Martin’s cementing material was frozen in the bags this morning which he consequently spent
cutting out the shapes he would not be able to firmly set in place until Sunday.
Note the ice chips on the covered paving.
Ellie, who has now mastered the art of hand to mouth coordination,
was mesmerised by the open fire.
Martin told me that the roadsides were festooned with icicles formed by the showers of spray thrown up by vehicles during Monday’s deluge. Jackie and I therefore took a trip to investigate.
Some years ago now, a teenage girl was killed in a car crash along Hordle Lane.
Some soft toys still linger in the trees in her memory. One had fallen among the icicles by the roadside.
Further icicles and ice patterns decorated the corner of Woodcock Lane and Silver Street
along which these wintry decorations dangled from trees, draped verges along which they were reflected in the gutters, and rose from grasses on stumps.
We drove along Bashley Cross Road to Ferndene Farm shop to buy some eggs. A fallen branch bore dripping icicles.
Sway Road hosted various ice sculptures reflected in the gutters,
some dripping from a fence post like the udders of a cow in need of milking.
Further along this road autumn red-gold merged with winter’s snow-white.
This evening we dined on bangers and mash; fried bacon, tomatoes and mushrooms; boiled carrots, Brussels sprouts, and cauliflower, with which Jackie drank Hoegaarden and I drank Coonawarra Shiraz 2020.