This cold spell has shifted from being statistically interesting to plain frustrating. What a joy it was to wake today to a frost-free morning for the first time in over a week. I was up early, all set to make some proper progress outdoors for once and enjoy the comparative warmth of 3 degrees Celcius. But the true cost of yesterday’s low of -7C soon became plain with pipes exploding in both of the nursery toilets and the tea room, drenching everything in high pressure, icy water (the tea room kettle was frozen solid yesterday morning – I sent Debbie home, there was nothing she could do except risk freezing to death). So my enthusiasm was short-lived indeed. I couldn’t face all that cleaning up. I turned off the water, as I should have done the day before, and got on with shifting gravel and collating the plant listing instead.

The cold has brought a temporary halt to the Knutsford project as well. I went back on Friday to put a second coat of paint on the rendered beds, only to find that the first coat had frozen before it dried, making it separate and run in messy streaks. Yes, it was proper masonry emulsion. We washed it off and will start again in better weather. Oh joy. I took a couple of pictures to cheer myself up.

December 18, 2007