Last night was cold, temperatures dipping below -4C. Over ground pipes frozen. Roof vents sealed by the elements. If you're not checking your heat source through the night, you will invariably wake up to a frost bitten duvet at the very least.
Our wood consumption has rocketed to two overflowing buckets a day. This is opposed to one lasting two days. Our stockpile is diminished and in urgent need of replenishment.
Thursday the 25th saw our first flake of snow, with more forecast.
I've managed to contract a cold and a cough. This has meant me being relegated to light duties for fear of triggering bouts of rib crunching, ear popping, coughing fits.Throw in a strained back muscle, and existence gets miserable.
This modicum of discomfort has gone a little way to illustrating how challenging winter was to our ancestors. I recall reading books containing the phrase "might not survive the winter". Experiencing what I am, perhaps those words were not the melodramatic exaggeration I once thought them to be. Is it any wonder why, only in the last 100-200 years, the life expectancy of the average man has surpassed the age of 40? One of the reasons that, at present, I might reach 60 can be partly attributed to the fact I can pay some bloke £40 and VOILA, another few months of processed firewood appears...
In other news. Our little family has acquired a 6 week old feline addition aptly named Eira, welsh for snow. (Despite being a grey slush colour) This choice of label stems from the snowy, bollock chilling day we picked her up. Unsurprisingly her and I can now be found practically hugging the wood burner.
Took Fran to an adventure park called Folly Farm near Narbeth. She had a great time and I got a hot meal that contained a lot of meat. Need I say more.
 |
| The Log Store - If I were to store logs in there again, I'd put them on a pallet. |
 |
| Camera Boredom |
 |
| The Tasmanian Devil |
M Jones
No comments:
Post a Comment
Welcome and thank you for visiting my blog.