Minus two degrees, it said. The fog was thick, not moving at all, and the prospect of the walk round to the village shop was distinctly unappealing. Especially this morning, feeling rough and after the encounter with my uninvited bedfellow had dragged me from the warmth of the duvet at four o’clock. Plus, I’d already been out long before dawn.
Ani, of course, had loved the freezing fog, coming back with ice crystals on her fur and a huge grin on her face. Not so her human. I was frozen. It is not that I do not own nice warm coats, you understand. It is just that for some unaccountable reason are in the car. Five miles away. And I have, with creditable persistency, failed to remember to bring one home.
I did, however, have the big plaid blanket which I had wrapped, shawl-wise, around me over my jacket. At that time of morning there was, after all, no-one to see or fall about laughing except the dog. And she laughs at me anyway. Even so, the time waiting for Ani to run off her energy and explore the morning had me shivering. So the necessity of the walk round to the shop left me cold, in more ways than one. Still, needs must… and of course, it did at least look beautiful.
The trouble is I suffer from mutually aggravating complaints. I have Raynaud’s, which means that Dante got it right… Hell is cold. I have often wondered if he suffered… That is bad enough, but I possess lovely little heat packs to help with it. Which are, guess where? Yep. In the car. I also have gloves, but… ditto. Still, it would be no more than an uncomfortable annoyance without the second and incurable disorder…
That one is trickier. It involves my total inability to walk out of the door without the camera. I try, really I do, but then I see something and regret it… so most times I bow to the inevitable and take it anyway. This would be no problem most of the time, but I need my fingers… and in this weather not being able to feel them is the easy bit. Function requires warmth, warmth needs gloves and gloves won’t operate the damned buttons. It is a dilemma that needs to be taken by the horns … always supposing your hands are warm enough to feel them.
Still, the beauty of the morning was worth it. Trees loomed like great, grey shadows out of the fog. Ice edged every leaf… Frost powdered the world in white and I saw the first icicles; the frozen fingers of winter on the heating vent… which tells you how cold it was. Minus two was a bit of an understatement. Mind you, that was according to my phone… how does it know? It may have been minus two in the warmth of my pockets, but I’ll bet it would have had more to say had I exposed it to the cold air… Personally, I think it was no more than an educated guess.
I was, for some strange reason, alert to spiders this morning and the frozen cobwebs that festooned every fence, branch and tree were amazing. Far prettier than the gaudy remnants of festive tinsel still lingering in odd pockets as I wandered through the village. Birds made pale silhouettes as they huddled amongst the sparse leaves. Even on such a morning the number and variety was incredible for such a short distance. The rose hips and teasels looked incredible, outlined in frost, while the first, early buds of the Japanese Quince blushed in the embrace of ice.
The little yellow flowers of winter jasmine and the firethorn berries gave the illusion of warmth to the frozen world. Even so I was shivering before I had gone halfway… and it is not above a five minute walk to be fair. Unless you are messing about with cameras, of course. I thought I would probably only be able to take pictures on the way there, with the general idea that my hands, by then cold, could stay in the pocketses on the way back; warmth being precious to this hobbit.
But the village shop came up trumps again. They sell everything. Including, apparently, a set of child sized hybrid mitten-gloves. Being, as we have established, about knee high to a grasshopper, with their loud pink Argyle pattern, these fit perfectly. They consist of fingerless knitted gloves with a cunning mitten flap that folds over the fingers and is easily removed by idiots with a camera. For the princely sum of £3 they were mine. Perfect!
Until I got home and put them on the table… when Ani, disgruntled at having been left behind, decided they were hers.
Wonder if they have any more?
Sue Vincent's Daily Echo 
Love the line “Hell is cold”- so true with Raynaud’s. The pictures are so striking!
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The first and last pictures were my favourites, though the others capture the mood of the morning.
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fabulous photography! 🙂
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Thanks Seumas… weather you’d recognise 🙂
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Wow, look at those spider webs!
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They did look incredible this morning!
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Oh, I love the top photo of the frosty rose hips! 🙂
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My favourite of the walk too, Natalie 🙂
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The pix are simply a marvel.tnx for them. For the weather,it has really been very unusual here too and it affects the internet here seriously.It took close to an hour to get a mail across to you before I could see the post on “frozen Fingers” that put up very good showing in performance.May be That which is behind and beyond the fingers was at work as usual.
Winter, harsh,hard season of White, great Revealer of Oneness and Endlessness. Standing once at a point in an endless sea of white somewhere in South East Germany all senses seized and for the first time, for a time so infentisiimal yet so long, felt a oneness,could not feel me.I could not identify me or anything,nor was it cold.It was just It. From Africa for the Love of Snow,not for the cold. Tnx Sue,this one brought back a memory but the Experience I think cannot be relived or re-enacted.Happy new First week of the calendar and commercial year..
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Thank you, Obi. I remember standing on a peak in the French Alps for the first time in winter, looking across mountains covered in snow towards Mont Blanc… I had never seen anything so majestically beautiful. So awe-inspiring. There were no words for it, only tears at its beauty.
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I was going to suggest mitten-gloves, but you discovered them, at least temporarily – naughty dog. I adore your photos of frosted cobwebs and teasel, so delightful!
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She gave them back… eventually… a bit soggy!
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So much better after a wash! 😉
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We shall see 😉
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Very beautiful images Sue!
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Ah, Ani – she’s at it again. Naughty girl. I can’t believe you manage where you live with Raynaud’s. We have a dear friend who found North Carolina too cold and moved to Florida. Loved the spider webs.
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It isn’t so much the cold as the changes in temperature that set it off, so as long as it is gradual, it’s not too bad.At least Ani gave me the gloves back, eventually.
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The frozen cobwebs are astounding. Must be the dew and freeze. Fascinating. I adore your pics.
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The fog freezes to everything when it is like this and it can be very beautiful.
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Adorable photos, Sue.
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The rose hips are something else, aren’t they?
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Superb photographs, Sue. Love what frost does to everything, truly magical!
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It picks out all the details and highlights everything, doesn’t it?
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Reblogged this on Anita & Jaye Dawes.
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That red looks so good on my calibrated IPS monitor.
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Thank you.Good to know, Ron. My monitor is ancient and the display not wonderful. And the PC won’t let me edit any pics either, so that was just as it came.
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