Alisons Nature Reserve

The ice is finally starting to melt and has gone from off the garden but is still on the pond and waterfall. Sonny and I went out with an axe to hack away the mountains of ice from the pond to the waterfall ledge and the water is running faster down now. I hope if it stays these temperatures the ice should be gone in a day or so from the pond. I dread to see what I will find in the small pond but the fish look healthy enough in the large pond for now. I guess the early spring will bring any casualties from this months atrocious weather, so we will wait and see.

The thaw didn't last long at all and today the pond was frozen over again for the most part except where the waterfall is. Then the snow started to fall and is already quite deep making everything look beautiful again. Sonny had to go to pick up the girls from school today as it was quite bad driving conditions. Lets hope it has gone by tomorrow. I need a bit of sunshine.

Finally the ice has gone and I found a few frozen frogs so that is a shame, but not as many as I thought but I haven't taken out the leaves etc in the shallow little pond so that could still show a few nasty surprizes. It has been an extremely windy day and all the plants that were just in small pots have found themselves all over the garden tipping soil everywhere. My ornament frogs which sit on my window ledge were all blown over so many times that I have brought them in before they all break and placed them up the stairs. My arch at the bottom of the garden has broken completely and the stems of the clemitis will all be broken through. Now the rain is lashing down as well. The weather has really gone mad up here.