We have goldfinches in our tree but my daughter Annie has parakeets in hers.
It was rather wet and windy this morning and a fairly measly 5°C when in lieu of thoughts of cycling, Dropscone rang up and offered to bring round a scone or two to go with a cup of coffee, I accepted the offer and we were just sipping and chatting when things outside became absurd.
Mrs Tootlepedal and I were cycling in 18°C sunshine last Sunday. This was unexpected to say the least. Well, at least we knew that it couldn’t settle with the temperature being 5 degrees above freezing.
Although Dropscone and I got quite excited, the birds were remarkably calm…
…all things considered.
When Dropscone left, I settled down to put a week of the newspaper index into the Archive Group database and found to my annoyance that I had to spend ages correcting mistaken dates for two weeks that I had already put in before I could start on a new week. That will teach me to check my work more thoroughly while I am doing it.
After lunch, I went upstairs to record the view from the bedroom window.
We thought that the roads would be clear though so we decided to put the day to good use by doing a little shopping in Hawick. I was secretly hoping for some fine snowscapes on the way but although Whita was still quite snowy as we looked back…
…the further up the valley we went, the less snowy it became…
…until by the time that we got to Hawick, there was not a flake to be seen.
Although we rain into another sleety shower on our way back, the view from the bedroom window had changed dramatically…
…and the garden was a snow free zone.
I strolled round it.
Tadpoles basked in the sun.
Pulsatilla and Euphorbia gleamed
In fact, it was such a lovely evening by six o’clock that I went for a little walk round the bottom of the Castleholm.
The hills were bathed in sunshine (with just a hint of snow on the dark side).
Moss and pine needles glowed
I passed a fine display of grape hyacinths in the Clinthead Garden on my way round.
It was really hard to remember what the morning had been like. I hope that we are not going to get any more of this sort of thing. It is most unsettling.
I enjoyed another evening of admiring the fine lawn mowing at Augusta (and some excellent golf).
Here’s to a rapid return of springtime.
The just flying bird of the day is one of the irrepressible goldfinches in the snow.
Crazy weather isn’t it? 🙂
It has been a curious year so far.
I would say that it was worth it, just to see the beauty of those snow capped hills.
The garden looks better without it though.
I don’t mind snow in season but this was always going to turn to slush so it was good that it vanished so quickly.
I agree with Allen, the snow covered hills were beautiful! Bad weather often makes for good photos, that being said, give me sun and 16 C every day, and I’d be happy.
By the way, the reason that the birds don’t get excited about the snow is that in their short lives, they have learned there’s nothing to be done about the weather. Something we humans think that we can change by complaining. 😉
There are lots of things in life that I can’t change bit that has never stopped me complaining. I am a professional.
What a shock, snow at this late date, lovely views though. I liked the colourful picture of the grape hyacinths very much.
What an extraordinary thing to happen so suddenly. If you hadn’t recorded it on camera it would have been hard to believe!
Timely reminder that spring hasn’t completely taken over. Our baby vines suffered from a frost on Easter Sunday – not really expected in these parts.
Late morning frosts are still on the cards here until well into May.
Your title is very apt! It is indeed, ridiculous weather. How strange. I hope it doesn’t affect the tadpoles much. So different to the conditions here. It made for some very lovely photographs though. How beautiful!
We were too stunned by the size of the snowflakes to fully appreciate the beauty.
Things appear to have gotten back to normal pretty quickly.
They did and no great damage done to the flowers either.
I agree with you — totally ridiculous! Nobody wants to see that kind of weather in mid-April! Glad it didn’t last the day, and you wound up with some lovely evening sun. I enjoyed the tadpoles basking. And even though the snow was not the most welcome, it did make for some lovely photography, especially the shot of the three birds in the tree.
I liked that shot myself so I am glad that it appealed to you.
Crazy weather! We had a hard frost this morning but haven’t had any snow since the small showers we had early in the new year. Your garden is looking very good. Our pulsatilla isn’t as advanced as yours.
It should be out fully in a day or two.
Crazy. Seems the way of things this year.
Everyone was stunned by it.
Thank you for the tadpole of the day. 🙂
Yes, crazy weather here too, but still no snow at our elevation of 600 ft. Snow report this evening is at 2500 feet.
That is supposed to read 800 feet.
That makes all the difference.
You are fairly safe then.
Oddly, our weather seems to mirror yours at the moment. We even had a mini snow flurry yesterday although not as pretty as yours. What gorgeous photos resulted though – my favourite: the birds on the snowy branch. Your garden is looking gorgeous!
As soon as she has finished painting the floor, Mrs Tootlepedal will be out with her fork and trowel.
That weather confusion is amazing. It’s almost as if you live in two different countries!
There is an old Northern Irish saying, “If you don’t like the weather here, wait for a quarter of an hour and you’ll get different weather.” We are a bit like that at the moment.
Snow in April is always a surprise. I’m glad it left as quickly as it came. Our weather can’t seem to decide either. One day it’s twenty five degrees and like summer the next it’s freezing cold.
We are living with a very chilly stream of air at present and even in the sun, it can still feel quite nippy.