A month of Winter in Spring

Dear reader,

It has been a long winter and I keep a daily diary and I looked back and found winter began on November the 3rd 2017 and ended April 1st 2018

The wet weather and snow as left its scars on the trees

April 4th left the house 8 20am (A day off work yea !!!) walked through the town onto the Parc Cwm Darran Trail, what I saw upset me. I am a lover of trees, I hug them, climb them shelter under them. I saw broken, splintered, chopped and the bared sad soul of many trees.  However a south-westerly wind is back and I smelt spring in the air. A curlew cried in the distance, above me a red flew out I noticed its left wing, had some white feathers missing.

Photos below of some of the fallen trees.

 

First time for everything. During my walks I saw a pair of King fishers above the dam from a distance I saw the electric blue spark. I rubbed my watery eyes and blinked again, yes I saw the pair again. I have seen King fishers before but not up where I live.

Flight of the stately as a galleon the Heron Parc Penallter

March 31st while out walking I decided to go on a path I have not walked in over a year. On top of the Graig it was bracing boggy underfoot, this was no problem I wore good boots and waterproofs. I walked past lambs teating their Mams skylarks liquid sound, in the distance woodpecker warning others, and a noisy nuthatch, I was at one with myself. Suddenly the path had disappeared, no worries I like an adventure. As I walked down the steep muddy non path, making my way towards the dam. I grabbed tree branches along the way but this was not good, the branches were brittle covered in moss and broke in my hands. This was okay wearing waterproof trousers I could slide down on my backside. When I reached the bottom to the no path, I realised I would have to cross the stream, I threw my backpack over to the other side, while I stood on the ledge “Do I jump? do I walk through? do I jump?” Yes repeating myself, I jumped over and in mid-flight I saw Doberman with his dog named Sam, walking over the bridge. “Hi yes there is no path so I thought” Stopped in mid sentence we both laughed. Photos below of the walk.

From March 1st to April 1st we have had winter in spring photos were taken while going to work and on days off.

    

 

 

Diary when the beast from the east met Emma

Thursday March 1st, We had enough warnings that the storm was coming and we thought we were prepared. It came on my birthday March 1st. Squally snow showers at first but the wind from the north gave the snow more shape and it left snow drifts over 6ft deep. A neighbour of mine boiler had packed in, she is 78 recovering from cancer. I walked up to her house and gave her a spare heater. On the way out I fell and bashed my wrist but I was okay. At home I phoned our County Councillor Tudor Davies. The Council came out on the same day (thank goodness and a thank you to Tudor Davies)Midday I cancelled my work, 2pm I knew I was not going out for my birthday meal and would not be going away the following day.

Friday March 2nd Our house faces east and there is nothing in front of us so we are  exposed. Early hours of Friday 2nd March the wind was howling at our front door, screaming in our conservatory which is on the front of the house. The beast from the east claws were making its way into our house. Snow piled high in the hallway and knee-high in the conservatory. I dug out our large beach towels to cover where the snow was. After I cleaned the snow away, I blocked the front door and lined the window sill in the conservatory with the remaining towels. John was poorly, a chest infection so he could not help me. Food wise we were well stocked and John had made soups and a beef casserole before he became ill.

Saturday 3rd March we were blocked in and out the back we have enclosed verandah, that took the brunt of most of the snow but later that day the snow came in there too. The snow drift in the back yarden looked like Pen Y Fan and Corn Ddu. Saturday afternoon out the front I heard a loud noise, behind the 6ft drifts. I saw  a JCB driving across the green chewing up the snow and the daffodils,  making its way to the shop on the estate and to clear a side street for the shop to open. This was good in one way, it fed the people and the shop owner earned his money. However, the street where I live is a bus route and for the first time in 26 years our street was not cleared by Caerphilly County Borough. There was not a thing I could do until Monday. So I sank into the weather and accepted the weather was beyond my control. Read books, watched programs I recorded.

Sunday 4th March I began to dig the snow from our front door and clear the path that led to our front garden gate. I used a spade and a large garden brush. It was hard work but I needed to get out. I put bird feed out for the birds, cracked open the ice in the water feeder and replaced the water. I walked knee-deep,  the road way onto the common the silence was deafening, smell of ice and deasil from big four by fours, the snow alabaster white and the common looked serene. suddenly in the distance I heard children’s laughter, coming from the small park. I sighed in delight. I remember when I was a child in the 1960’s, my siblings and I used a tray as a sleigh, with socks on our hands, pink nose and ears we played all day and we never felt the cold. Our house back then had no double glazing or central heating .

Monday 4th March could not get the car our 6ft snow drifts. I walked to our nearest chemist boots that is next door to our doctors surgery. John was still ill and he needed a cough mixture to move the muck off his chest. The pharmacist was more than helpful and I bought cough mixture that would benefit John. I walked to Bargoed library (the staff bless them were clearing the entrance) To return a book I borrowed. I walked above Bargoed country park making my way to the Capel Hotel, to let Angie the landlady know the poetry open mic that I run was cancelled. I arrived home worn out ,walking in deep snow is no fun not at my age ha ha. The cough mixture worked too. I phoned Caerphilly Borough Council regarding our street being bus route and how for the first time in 26 years it had not been treated. CCBC acted immediately. The machine they hired to dig the snow out was wonderful to watch and was every little boys & girls dream. It was bright red, black shovels and it lifted right and left and piled the snow onto the green that now looked like a Swiss mountain range.