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Weather January 2010! Happy New Year. (1 Viewer)

Main roads here are clear, lots of snow still around the Exeter area, where I have been all day, most main roads there have been gritted.
Blue sky & sunshine, but bitterly cold.
 
What an overnight change! Not sure for how long though. Drizzle and 2 degrees C !!! It feels muggy, weird how we get used to the cold.
 
Yesterday was cold and just down the coast where my hubby works nightshift they had about eight INCHES of snow overnight!!! :eek!: There wasa fresh fall in Alnwick too but the council seem to have started to do something about it and had their tractors out clearing whole stretches of path and road :t: It looks weird to actually be able to SEE the pavement once more!

This morning is a LOT warmer!!! 4.9 degrees on the thermometer. There seems to have been a bit of a thaw too as a lot of snow has gone from nearby roofs and tree branches. According to Neil though they ARE expecting a lot more snow over the next couple of days or so!!!

Bit of bad news tho'.....I've had to remove my feeders as the neighbour was complaining that they would attract rats :C What utter b******s!!!! I was going to move them closer to the drying area yesterday when I finished work at 1pm and as I was doing so the old witch from below us came out and started yelling at me to ''stop encouraging vermin'' :eek!: She pulled one of the feeders down and said that unless I removed them she would report us to the housing association we rent from :C I was just so shocked I just stomped off inside before I lost my temper and hit her or started telling her a few home truths but when I told Neil he said he would take the feeders to work and hang them in the trees as the daytime workers there already have a few feeders up to help the birds.
I'm absolutely gutted though and SO angry as this old witch has done nothing but complain about everything since we moved in three years ago!!! Back in the summer we had a 10-month old collie on trial for a fortnight to see if we could rehome her but because she barked once or twice our neighhbour complained and we had to return her to her foster home :-C It absolutely killed me as all I have ever wanted was a dog again and now I can't even feed the birds when the weather is really bad :smoke: Blasted neighbours!!! :C

Anyway, sorry for my rant....just SO fed up of this woman dictating how I can live my life.....perhaps I should get some heavy metal cd's and put them on full blast with the windows wide open ;) whilst I go out birding for a few hours!!! :-O
 
Gill, I am so sorry to hear you have such a really nasty neighbour. I guess because you rent you can't just tell her to stick it! We are lucky as all our neighbours feed the birds.

More snow here, about an inch, but it's still snowing. Redwings, about 8, but only two Fieldfare, so far. All the usual birds here in numbers as well.
 
Sorry to hear that, Gill. At least the feeders are still going to benefit the birds at your husbands place of work.
 
What a shame your neighbour is so unpleasant, Gill.

Snowing here again now - flurries, some heavier than others. 1.5°c.
 
That is bad news Gill. In situations like this, it's pointless trying to chat with the neighbour and reason with or discuss the problem. Depending on how you feel about the situation though, you can approach your housing association and ask them how they feel about feeding the birds and/or if they have any 'rules' and/or guidelines about it or any 'yes or no's' in your tenancy agreement.
 
I could stop her newspaper deliveries ;) I work in a newsagents and she's one of our customers :-O


The wind has really picked up outside and is howling away outside :eek!: It's the first bit of wind we've had for weeks!!! There seems to be quite a strong thaw taking place too as even in the space of just a couple of hours we have had a LOT of snow melt away :king: You never know, by Tuesday afternoon I may be able to get along to the coast for a walk :t: I've been confined to this town since Christmas as the roads just haven't been safe to drive on :smoke:
 
The thaw continues :t: Barely any snow left up here now and the temperature reading is a balmy 3.5 degrees C :king:
Last night's gusty winds seem to have done the trick! :t:
 
More snow overnight, but only a lightish covering - enough for OH to have to clear his car before going off to work. Very leaden sky. Cold.
 
It seems to be thawing slightly here, wall to wall thick, grey cloud. The bottom grass, is grass, or clear of snow anyway. Looks more like earth, with leaves scattered all over it. I think it is above freezing at present, but who knows what the night may bring.
 
Snow has mostly gone, we had a thaw overnight, but the wind is bitter. Sky is grey. More snow forecast for later today. Charming!:-C
 
We're having a slow thaw, no overnight ice on the bird bath and the snow is gradually receeding. I hope I don't speak too soon!

Gill, I think what Cheers said makes sense. Best to find out officially where you stand. I know what its like living next door to an old witch but she's learnt not to intimidate me now. As much as I hate confrontation I have had to have strong words with her about her actions.

I have a lot of hanging feeders and throw all sorts of food on to my lawn but I've never seen any sign of rodents, thinking particulary of rats. I know that wood mice live in a log pile at the bottom of the garden, which I don't mind, but I never see any sign of them eating bird food either. I have a dawn to dusk light and often spend time watching the garden for any night creatures.
 
Thawing slightly in that I have been able to kick snow away to get the grass below so I could put out some cut up apples. Everywhere is very drippy which just means the icicles are getting longer and longer! Still huge amounts of snow on drive and track. Cold. Grey sky.
 
I have a lot of hanging feeders and throw all sorts of food on to my lawn but I've never seen any sign of rodents, thinking particulary of rats. I know that wood mice live in a log pile at the bottom of the garden, which I don't mind, but I never see any sign of them eating bird food either. I have a dawn to dusk light and often spend time watching the garden for any night creatures.

When we first moved up to Northumberland in October 2004 we rented a farm cottage which was right next door to the actual farm and outbuildings where they stored the grain and kept the cattle. We occasionally saw rats there (in the outbuildings) but never had them around our cottage. I had a feeding station of about 8 feeders, a table and various fat blocks but even when it was snowing we never saw so much as even one sigle rat print :smoke: We had loads of wood mice move IN to our cottage in the colder months but even they were harmless....we regarded them more as 'free-range' pets :-O
Neil is going to ring the Housing Association just to see where we stand. A lot of the snow has gone now but quite a few folk have told me that there's more forecast in the coming weeks :eek!:
Thanks for your support guys :t:

This morning *8.35am* it just ain't geting light!!! :eek!: It looks very leaden outside and it's fairly windy and the thermometer is giving me a reading of 2.8 degrees.
 
Snow overnight and still snowing! We haven't had a thaw as yet so the snow is settling on compacted snow/ice! Temp -0.4c.
 
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