Chinks and cracks
A day for staying close to home. Sophie and Angus have an early morning walk across country . We return to The Rickety Old Farmhouse through the hazelnut grove and the garden. It's one of those days when it's dry for three minutes, then rains for five. It does this over and over. Sometimes, for variety, there's a hint of sleet. Sophie, it goes without saying, loves it.
In Scotland you knew if it was going to be a harsh winter by the density of berries on the Cotoneaster. Natures way of providing food for the birds. Here, the bushes by the village church are thick with them. If this is anything to go by it's going to be a cold Christmas. Angus returns home and orders some insulating tape to block up the chinks around the front door where the wind manages to find its way in. The Rickety Old Farmhouse is a haven for wind channeling chinks and cracks which hide until it gets cold and then open up. I would usually pop into the hardware store for the insulating tape but the incidence of Covid has suddenly shot up and is now much higher than the numbers for London. Thankfully it will be delivered here , by post, tomorrow.
Half an hour after being toweled dry the family diva is still looking a little 'unkempt'.
7 comments:
Wow, I haven't thought of Cotoneaster in years! We had it in our yard in New Jersey when I was growing up. When we were in Kyoto last weekend, meandering along the "Philosopher's Path," I pointed out a bush just covered with red berries and told my husband it was Pyracantha (which we also had in our yard). Now I am wondering which it really was. It seems we are in for a cold (relatively speaking) winter in Tokyo as well. It's usually very pleasant here in December, but this year the gloves are on early.
A lovely version of "Silent Night." Sophie's paws look pristine as she walks across the garden (a wet-grass washing?) and seem a tad clouded in the kitchen! Living with three canids, we know a thing about the kitchen and paw prints! Here in SE USA, alternatively, it has been unseasonably hot and then cold.
A day for staying close to home?
Doesn't that describe just about every day for nearly two years!
Here, my hardy Thursday morning cycling group has decided the weather's good enough for a bike ride today. So we may venture as far a Banchory. Or Inverurie.
Lovely version of O Holy Night. Quietly mysterious.
Poor Sophie, we know just how she feels - the wind and rain play havoc with a girl's hair. Perhaps Angus, you could buy her a raincoat for wet days - and a set of welly boots? All indications are that it will be a sunny day here but spoiled by the gale force winds rattling round the garden all night. We've not been out yet to survey what damage it might have caused.
Plants like Pyracantha and Cotoneaster are ones I miss here. I don't think they would survive the hot summers. I'd still like to try growing them in a shady spot, but doubt they would sell them in the garden centres here.
Hari OM
Indeed a lovely rendering of Oh Holy Night... though the comments appeared to have no relationship to the music as such, but to a teenage show of which they were all enamoured! Whatever brings an audience to the classics...
Here in Scotland it is more the Rowans that were the indicator I always thought - though indeed all bush berries, hawthorn, holly, blackberries...and the cotoneaster. Grandad also told us it was not simply the proliferation and weight of the berries, but the speed at which the birds cleared them which he took to mean the depth of cold to prepare for. This year, the rowan and holly outside the Hutch's windows were bare of berries by the end of October...here in December, apart from the odd night, we still anticipate... even the weather cannot be relied upon to tell the truth these days. YAM xx
Only yesterday did I glue insulating tape into the side of the front door opening. The tape used to fall out in past winters so I decided to use a little wood glue to help fasten the tape. So far, so good. I know that it must be hard to believe that my front door is almost identical to yours. It is more than 200 years old and hails from Argentina.
Stay safe and stay well, Sophie needs you
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