SPRING?

Yesterday was officially the first day of spring, if someone had mentioned this to the weather it would have been well.

The icy blasts which are still finding every crack and keyhole in our ancient cottage is wreaking even worse havoc in my home county of Derbyshire, and in Cheshire where my mother now lives,

great drifts of snow are swirling about,making roads impassable and causing much damage.

Friends who live in the West Country report torrential rain and gales,causing much the same problems as the snow is causing in the north.

The birds,about who's doings I blithely wrote just a few days ago are now either huddled shivering in the ivy or piling in to the very boxes in which they are building their nests in an effort to keep warm!

Any plans I may have had of getting into the garden are shelved for the foreseeable future and instead I am huddled at my desk by the radiator in a bundle of woollies and a pair of fingerless gloves! Hot chocolate, hot porridge ,soups and stews are still the order of the day instead of home made lemonade,salads and a tray of tea in the orchard.

I noted this morning ,with some concern that the weather forecaster promised us that the snow could easily escalate to encompass the home counties.......oh bum! That's us! By tomorrow we too could be buried under a chilly blanket of snow.

Now it is well known that I am a lover of snow,besotted with the stuff in fact,but there comes a point when even the most ardent fan of the chilly stuff must cry “Enough.” We have reached saturation point in every respect, looking out over the garden ,blasted by wind and cold,even the few brave snowdrops look (shrammed) as they say Up North.

One thing is certain, if I hear anyone ,mention Global Warming I shall scream the place down,I swear to God!