Snowy week

[glenatron]

There has been snow, which is almost unheard of here in December as far as I recall. Whether it will last until Christmas is as yet unclear, but it's given the British people ample time to illustrate that we don't know how to drive on snow. It's also given me ample time to appreciate the way my little Rusty Justy is 4WD. That's pretty handy at the moment.

Of course, there is another advantage of seldom-seen snow, which probably calls for an illustrated version...

sleepsy_mouse leads Donk out in the snow on Friday morning.

On Saturday I opted for walking down to the yard, so you get to see some of the places you're probably quite tired of by now in snowy conditions.

Snow on the Punchbowl.


It was sunny but really cold so there was still a lot of snow on the holly leaves. I think this picture is just short of a coach-and-four coming around the corner there.


Chestnut trunks in the coppice, snow on the north side, sunshine on the south side. If I was a proper photographer I'd probably spend a lot of time trying to be like Freeman Patterson but as I'm not I just sometimes take the occasional photo that I crop until it looks vaguely abstract.


Heading into the boys' field I noticed all the snow tangled over the stand of hawthorn and blackthorn bushes. Just before this a woodcock flew out from the underbrush as I was passing, I don't think I've ever seen one so close before.

Once the ponies were out and happily picking out the tastiest parts of their morning hay we went off to my parents' house to indulge in the long-standing and noble tradition of going out onto the common and stealing a christmas tree. We had help from Pippa, who is no longer a puppy even if that is how she is often referred to.


Pippa staring intently in the direction of anyone who might throw her a stick to play with.


Once she has a stick, she doesn't need any further assistance, throwing it in the air and gnarring manically on it.


The view from the boys' field around sunset with a really perfect winter sky.


A clear evening sky - nature's gradient fill.

This morning we thought we'd get some pictures of Donk who has been getting very overexcited about his morning hay, so sleepsy_mouse took him out into the middle of the field before letting him go to see if he would dash off and look dramatic.


He did.


Then it turned out that stopping in snow is harder than he expected...


Coming back to his hay from the other direction.


Unfortunately we didn't really get to ride because although the ponies would be fine on the trails in the snow, getting them up or down the icy road is not something we felt would be safe either in terms of them keeping their feet or in terms of other road users and as the school was as hard as iron they've gone rather short on the working front this weekend.

On the upside, some festive things have been achieved, we've figured out how to make the stove put out a decent amount of heat and it's not so far off Christmas. Now, if we weren't both totally broke, that would be convenient...

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/blitzen_/]

pippa looks hilarious in the *must kill* photo. haha.

i have never seen snow. *sniff*

great pictures tho. i can live vicariously. incidentally, have you ever read a book set in england, about a deaf boy who got a pony called Tuppence (i think) and he gets lost in the snow?

i was just reminded of it by your pictures.

[glenatron.livejournal.com]

I can safely say that I haven't. I've read very few pony related stories because when I was at the age I might have liked them I had no interest in ponies and they were for girls.

There were some pony books by a lady called Monica Edwards that you may or may not have read, but if you did, the Punchbowl Farm ones are set almost exactly where we keep our ponies...

[fleefloodle.livejournal.com]

I am terribly upset that Willow decided to shake her head this evening before I managed to get a picture of her with piles of snow on her ears. Luckily I'm going back up tomorrow so hopefully it'll snow again!

We don't dare go out riding either, we reckon we'd be ok once on the bridlepaths, but don't fancy risking the roads to get to them.

[glenatron.livejournal.com]

Quite. I guess up your way people are more accustomed to driving in snow, but I wouldn't like to be the victim of someone's inability to judge their braking distance.

[buymeaclue.livejournal.com]

Oh, those sky shots! Very nice.

[glenatron.livejournal.com]

Thank you :)

[penella22.livejournal.com]

I loove snowscapes (which is handy since I live in Vermont) and promise to post some of my own soon--I especially love snowscapes with Big Sky moments included. And nature's gradient is the best.

You'd think VT'ers could drive in the snow since it does that here 8 months of the year or so, but no, not really. People have been proving what idiots they can be...

Glad you got your stove working and I have to ask; do you drive a *Subaru* Justy w/ AWD?

[glenatron.livejournal.com]

So far as I know, Subaru are the only company to ever come up with a car name as stupid as 'Justy'. It's a great little car and was a total bargain to buy, although the central locking is insane and I've had to spend a bit on fixing it up since. I'm pretty happy with it in general, especially at this time of year.

[gnapp.livejournal.com]

I love our Subaru, both in the winter, and when towing horse-and-trailer on muddy meadows (a.k.a parking on horse shows).

You don't change tyres in the winter, right? Then I can imagine people going off the road when driving a tiny bit carelessly.

[glenatron.livejournal.com]

The weather here is just slightly too warm to make it worth having winter tyres so we're on the same ones all year. Most years we get a lot of rain in winter but only a couple of days of snow and it doesn't usually settle at all. This year we've had more snow than in the previous ten, I think.

[oifonly.livejournal.com]

gorgeous photos! Love the cropped sky one with the bare trees and the sliver of moon - really gorgeous. I love sunny wintry mornings.

We've not had nearly as much snow as you, but the pones and the landscape are still managing to look very photogenic.

[glenatron.livejournal.com]

I hope we get to see some snowy Staro...

[harnessphoto.livejournal.com]

Lovely photos. The purple sky and the Punchbowl are my favorites.

[glenatron.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

[skiesfirepaved.livejournal.com]

O_O Well the dog freaked me the hell out! What a transformation between sweet-faced, Lassie-wannabe and spawn of Cerberus.

Also, love the photos of Donk in the snow. He meant to do that, he's seen you riding Western and wants to demonstrate his own skill at sliding stops.

[glenatron.livejournal.com]

"See! I am a raining horse!"
"Donk, it's reining."
"What? No, this is snow."