We were going a little stir crazy yesterday as we've spent much time working. Joe thought that we should get out and just down to the lake we have near to us. It was around -10C so we put our thermals on, 3 pairs of socks, wellington boots, scarf, hat and gloves.

This would normally be just a 10 minute walk but when we got to one of the fields, it was fenced off so we realised that the cows must have been put there. We decided to walk the long way round, through the adjoining field, through some woods and over a fence to reach the lake. It was a pretty difficult walk because with all the snow, we could no longer see what was underfoot. We ended up in some marshland which was scary as our boots were sinking in quite deep.  Finally, we made it to the edge of the lake.

Joe wanted to test the ice and having lived by a lake all my childhood, I told him not to put his weight on it. Boys will be boys and of course he ignored me, the ice gave way, he slipped and thankfully fell back on to the bank and managed to only get his wellington boot wet! I seriously thought he was going to end up in the bloomin lake! lol Frightened the life out of me.

By this point, my feet were getting really quite cold, despite the 3 pairs of wool socks, so I asked that we started to walk back.  It was quite tough going again and my toes just seemed to be not only very cold but also very stiff which was odd.  We finally made it back to the house but by this time I was near to tears with the pain in my toes. I took my boots and socks off and sat by the fire and soon realised that I had first degree frost bite. Wow, was it painful! Once they warmed up a little, they started to swell up, like little chipolatas and I stopped being able to feel them. It was the strangest sensation, like my toes did not belong to me. It took a good 3 hours before things started to feel normal again.

We managed to take some beautiful pictures which I'm delighted to be able to share with you all and despite the frostbite, I hope you'll agree all the effort was worth it!

If you leave a comment and want to be found, please add your url link to your website by clicking the link button and insert your link between the square brackets.

winter | blog | nature | france

The snow really is coming down hard now here in the Auvergne. We've run out of wood and it's impossible to get the wheelbarrow up the hill with all this snow. Looks like we'll have to carry a few logs at a time. We should have been more prepared I guess. We just hope the farmer will deliver us some more later. Meanwhile, whilst we shiver, we can enjoy this wonderful scenery.

If you leave a comment and want to be found, please add your url link to your website by clicking the link button and insert your link between the square brackets.

winter | snow | ice | france

This made me laugh today. We're renovating like mad so the house is in a bit of disarray. I had folded neatly a duvet and placed it on the bed in the space room. I also put an old rag on top because I just knew one of the cats would make it their bed.  Of course, within a short period of time Oscar made himself comfortable on top but when I went back a few hours later, I found little Herbie had managed to get himself inside of it underneath Oscar! Like double-decker cats!

By the time the photo was taken, Oscar had moved a little towards the back (you can see his blurry outline) but you get the idea.

If you leave a comment and want to be found, please add your url link to your website by clicking the link button and insert your link between the square brackets.

pets | france | cats