Frost was heavy on the ground and ice had formed on the still water. I had woken early and decided to go for a walk. I love these footpaths that pass through the farms in England. On the outskirts of the village where we were staying the one I took skirted woodland on one side and climbed up to a vantage point looking over cultivated farm land on the other. Rabbits took off into the bush, a cock pheasant noisily broke cover and three fallow deer nonchalantly headed back into cover as I walked towards them. I briefly stopped to watch a skylark singing skyward. It had to be brief, the wind was so bitter; the clear night previously had now turned to low cloud with the promise of more snow.
We awoke yesterday to snow falling. We intended spending a few hours in Oxford doing a walking tour around the university colleges but the weather curtailed our plans somewhat. One moment the sun would be shining next we would have snow making us cover up. There was the odd bout of sleet with hail later in the day. Max temp was 5c. Seems to be all due to the front coming down from the Arctic.
It’s been good catching up with Adam, the hotel we are staying in is on the edge of the Cotswolds a few miles from Oxford. The room has a 4 poster bed, it’s warm and there’s a pub just down the road that serves good meals. It’s an ideal base to see more of the area the next couple of days.
Thanks for the people who post comments on the blog. We really appreciate hearing from you. Haven’t been able to post any photos yet, have just bought a new camera and have to work out how to downsize the images before I load them on.
The promise of snow I spoke about early didn’t take long to arrive. It is now falling heavily and building up on the ground due to the cold earth temps whereas yesterday it was melting as soon as it landed.
No comments:
Post a Comment