Monochrome and marmalade

A dreary start to the day, avoiding writing a report by cleaning the bathroom and making a start on some marmalade, using the Seville oranges that I'd bought earlier in the week. While I worked, I kept looking out of the window to see whether the snow we were promised had arrived. 

Just after midday there was a shower of frozen rain, which peppered the ground with strange snowy ice pellets, but this didn't last long. It was just before two in the afternoon when the snow really set in,  so I put on hat, boots and parka, and set off to Thorpe Hall, our nearest photogenic open space.

I just love walking in the snow, and was absolutely in my element as the flakes drifted past me, photographing many of the wonderfully shaped trees in a naturally monochrome landscape (though this image has been converted). There were very few people in the grounds of Thorpe Hall, but it was much busier at the Rowing Lake, with quite a few families out enjoying the weather.  By half past three the snow had become considerably heavier and it was hard to make anything out (see extra). When I arrived home my hat and coat were completely coated in a blanket of snow. 

Sarah had been for an eye test in Bourne and had driven back as the snow got really underway. Apparently it had been a fairly fraught journey, so I offered to go and pick Ben up from work as I've had more experience of driving in snowy conditions. Fortunately the roads were pretty quiet, and I just took my time. On the way home we watched a car turn right and then do a 180 degree spin, though at low speed and with no negative consequences. The car following me ended up horizontally across Mayors Walk. We got back with no problems, just a tiny controlled slide as we turned right onto an empty road - rather fun!