Sunny and Freezing

A beautiful sunny day, with a fabulous blue sky. But, my goodness me, it was cold!

My Lady thought that a walk was in order, and we went to the interesting reserve that I described last Wednesday. Our opinions at the end were "very bracing" from me, and even "exciting" from her. It really was cold: even I was persuaded to do up the zip on my coat!

What you see in this picture is the wetland area with the lake. Usually, there are dozens of birds milling around. Today, I can make out only two hardy ducks. I think you may have to zoom in a bit to see them in a Blipfoto offering.

Just behind us is the wood of old trees. We understand that this wood hosts a wonderful display of bluebells when the time comes. Unfortunately, however, at present the public can only look at, and not wander through, this place. The oaks are thought to suffer from an infectious disease called acute oak decline, and that could be even more devastating than Dutch Elm disease was. The Woodland Trust are attempting to stop the spread of the disease by restricting access.

Luckily, the younger trees on the other side of the path seem unaffected so far, and look pretty healthy, if bare, in the winter sunshine.

... It's much warmer at home, I must say! And the house smells very good. We have just been baking bread, and we are now seeing if chicken legs will make a decent confit, the more conventional duck still being on the lake...