienne

Freezing cold it might be here in the Vienne but you know what? This cold snap and heavyish snow fall (I reckon about 5 centimetres) has certainly brought a bit of vim n vigour to the land ... a bit of real Winter weather instead of all this namby pamby grey, damp nonsense!
So, out with the camera and binocs this morning and was rewarded with some reasonable snow pics, a selection of which are below

Plenty of birds about in the local fields and allotments, all foraging like mad for food in order to survive the cold snap. The usual variety of small birds - Reed Buntings, Greenfinch, Yellowhammers and Cirl Buntings ..... and here's one of each (can you tell which is which?

A fair number of Lapwings on the move, with about 200 over in total and whereas that could be expected in cold weather, I was surprised to see Common Cranes on the move also with 3 small flocks overhead and heading south west. I think this must represent a small population of over wintering birds somewhere to the north of here that tend to wander around from time to time in search of suitable grazing. Good to see anyway and got a few decent pics.

Back in the garden and the feeding frenzy that surrounds my bird feeders! Do hope you're all being kind to the birds if it's Winter where you are and if you want any tips on how best to help wild birds in Winter try this site http://www.rspb.org.uk/advice/helpingbirds/feeding/

Here's a couple of snaps out of the window at the barn, one of a Chaffinch on the ground and other a rather well fed looking Goldinch! Neither of these pics came out very well, not sure why but maybe shooting from inside has confused the light sensor on my camera.