Black and white world

Oh my, did I say snow was forecast? It is a very different scene from just the day before. First task apart from gawping at the fast disappearing car under a dusting of snow was to go out and do a bit of de-icing. These olive trees are not meant to be bowed down under the weight of an alien weather front. A good thwack with the broom and they turned back into trees and not stooped old men.

The vegetable garden looked rather festive and odd; hummocked shapes that used to be cabbage, purple sprouting brocolli and kale. In I waded, trying to remember where I planted the leeks.

By the time I got round to the herb garden I realised the peril of the frost hardy plants. How cold or snowed under can artichokes go? The leaves are so much more fragile than the mighty thyme and rosemary bushes which revived with a hefty swipe of the glove. I gently dusted as much as I could. But as it keeps on snowing this is going to be a tricky task.

The trees in the orchard look fine so far. But what a shock.

Once all the vegetables were unearthed, I mooched up to the shed. I wondered why dusk was falling so early; until like an idiot I realised that it was just the volume of snow on the perspex roof. Very gloomy and a bit like living in a cave. I swept the snow off the edges with a long handled rake, but it wasn’t madly effective.

Still, I did manage to tidy all my pots and have a stab at a general tidy.