Wintry Showers

Winter took a gentle grip on proceedings. A combination of drizzle, sleet, hail, wind and cold curtailed the first day of a planned week’s digging.

Matters were also hindered by wet underfoot conditions. It was back to christmas pudding soil. Worse, it was claggy.

The day started bright and digging began around 9.00 am. But, as the photo shows, wintry showers were marshalling to the west. Within 20 minutes I scurried back to the car as hail was thrown into my face. (Yes, I cheated and drove to the allotments. I figured I’d need to shelter every now and then as sailing ship clouds blew through at pace and dumped ice and wet.)

Around 11.00 am Bill showed up to feed his chickens. Of course, he was surprised to see someone foolish enough to dig on a day like to today.

Twenty minutes later another shower blew in. By this time, I’d had just over an hour of digging and much the same sheltering. So, I called it a day.

Smart decision as this shower prolonged into the afternoon. Of course, the afternoon was bright and clear. But, I figured it was still soggy up at the allotment and I can get a fuller day digging tomorrow.

Now I see snow is forecast for tonight.