Winter Fun?!

We are still in the icy grip of Winter but today it was sunny and crisp, a light dusting of snow and we had a winter wonderland. The girls had yesterday and today off school due to the weather conditions so I took them on a tour of some of our local land marks looking totally different in their snow white coat.On the way out to collect the girls this morning I stopped at the Blarney walk to take some photos.
A robin hopped over to me while I was snapping, he may have thought I was going to stay for a picnic and maybe some crumbs would fall his way!
This is not really a lake as such, the Blarney walk is around a bogland area which is also a bird sanctuary. There are lots of rushes etc growing through the water, not visible today just frozen water glistening in the cold sunshine.
Furze incognito under its blanket of white.
The Lough was frozen over,this is a big bird sanctuary on the other side of the city. The last time it froze for weeks was back in 1963 when I was a child and we spent days slipping and sliding around its frozen surface.
The girls finding their feet
Only a small area of water had not frozen over so the swans and ducks were discommoded and relegated to the grass surrounds.
Some of these swans could be quite puzzled by this turn of events, they may be getting their first glimpse of ice!
Some of the many species of duck which inhabit the Lough
Ducks and wild fowl clustered around the patch of remaining water.
Remember the metal dinosaur a few weeks ago when it was surrounded by raging flood water.
This is some of the flood waters which have not drained away yet and froze over in the present cold snap.This is safer as the grass is only 8-10 inches underneath.
A reminder of the floods of November is the tree trunk still stuck in the river.
Reflections of serenity, it is hard to imagine this is the same river which thundered through our city a few weeks ago causing such damage and hardship to the inhabitants.
Something not seen in Cork too often.... maybe never before or ever again, an ice hockey game getting started on the Lee fields!It puzzles me how the sticks, skates etc just 'happened' to be handy?!There is a huge student population around this side of the city, these could be the same students who were out body boarding in the wee small hours of the morning in the floods on the city streets?
My sister has lots more pics and a video of the Lough over on her blog Tales from a garden

Comments

kathleen said…
Well i did beat you to it! The thaw was set in when ye arrived obviously!
John Jnr.and myself paid a return visit around 3.30-4.00pm and everything looked different,including the emergency services attending to a young teenager who had fallen through the ice!He/she was removed to hospital and when we were in the Hawthorn having a hot drink(latte for me) a tv3 journalist was there filing his report on the incident.
I was stunned to see a young girl walk to the crib in the centre when the rescue was going on in full view of her parents, but when we were leaving around 5.00pm you could not count the number of teenagers/parents/children out on the ice in front of the pet food store side!
I guess i am getting neurotic and paranoid in my old age, or so my offspring tell me anyway!Kathleen
January 8, 2010 at 11:50 PM
Ann said…
Great pictures, Peggy, I just looked out of my craft room window and there are icicles hanging off the guttering. Wonder how long this cold is going to last. It's ok if you can stay indoors but I do feel sorry for people trying to get to work.
January 9, 2010 at 8:04 AM
Diary From Africa said…
Thanks for giving us a lovely (if not chilly - brrrr !) tour of your area, Peggy - it looks hauntingly beautiful in places with all that snow/ice ... as an African though, I don't think I'd survive in such cold temps ..... brrrrrr ! Sending you 'warm' wishes for a wonderful New Year ....
January 9, 2010 at 11:39 AM
Catherine said…
Great photos Peggy - and I saw Kathleen's too, lovely. I was in Cork today in Blackrock helping our son and partner's house move, and we had snow flurries. We are here in Lismore without water - the pipe froze today, or last night - the one from the street to our house I'm guessing as the heating is going practically 24/7. So we are relying on the kindness of friends and neighbours as well as the shops for drinking water - we bought a lot in Lidl in Fermoy tonight but there is a shortage in so many places. The inches of the River Blackwater have frozen and kids are down skating there every day. Some of the floodwater hasn't moved and is now frozen over. Hope we don't have to wait 10 days for water!!! It's like being back in the bush in Africa when water was always scarce!
Catherine
January 10, 2010 at 12:08 AM
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