The mornings are getting lighter the days longer and the dawn chorus starts before I get up so…………

When is the First Day of Spring ?

Climatologically The Met Office classes the first day of spring as the 1st day of March,  but because of the variation in the days on which the equinox and solstice falls, it is more convenient to use whole months. The Met Office therefore classifies the spring months as being March, April and May (Boring)

Traditionally the first day of spring is Astronomically derived therefore, The first day of spring this year is Friday March 20th. The equinox will be at 5:48 GMT. At this time the Sun will cross directly over the Earth’s equator. This moment is known as the vernal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere. For the Southern Hemisphere, this is the moment of the autumnal equinox.
Vernal comes originally from the Latin word for bloom and refers to the fact that, in the northern hemisphere, this equinox marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring. An equinox is a time when the nights are as long as the days and the vernal equinox is recognised the world over as the start of the new astrological cycle.

But with Global Warming who knows??

I know which one I’ll go with what about you ???

A few months ago we got a free pack of Phillips energy saving light bulbs from British Gas and as I had tried these so called “Eco bulbs” a few years back and found them next to useless they got filed in the garage.
I only decided to use the freebies because two of the bulbs in the wall lights in the lounge blew at the same time and as usual I didn’t have any spares.

I was pleasantly surprised, the new generation of “Eco bulbs” strike up quicker and seem to be a lot whiter.
The only thing I found was that you need the next wattage up to get the same light output i.e. 40 watt old bulb needs a 60 watt Eco bulb but with an energy consumption of only 14 watts and an expected life of over 6 years whose to grumble.
When I went in to Waitrose today the bulbs were on sale at £1.49 buy one get one free.

My route to work is mainly rural and this morning driving up  out of a dip I saw silhouetted against the near full moon a herd of deer and with the snow on the ground it looked like a Christmas card scene. Its moments like these that really cheer you up 

While I was reading today’s copy of the Times I spotted a letter sent in by Mike Borshell of Bishops Stortford.

Sir,So local authorities are running out of salt and grit. You would have thought they would have a slush fund to avoid this happening.

Well it made me chuckle……………………..

While I was cooking breakfast I couldn’t help but notice the amount of birds that were using the feeders.

There were two Robins having a territory battle (the winner is in the picture above) but wouldn’t stay still long enough for me to photograph.

I was also pleasantly supprised to get a picture of a Gold Finch with this cheeky Blue Tit. Other birds visiting today were a pair of Blackbirds, Sparrows both varieties,Starlings,Wood Pigeons and a Collared Dove.

“Stop Whingeing and buy snow chains” says Geoff Hoon the Secretary of State for Transport.

‘Why has nobody got snow chains and why are you all whingeing about what the Government hasn’t done? He suggested motorists who have not spent £54.50 on snow chains for their tyres could not grumble about disruption to their journeys.

This only goes to prove that this man is a total fool. No wonder he’s known as “Buff Hoon”. Transport experts say tyre chains are unsuitable for the UK because they cannot be used on cleared roads or at more than 20mph. They are designed for use on frozen and compacted snow that you would find in Alpine areas of Europe where many of the roads are not salted or ploughed.

Woke up expecting snow ….nothing….even Jo decided that she would drive. I set off, just out of the village it started, not snow, but sleet thick and heavy. The back roads were ok with only three lightly flooded sections. The A10 was a different matter with the sleet now very heavy, I was passed by many vehicles doing well over 60 mph……………How the hell would they be able to stop in an emergency beats me. The other thing is why don’t drivers put their lights on it’s not them seeing it’s being seen by others.

I have been a member of the Hertfordshire 4X4 Response since its inception and we have really come into our own this week. We have been on standby to support the East of England Ambulance Service since last Sunday. But the phone really started to go off today with requests from Bedfordshire Ambulance service to help snow bound staff get in to work. If it hadn’t been for my Land Rover I wouldn’t have got into work myself this week, the roads out of the village not having been ploughed or salted.

The Hertfordshire 4×4 response unit was set up in 2007 to aid the Emergency Services and Local Authorities in the event of severe weather, flood or other emergency where four wheel drive vehicles were required for the response.

So far the blog rebuild is going well. The bit that takes the time is re installing the Gallery section, which due to it’s large size takes a long time to upload. Those of you who had links in the boat blogs section and don’t now, I’m slowly inputting them and will get there soon.

You have probably seen Alacritys blog messed up over the last few days this was because it had been Hacked…….

I am well on the way to sorting it out and we will soon be back to normal so please keep reading.