Snow

 It has kept on snowing "on and off" here over the weekend. Today the snow is definitely ON, combined with strong wind, and I'm not likely to feel tempted to go out in it at all.

Saturday was quite a pleasant day for a walk, though. It started out very cold, but in the afternoon I ventured out for a while (all in all about a full hour). First my usual weekend walk to dispose of some recycling stuff. From there on to the small local greengrocer's shop for some fruit and vegs. Then back home to just leave my bag inside the door, before I went back out again "unburdened" (and with both my walking poles) for about a half hour slow walk around the old cemetery - which always gets magically transformed by snow...

Animal footprints from hare and bird

 

I kept to the main paths that had been ploughed.

 

 

Above: Turning round and looking back towards the sinking sun behind me (2:38 pm)

The grave in the middle above is the final resting place of great grandparents of mine.

We have reached the far end of the cemtery and are looking back towards the sunset again.

The cemetery chapel in the background.

Someone else's family grave in the foreground - with several snow covered flat headstones, candle lanterns and wreaths.

I love how the snow outlines the branches of big old trees... This one is a horse chestnut tree - I know from walking here all year round...

Yesterday, in spite of it being Sunday, the sun did not show its face at all. I did go out for a short walk then too, but only for about twenty minutes. I went over to the cementery then too, as walking on the paths there is both more pleasant and safer than just walking along the streets). But I did not walk around the whole place, and only snapped two photos:

A street along one side of the cemetery.

A tree (or possibly two?) that got an especially interesting and "weird" look from being outlined by snow.

Today, I woke up to a full snow storm outside my windows. It might turn to rain and slush later on, but so far (around noon) it is still snowing, and the outdoors temperature still keeping just below freezing point. 

 

Linking to Mersad's Through My Lens #465

2025 Has Begun

 

During the night between New Year's Day and today, the rain turned to snow again; and this morning I woke up to blue skies, a thin layer of snow on the ground, and the winter sun doing its best for the short while it was up. I tried to make the most of that as well, so took my walking poles + studded boots out for a walk into town and back. (Which means I was out for about an hour.)

 

There is a temporary ice skating rink in the park in winter.

 On my way home I followed the path along the river and then across the cemetery.

The forecasts for the next few days are a bit vague again. As so often, around here we seem to be in a border zone between snow and rain... 

 

I may be linking this post to the blogs below,
when their respective posts for this weekend turn up. 

Flashback to January 2013

24 January 2023: The weather is back to grey and dull (a little bit of snow left on the ground still, but it has lost the "fresh" feeling from the other day). I'm feeling "okay", but still a bit tired - how much related to my vertigo attack last week or not, I'm not sure.

Yesterday (also grey) I took my "exercise" indoors with the vacuum cleaner. ;-) Today I did go out for a little while, but only like 20 minutes or so. And after that kind of dozed through the rest of the afternoon listening to the radio and an audio book...

Having no new photos to share, it occurred to me to look back in my archives and check what January was like 10 years ago - i.e. 2013. 

The weather not much different back then, it seems.

On one of my walks back then, I found this glove stuck on a bush. Still like that photo :)

 

January 6, 2013

 

 

Another day (Jan 6) I went for a walk around the 'bird sanctuary' lake, where they still had some rare birds living back then, including these black swans. (We don't have the black ones in the wild here.) They had to move all the exotic birds some years ago in connection with laying district heating pipes through the lake, though; and I don't think they've introduced any new ones yet. But migrating wild geese and swans etc still often visit, and gulls in the summer - and mallards in plenty all year round.

 

At home, optical fiber cables were installed in my building in January 2013, giving me faster internet. (Can hardly believe it's 10 years ago already?) The installation required some rearranging of furniture...

Nothing to do with the fiber optics - just a lamp I happened to see in a shop window somewhere! (Not tempted to buy it, but my camera found it fascinating...) I think it must have been on display in the window of a lamp shop in the city centre that has since been closed. I don't think there is any shop left in the city centre now that sells lamps any more (or at least not specializes in just lamps). 

We did get a bit of snow that year, too...

... as well as the occasional day of sun and blue skies...