We lay for a long time, watching the tree branches sway, through the Velux (roof window) in our bedroom. It was almost 8.30am, and we didn't want to get out of bed. We decided that it had in fact snowed again during the night, and then probably frozen. That would mean we would have to tread carefully outside on the flagstones.
I dressed hurredly, went downstairs to prepare the cat food, open the shutters and let the light into the house.
This was the sight that greeted me when I poked my nose outside. It was -1.something C, and it sure felt like it. All of the pool water on top of the cover was frozen.
Walking was treacherous. I didn't have far to go, but later in the morning I ventured across the lawn and out to refill the bird feeders. I was gratified, once I fluffed all the snow off, to watch little finches pecking at the suet on the small bird stand that the cats love to sit under. No sitting cats this morning. I had to laugh when observing Holly, that though she appeared to be sitting, her butt never actually touched the cold ground.
This is what I was looking at...Holly NOT sitting on the ground. The pond had about a half inch of ice. I poked holes in it for the cats to drink, and then again, later in the morning. It was so cold that the water froze over several times.
Yes, I have my neon orange hat on this morning. I thought I should show you what I am talking about. I do rather stand out like a sore toe, in public.
Interestingly the cats still wanted to drink from the swimming pool, but they ended up licking ice. These two sillies were so fun to watch cavorting around.
Elsa was determined to get a drink.
Cat prints were everywhere on every surface.
I hope you can see the frozen surface on the pool cover.
When we were out raking the other day (prior to the first snowfall) I tipped these chairs like this, so that water didn't pool and leaves didn't collect on their seats. They look rather sculptural in the snow.
Some time during the mid afternoon, there was some blue sky between the grey clouds, and though there were snow flurries, the sun was shining across the road and out into the fields.
The same sun tried very hard to shine on us, but though the light was brighter, it didn't quite succeed, unfortunately. The temperature only rose to 0.9C today. We did have to dress warmly when we went outside for any reason.
I know I have talked about Pain Cereal quite a lot. This is pain Cereal.It is an oval loaf which I like to slice myself. You can buy it ready-cut, but I prefer the intact variety. Lots of seeds inside as well as on top. We toasted it and ate it with the pumpkin/veg soup I made two days ago. Pretty good food!
Silly Scruffy appeared up here....We hoped she didn't think to jump out at a bird, as it was slippery on top of that beam. She was making that funny noise that cats make when they are watching birds. You know the one?
Yesterday we sought and found a leg of Lamb. At 16 Euros per kg, we thought this was reasonably priced. It should give us three meals at least. I put the lamb in the over at 4pm, as I am going to give it a long time to cook, slowly and hopefully be moist and divine. Olive oil, salt and fresh rosemary from the garden...which hadn't frozen, fortunately! Schmear it all over the roast, cover with foil and place in oven at 200C for half and hour, then reduce to 150C for the rest of the desired time. We like our lamb a little pink, but I took the meat straight out of the fridge, and it will take a little longer than if it had been room temperature. Sorry..no estimates on time.
Escalots and potatoes with the duck fat from the other night and sprinkled with a little sea salt. I will roast them for 45 mins when I take the lamb out to rest.
I have fresh Brussels (Chou de Bruxelles) Sprouts to go with them.
We started watching a movie, and of course it had 30 minutes to run just when dinner was ready! So, rather than miss the rest of the story, we dragged the dining room table half way across the room so that we could watch.
I finished off the gravy, sprouts and carved the lamb. The potatoes looked divine, in the duck fat. Nothing tasted quite as good....seriously!
The lamb tasted like...well, lamb! But it tasted better than any we have eaten for a VERY long time. This is local Limousin (department) lamb that we see out in the fields. It is the perfect size for two complete meals. There is a lovely Rosemary flavor to it, and Im pleased with how tender it is. Having never been frozen, it makes a real difference.
Voila! Dinner! It tasted fantastic, and we would have been tempted to go back for seconds, except that we need that food for another night's dinner. We have all our meals planned, so there will be no piggery, thank you!:)
We finished with a cup of tea.
For once, the monsters are mostly outside, still, at 7.30pm. This is unusual, as they had established a nice routine of coming in at night and for the most part, staying.
Not sure what went wrong, but I did feed them half an hour earlier. Perhaps that threw them off THEIR schedule, never mind mine!
Jolly has the ability to claw the cat door open, regardless of it not being open. He just swipes and hooks and voila! Open door! The others haven't developed that skill yet, thank goodness so they rend to stay inside, once inside.
Well, Im off to read a biography. These folks have shelves full of them.
Today has been a bit of a nothing day. We didn't want to go tiki-touring because of the icy surfaces. Tomorrow is supposed to be just as cold, with more snow. Next week is supposed to be rainy, which is good for us leaving here a week today. Better rain than snow and ice, thanks.
Our time here has flown! We feel that we are having a real vacation for a change. We normally charge around like crazy people, always being busy, but we have been very happy to be home bodies this time.
I did a fair bit of cleaning today. I felt I had to do something active, and this is a great activity for me to get off my butt. Im motivated by clean spaces and things, so I don't mind doing it.
Off I go. Hopefully we will get out tomorrow. Sunday, so nothing much will be open!
A bientot.
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