White as Snow

Remember that picture of the daffodils in the snow from yesterday's post? Well today there are no daffodils to be seen anywhere in our garden. Instead there is only white. Snow had been forecast but we were still stunned when we saw just how much had fallen overnight. I have no idea why I keep being surprised by such events as the very worst snowfalls we have ever had in this house took place around the middle of March and I remember it well as I was meant to go and give a talk in Dumfries. When I woke up that time the snow was halfway up the garage door so for the one and only time ever I cancelled! We were also snowed in for 10 days once, hardly able to even walk down the lane, a few years after that, at the beginning of March,  and at that occasion a JCB had to come and dig us all out. It wasn't quite that bad today. And to begin with at least the sun was shining so it all looked wonderfully pretty, as you can see above

I guess the quantity of snow that had fallen was around 4 to 5 inches but as there was also a stiff and chilling wind there had been quite a bit of drifting so in some areas there was a lot more. There is a small child still inside me and at times like this she likes to take the upper hand and go out and play. The grown up part brought her camera and took the precaution to pull out the irons underneath her snow boots which was just as well as it was incredibly slippery.

Taking great care to make sure the camera was well wrapped up I ventured out and took the wrong decision in which way to go, which was very silly as only yesterday one of my fellow Blippers (Earthdreamer) had issued advice (it was about cycling but applies equally to walking in my opinion) to always go against the wind when you first set out so that you have to put in all the effort at the beginning of your cycle ride (and walk) and can coast home at the end when you're tired. But no, I went with the wind and thus had a most pleasant stroll down our little lane, camera at the ready.

 I was rewarded with fabulous snow scenes towards the far hills in all directions.

 The fact that the sun was out added to the photogenic atmosphere as it added wonderful shadows.

However I neglected another rule of walking which is to always take the time occasionally to check what is going on behind your back. And while I was taking the above photograph, a dark shadow started to loom over me and an icy wind stroked my back. When I did finally turn around the sky facing me was entire grey-black and the first flakes had already started to come down.

My walk back home into the wind was as far from fun as it's possible to get. The snow was straight into my face, my hands were freezing (no gloves!), the rest of me wasn't much warmer and the camera (under my coat to keep it comfy!) was hitting my hip bone. And all I could think was that it would make such a good and atmospheric picture. A dark figure huddled over disappearing into the snowstorm. Very Casper  David Friedrich and I think Monet did it once too! A bit of a cliche, granted, but such images become cliches for a good reason. However I wasn't prepared to risk the camera and I've also not quite read the instructions about timers and the like on my new model!

Since then it has been snowing on and off almost continually and it's great to watch it, this time from the comfort of my warm and cosy studio.