Waiting for the snow

It is the middle of January, and still we have had no snow here in south Wiltshire. All that may change on Friday, as heavy falls are forecast, but I will believe it when I see it. The press and broadcasters get so excited at the prospect of snow (or any other 'different' weather: different, that is, from grey, cloudy, damp days) and cry 'wolf! wolf!' with such enthusiastic vigour: almost always to be disappointed. Twice this winter I have seen 'Daily Express' headlines predicting (on the Met Office's authority, it appeared) extreme cold - and neither time did it materialise. 

[I feel bound to point out that my knowledge of the 'Daily Express' is confined to (a) what I glean whilst waiting in the queue at the newsagent's to buy other papers, and (b) ongoing resentment and bewilderment that Rupert continues to feature in the rag, when he clearly belongs somewhere more respectable]. 

Out in the garden, though, it has been cold these past couple of days. Today I had to admit reluctant defeat when I lost the sensation in my finger-ends whilst tending to a client's garden. With gloves on I could keep the circulation flowing, but was unable properly to do the fiddly weeding and tidying needed; with gloves off I quickly lost control of the fingers. So I was forced back home and indoors to do 'indoor' jobs - reading Joy Larkcom's book 'Just Vegetating' (a pleasure indeed), leafing through magazines and seed catalogues, day-dreaming about the season to come...all ways to avoid what really needed doing: tax return, bills etc.

Signs of life are there, though. Bulbs are visible here and there: though never as many as I remember planting. Buds too are starting to appear on shrubs and trees. The large Fatsia japonica which looked so utterly dejected at 7am, had perked up again as the sun shone and the temperature rose above zero. In fact, the temperature in my garden reached zero at 3pm - just as it started to go dark...

Will the snow come? We will see...