JANUARY BRINGS THE SNOW ……..

10/01/2009 by Ted.

MAKES OUR FEET AND FINGERS GLOW!

Well, for some anyway. Here in Cumbria we are still enjoying a Cumbrian summer - cold, grey and all that - but beautiful with it too. A joy to be alive - no, I really mean that. Nothing can overpower the beauty of this place - it is gorgeous whatever the weather!

We haven’t had any snow at sea level but there has been plenty on the hills.  However we have plenty of ICE. The river Duddon has been frozen over,  and boating has had to be abandoned in Barrow Park because there is a one inch thick ice covering all over the lake - not to mention a lot of bemused seagulls who are standing on it getting cold feet. I think that the geese and ducks have all see it before and flown off to somewhere not frozen as they are nowhere to be seen.  But …. I have just remembered that Christmas has recently been and gone - perhaps they all became the meat portion of Barrovian Christmas dinners. Hmmmmm!

Well, it has been very quiet on the blog.  I look at it every day, and it is a real and rare joy to see a new post.  I have been expecting Lord Fly to do one or two,  I think he is still in London, but he has his little diddy laptop with him and can get in touch.  If you are there Lord Fly how about a word letting us know what you are doing and where you are - if you are not down there?  And anyone else too.  We have between thirty and forty registered family subscribers and I know that they are all still alive.  Well, you better had be!

We are now well past the shortest day and, believe it or not, the days are getting longer - and darker at both ends I think.  (There is now a link to sunrise and sunset times at the top of the column on the right hand side of the blog) Having retired I am able to laze around a bit and just lately have been trying to wait until it gets light before throwing the duvet back.  But getting light seems to be getting later and later and for the first time in my life I have not been out of bed (some mornings) until eight o’clock - halfway through the day almost.  What a lovely life I have!!!

You may remember that some time in 2008 I mentioned that I had heard that United Utilities were proposing to fill in the reservoir - way out in the country - where I went to catch rainbow trout.  I expressed incredulity that such a hairbrained scheme could be reality - but now it has been confirmed and they are proposing to fill it in some time in 2009.  I am thinking of organising a petition in protest at this infringement of our (fishermen’s) yooman rights.  Not to mention the yooman rights of the poor rainbow trout who will be made homeless.  I suspect that if we were to import a few foreign fish and put them into the reservoir then United Utilities would be foiled because they could then be accused of being racist against the foreign fish, and that would certainly bring it to a halt.

Anyway, even if they do fill it in it is an ill wind ….. etc etc, …. because just a mile or so from my house is Hodbarrow Lagoon which is many, many time larger than the reservoir. In the past two years it has been stocked with 8000 brown trout some of which are now being pulled out weighing up to seven pounds apiece …. and who has a fishing permit and permission to launch a boat to fly-fish from?  Wow! And just in case you are wondering - brown trout don’t have yooman rights as they are native British fish, so they can be caught, as we all are every day of our lives these days, without let or hindrance.  Hmmm … I’m beginning to sound like Lord Blog did before he received his peerage (when he was just ordinary common  Fly-on-the-wall) so I’ll say no more. I wonder where he is!

Well, it is teatime again and time to have a rummage in the wheelie bins.  I do hope everyone is well and happy out there.  I think of you all a lot and, of course, send my fond love to you all now.

God bless,

Ted

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