Joys of Winter

Scotland's the place to be Jingle! The sun is shining, the sky is blue, the sea is calm as a mill pond and the temperature has risen to the dizzy heights of 7 degrees today, they're selling salt by the ton in the local garden centre and in the village there's a stock of snow shovels just waiting for the white stuff to fall

What bit of lovely Scotland are you in, butternut? if you told us before, I missed it. I'm in Argyll, but not as far west as it's possible to be . I think I'm about as far wet as it's possible to be though!

for 'nowhere' read 'anywhere'!

Yes, somewhere nice, Jinglej, but have just returned from the tiny supermarket where not a drop of milk is to be had! That's the downside of living miles from nowhere.

Coming from a farming family I suppose I could always go and milk the neighbours' cows.

Scotland is very nice, n'est pas?

No rowan berries of any colour left up here. Haven't been for weeks! Gee those Cheshire blackbirds are slow!

Is everyone in Scotland?! Apart from Butternut, who is somewhere nice.

Fieldfares! First ones I've seen this autumn/winter.

Today the blackbirds have started on the yellow rowan berries. They won't touch them until all the red ones are finished and some years there are still yellow ones left at Christmas. The temperature has been down in single figures most days this week, so when the geraniums, petunias and begonias are done, it will be time to fill the pots with bulbs.

Oh well, it won't rain here then, jingle, because the sun isn't up at seven at this time of year! Still pissed down the last couple of days, but we have sunshine today.

Sorry to lower the tone.

Getting out of bed to go to the lav on these pre-heating mornings and getting really cold. Then snuggling back in the warm.

Delicious.

How lovely, butternut! We get some lovely late afternoon light that does that in the winter months. Also pink dawns that make the hills pink too if they have snow on them.

Sun before seven, rain by eleven.

Low morning sun set the countryside on fire. Stunning.

Our blackbird brothers are stripping the beautiful berries off our Transitoria.

Will it be a hard winter I wonder?

ariadne.

Goldfinches too, now.

And, despite the fact that the leaves haven't dropped yet, the garden robin was at the back door early this morning looking hopeful.

Oh! They brought some siskins with them! It's popular, our silver birch. Now I need to go and do some work. Bagsing off.

And the redpolls are back!

Two jays eating hen food, and snow on the Arrochar hills. A little on The
Cobbler, a little more on Beinn Narnain, and a little more again on Beinn Ime . Couldn't see them yesterday for stair-rods but it's a wee bit clearer today, as well as colder.

We're having one too, with one of our wood-burning stoves .

Have a lovely snug (smug) evening.

Throwing a log on the, newly installed, log burner!..............er is there a smug icon?

I love putting the garden to bed in the autumn, and have spent the afternoon cutting back my lavender bushes which encased me in their wonderful scent.

I look forward to the spring too, goldengirl. I remember Mum saying it was the best of times when the trees put on their new spring coats.

None! Looking forward to the SPRING