We had listened slightly enviously to the reports from UK and from the east coast of Ireland last week as the snow came down and the population slithered about, schools were closed and kids had a chance to go tabogganing. This bit of Ireland does not tend to get much snow. We miss out when the forecast says "on NW coastal areas" as we are not very coastal. Galway is the coastal county; we are next inland. We miss out too when you hear "falling as snow or sleet on high ground". Although we are up a ridge at 75m, 'high ground' in these parts means the towering Cliffs of Moher, the mountains of Connemara and the 700m Maumturks. By the time the air has flowed across those and been pushed uphill, there's no snow left for us 'down' here.
We are, though, very careful what we wish for - 2 years ago the locals tell us, there was a memorable exception to this rule, when Feigh was covered with 15 inches and they were effectively snowed in for 2 weeks, only able to get about because most people have tractors. We naturally keep in good supplies of dry goods like rice and pasta, tins and jars and bags of coal.
Liz first spotted our snow yesterday evening when giving the dogs a 'last out' but neither of us really thought it would 'stick'. I have had too many dashed hopes as a lad when you'd be sent off to bed watching the snow come down but by morning it would be all gone and you'd wake up to green grass and wet, black roads. Mind you, I cannot recall any of these school closures affecting us in the 60's and 70's like they do now, but Pud Lady may remember this differently. I am sure we just had to plod to school through the snow and if the heating was off, sit there with our coats on clock-watching till each 'play time' or the finish-bell.
So it was the child in me who woke up, saw the whiteness outside and sprang into action, racing out with the dogs for an explore and to take a few pictures at 07:45. The early hour and the dawn-break light explains the dark blue colouring on the first pictures in this post - I wanted to 'get' those, consolidated if you like, before the snow melted away. I also brought Liz her tea at that early hour so that she wouldn't miss it. We needn't have worried - the snow stayed around for most of the morning and gave us a chance to enjoy it.
Other than Deefer (6) Ginny and Padfoot (3?) all our animals are too young to have seen winter before, never mind snow. The chickens were amusingly un-impressed and stayed in their coop till way past 10:00 eventually emerging to tread carefully only those bits where the snow had melted, up against buildings and under the car port. The geese were happier and took to charging about in it. They pad-pad around but then seem to get bursts of enthusiasm. open their wings, lift their heads and CHARGE across the snow and grass for 30-40 yards flapping and honking. They don't particularly go anywhere or end up anywhere. It just seems to be for the sheer joy or 'dashing through the snow' like in the song. They are pure white, of course, certainly compared to the Westies, so they can be fairly invisible.
The dogs are generally on leads these days due to the incidents with the rooster and going AWOL and because even Deefer has not yet been 'trained on' the new geese. We decided it would be nice for them to have a proper, off lead chase about in the snow, so we hooshed the geese out of their orchard field, took the dogs in and unleashed them. They had a whale of a time charging about romping and battling with each other and running in big circles round the trees. They rapidly accumulated big 'klingons' of frozen snow in the fur on their feet and bellies and would then sit down in the snow and try to bite these off.
The geese, we noticed, evicted from their field during the dogs' games, went for an explore on their own, disappearing for a while and then reappearing on the front lawn, a place they had not visited till that point. We want them to get used to the front lawn for their mowing and burglar-alarm abilities, so it was nice to see them there. Their tracks in the snow told us they'd taken the long way round, through the yard and up the 'primrose path' drive. All good exploring for them.
While we're on 'tracks in the snow' it was good to see first thing this morning that there were no fox tracks anywhere so it may be that we do not have that particular problem just now.
The cats also enjoyed them selves and stayed out a long time, never seeming to accumulate the 'klingons'. Perhaps they tread more delicately and stick to the frozen, dry stuff or they might be more insulated and they do not melt the snow which comes into contact with their fur.
That was that, really. We enjoyed what there was for a few hours but by mid morning the rain started and the temperature came up through 4 degrees towards 8 and we were quickly washed back to green grass, dark paths, brown mud and a few slushy patches. Whether that's it for the winter remains to be seen, but I hope you enjoy my pictures from your (I hope) nice warm computer desks or armchairs.
We fed extra rations to the rabbits, whose grass was buried under snow for the morning and the chooks and geese have had extra sprouted grain today. The dogs were brought back in, cleaned of their 'klingons' and toweled dry. We have all been enjoying the warmth of the range and listening to the wind outside, well hunkered down indoors.
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