Snowdodendron

Last spring, when I complained to Rhodo Dave that this feeding plants lark was not producing much in the way of flowers, he suggested doubling the amount of feed I was giving them. The instruction was, after all, open to debate. “Sprinkle with a handful of feed.” Obviously the size of the hand in question was an important factor. My hands are fairly small.

Until a few days ago I was thrilled to report that the extra feed did the trick. All but one rhodo (and it always flowers later) had at least 15, in some cases 20 flower buds ready to pop next year. One was even starting to change colour. It was going to be glorious next year.

Then came snowageddon. 

After taking these photos yesterday did my daily job of shaking as much snow off the rhodos as I could. I suspect the ones that aren’t already staked due to previous dumps of snow will now need to be. I can’t see them bouncing back without help. The leaves are brittle, frozen. No doubt the dozens and dozens of flower buds are also frozen. 

Bollocks, bollocks, bollocks. 

Sub-zero temperatures and more snow in the forecast for today and tomorrow, after which the thermometer will climb to +2. Brr.

The well pump froze the night before last – not entirely unexpected. Fortunately for me (unlike Scott and others in a similar situation) I have the option of switching from the well to the cistern. This involved, in the dark with a torch, going down to the cistern to switch the valve on and then into the crawlspace to switch the water source over. Fortunately there were no dead rats in the two traps, which was a definite bonus.

Elsewhere on the island, Joe, whose daughter Emily is visiting for the holidays, has been having fun in the snow with Georgie. 

I’d say I’m a bit envious (which I am), except I’m footwear-challenged in the weather. I have an excellent pair of waterproof walking shoes, which are reasonably warm, but not warm enough for this. I have a nice pair of knee-high leather boots which would be useless in this much snow. And I have a pair of wellies, which I recently discovered aren’t actually waterproof and, even with a thick pair of woolly socks leave my toes feeling frozen after the briefest of walks. So, yes, if the snow ever melts and I ever get out of here, sorting out some proper winter walking boots is high on my list of priorities.

And, just because I love this photo of them that Emily took the other day, here’s another one.