And We Shall Have Snow!

Sunday morning brought the first snow of 2026 - just a light covering, which gradually melted away over the course of the day, but it was nice to see while it lasted.

Then this morning - on Twelfth Night no less - we opened the curtains to a real Winter Wonderland.

(Couldn't resist a quick snap of the Tree - soon to be dismantled until December rolls round again - but for once with an actual snowy scene outside the window).

It continued to snow for a while, before giving way to a beautiful crisp sunny morning:

In the afternoon we headed out with our snow boots on for a walk in the sunshine.  (Couldn't go further afield as our road appears to be off the gritting route now, and it stayed snow-bound for the rest of the day). 

It was just lovely though - felt a bit like being back in Norway, with the snow all crisp and white and sparkling in the sunshine.

Took lots of photos and enjoyed it while we could - before tomorrow's rain washes it all away . . .

Posts that Didn't Happen: January 2025

And on to January 'proper' . . .

After our festive wanderings, it was home again, home again on New Year's Day - welcomed back by a (possible) view of the Northern Lights.  See picture of 'reddish' glow!

Within the week the weather began to turn really cold, and we even had a smattering of snow - which morphed into ice on our country roads, keeping us home for a couple of days or so.

Van 'planning' continued despite the weather, with various plumbing bits being ordered, kitchen units measured up for, and electrical work actually underway.  Here's a view of the 'in progress' electric control cupboard.

Later in the month we were heading back across country again, fitting in a birthday visit to Stratford-upon-Avon along the way.  A few days with family, sorting out medical appointments and other bits and pieces, and enjoying some Moo time (not sure she appreciated her Dad's attempt at hair dressing!). 

Home again to yet more stormy weather - although 'Eowyn' was far less destructive in our neck of the woods than 'Darragh', and our new prom lights made it through unscathed:

By the end of the month, there were even signs that Spring was on its way, with some early daffodils appearing in a sheltered spot down the road from us.   

Looking forward to some warmer days ahead . . .

Unexpected Snow!

Woke up this morning to hear Martin saying I wasn't expecting that!

Cue much hasty activity with the camera before it all melted in the sunshine - didn't take long, but it was pretty while it lasted . . .

Could Have Been Worse

Back from another trip across country to visit family - this one a tad on the fraught side . . .

Friday was a real 'Jonah Day' - took the car into town to get some bits and pieces for my parents - parking in one of the few 'timed' ANPR monitored car parks.  It was only on the the way back to the car though that this fact struck me - and at a rough calculation I left somewhere around 5-10 minutes over my time.  All of which put me into a foul mood - with the prospect of having to pay a £90 fine for just 'not thinking'!*

Then, having just about recovered my equilibrium, went out to the car to go and fetch fish and chips, and found it had a flat tyre!

Luckily the brother-in-law knew someone who was able to sort it for me - but we did have to have a new tyre (fitted at 10.45pm that night by the roadside!).

By then I was of course looking out for the third car related event - which duly had me stopping at the side of a busy A14 the next day trying to reattach a windscreen wiper in the wind and rain!  (Managed to jam it back on, but used the wipers with some restraint on the rest of the journey despite encountering rain, sleet and snow!).

Of course it wasn't all bad - there was family time, and cuddles with Marci Moo (seen here enjoying a lick of beer).

And the snow did at least provide some nice views on the final leg of the journey home:

*Update - after watching the post for a couple of weeks, it seems I was stressing for nothing, as no ticket arrived.  Either I miscalculated and I was still ok, or was over such a short amount of time I was given some grace!

Cold and Stormy Days

The weather continued colder and brighter for a few days after our walk up Consti - in fact we even made a second trip later in the week!  

We actually saw a dash of snow one day - all good for the 'meadow' which we'd planted up with Yellow Rattle seeds that need some colder weather to prime them to germinate.

Hoping that if that 'takes' we may actually have more success with other meadow plants, as it is supposed to suppress the grass and help other more delicate wildflower plants to flourish.  

Just have to wait and see what comes up!

Of course the cold days soon gave way to more wet and windy weather - with Storm Isha hitting us hard enough to do some serious damage to the polytunnel.  Martin made a temporary repair, but we'll have to replace the cover for the new growing season - although we'll wait for better weather first! 

Back to Winter

After a spell of warm and sunny Spring weather (welcoming the start of British Summer Time), it seems like winter has returned with a vengeance - with snow and overnight frosts. 

Time to dig out some old decorating sheets - trying to provide the budding azaleas with some form of protection - and switch the rayburn back on.

Hopefully the sun will be back with us before too much longer!

This Year's Snow?

I don't think we had any snow at all last year - but we did wake up this morning to a light covering . . .

Can't say it lasted long - but it was at least something different for the few hours it lasted!

And on the basis of the last few years that is probably it for 2021 . . .

Last Blast of Winter?

Hailstorms in Aberystwyth left our primroses sitting in a bed of ice yesterday . . .

. . . and travelling to London today there had evidently been snow in mid-Wales overnight.

Hopefully that's it for winter now!

Holi-Days

A week off and a bit of a 'staycation' . . .

Started out in the cold - icicles on the car and flurries of snow - walking the prom in the sun as snow fell around us! 

Made sure to keep the bird feeders well stocked - although they weren't the only flying things in our skies:
















Martin cooked up a batch of bara brith (here wrapped and ready for freezer) while I made sticky toffee puddings, and cherry brownies - getting the baking done while the rayburn is still on!







Got out into the garden, went for a few walks, and took a trip to Aberaeron - spotting fairy doors on the path out to Llanerchaeron.



Ended the week though in almost-summer sunshine, with a nordic walk looping round the hills across from the house, and some fantastic views . . .

Beast from the East

After a couple of bitterly cold days (even got sent home from work when the heating failed!), the so-called 'Beast from the East' finally brought snow West with high winds and snow flurries overnight on Thursday.

Got up Friday morning to a snowy world - with drifts of snow around the garden (some deep, although in other areas there was very little snow cover at all):








Took a 'snow day' since there was the promise of more snow to come, and I'd brought some work home with me.

Still very windy out as well, blowing the snow into more drifts - although the forecasted further snowfall never really materialised.

By this morning much of it was already melting, at least in our garden - the mountain road into town was closed though (no milk or fresh veg to be found in the shops today!).



The snow drift at the end of the drive might also be with us for a while yet . . .

Winter Wonderland

Left the house this morning just as it started to snow - already a light dusting on the car . . .









Arrived in work - just a few minutes later - and it was snowing quite heavily, already settling on the road outside the office.


And it continued to snow for most of the rest of the morning - with Aberystwyth gradually turning into a Winter Wonderland:

By lunchtime though it had stopped snowing, and by the time I left work it had almost all melted - a different world.  It was pretty while it lasted though . . .

Snowy Sunday

In common with most of the rest of the country, today we had snow - perhaps not as much other places - but, actual snow . . .

In fact it snowed for most of the day - even quite heavily at times - although we only ended up with a light covering, and the roads remained pretty clear.





By the evening, when it had stopped, it did all look very festive . . . 



Unfortunately (or fortunately - depending on your viewpoint), it had mostly gone by the morning, although I did have to spend a good twenty minutes or more removing the impacted snow and ice from the car!

Journey South

Having left Kirkenes, we were now on the Southward leg of the Voyage - retracing our route / revisiting ports, but on a different schedule . . .

Here we were in Hammerfest mid-morning (on the way North we stopped briefly at around 5am).  It wasn't the nicest of days weather-wise - lots of snow - which continued throughout the day and into the evening, as we sailed south:











Later that night, we arrived back in Tromsø, where I headed out to the Arctic Cathedral for a Midnight Concert - beautiful music / acoustics, although the inside of the cathedral isn't as impressive as its exterior.

Nice views of Tromso by night though:

The next day we were back into snowy sunshine at Harstad - visiting the medieval Trondenes Church and its neighbouring Historical Centre, as part of a tour of the Vesterålen region.

Great view of the Finnmarken itself too, as it sailed on to the next port (where we were due to rejoin the ship later in the day):

That evening we were back in Svolvaer (which we saw briefly by night when Northbound) - it was considerably livelier on this occasion, with a cod-fishing contest drawing in the crowds.

The harbour area was packed with boats, and the town with people (with more arriving by coach and taxi by the minute).

The bars and restaurants were doing excellent business - add some marquees, and loud music, and it looked like it was going be a very good night!

Enjoyed the sights and sounds (including this lit map feature on the side of one of the hotels) - before returning to the ship.


The next day saw us cross back out of the Arctic Circle, and we began to see the snow disappearing at ground level (by our return visit to Trondheim it had gone completely).

On the final leg of the journey we didn't really stop anywhere for very long, and the weather was decidedly grey - no more sightings of the aurora, but still some sights to see (such as this bridge at Kristiansund).


Next stop Bergen, and the flight home!

Northern (De)Lights!

Still heading North, and our next stop took us back to Honningsvåg near the North Cape . . .


As we'd visited before the plan had been to head out on an excursion, only high winds and drifting snow meant we couldn't get out of town.


So that left us with a sunny couple of hours to revisit the delights of Honningsvåg . . . but this time in the snow (of which there was a lot, mostly piled up on the sides of the roads in giant heaps).


And again it was the snow that made the day, as we crunched our way along . . .

. . . dodging the snow shoveller as it worked its way through those heaps of snow, shunting them away for dumping in the sea . . .





. . . while old ladies scooted past us on their wooden sleds with their shopping!


By mid-afternoon we were heading back out to sea, watching the scenery go by.  This included passing by Finnkirka, a rock formation which resembles a church from a distance, and which was apparently used as a landmark by the local fisherfolk, indicating that they weren’t too far from a safe harbour:

The next day saw us reach the final destination on the Northbound section of our voyage - arriving in Kirkenes, close to the Russian border.



Here we'd booked ourselves onto an excursion to the Snow Hotel, which was located a short drive out of town - past First Lake, Second Lake and Third Lake (as named by miners who evidently lacked anything resembling a poetic turn of phrase!).




The hotel itself is mostly constructed from packed snow (which has better insulating properties than ice), although it has an ice bar through the main entrance, followed by a series of rooms (decorated with snow carvings) leading into a permanent facilities block:

Another highly enjoyable trip (everything looked fantastic in the sunshine), although I'm not sure I'd want to stay in the hotel (no windows, so it felt quite claustrophobic).  The hotel is part of a larger complex though - the cabins with large north facing windows (for viewing the Lights) looked much more comfortable.  It was also another husky sledding centre so we got to see more dogs (plus they also had reindeer!).

On the drive back to the ship, we stopped (rather precariously) at a viewpoint above the town - stunning vistas looking across to the ship and the sea:

So far, these posts have said a lot about the days, but what about the nights?  And more specifically the Lights (Northern), which were of course a big inspiration for the whole trip.  Over the last couple of nights we had seen them, but on the night after leaving Kirkenes, we had a brief window where they were truly lovely . . .

(Kudos to Martin for persevering with trying to capture what we could see on camera - not easy on board a moving ship!)