The February Freeze

We were lulled into a false sense of security with the weather last summer and autumn as it started to turn very cold once we were into January.  Malcolm stayed a week in England and then returned and I stayed in England until early February.  Imagine my surprise when I stepped off the plane - it was freezing and much colder than England!

The one thing in Virginia's favour is the fabulous sunshine and dry conditions, so even though we had minus 17 degrees Centigrade, the sun felt warm when it was out.  Most days we awoke to very cold temperatures, but because the air is so dry, we didn't have to de-ice the car before driving to the factory.  However, I had joined a James' River hikers group in November and had kept it going right up until this point, but the picture will show you how cold we all were about 3 weeks ago and I decided that I would return to the group when the temperature was above freezing! Not surprisingly, there was only about one third of the normal group out on that day.


The Rolls-Royce factory was closed for our first serious snowfall which was about 8 - 10".  We managed to dig our way out of the garden and by the time the snowplough had been through, we were able to get out on the second day.  The schools were closed all week.

 We have been feeding the
 birds through this cold weather and these are a couple of visitors who came into the back garden

We have a pair of cardinal birds visiting - the female is in the right hand picture.  The male is scarlet with a tuft on top of his head and I have yet to get a good picture of him.  The picture on the left is an American Bluebird.  The birds soaring overhead are almost always vultures and we sometimes pass wild turkeys who gather at the side of the road.  The other common bird is the Hawk and of course the bald eagle.

Richmond is a great place for the Arts and Maymont house is a wonderful Victorian house standing in a large park on the outskirts of Carytown at the western side of the City.  We visited Maymont when it was all decked out for Christmas and there are extensive grounds where wildlife is kept when it cannot survive in the wild.  This includes black bears, bobcats and of course eagles, hawks and vultures.

Carytown is a wonderful shopping venue, with vintage clothes shops, ethnic goods, great restaurants and jeweller's shops.  Last Sunday, we went to a bar and disco which was included in the Richmond Symphony orchestra's Mozart day.  Instead of a disco, the space was crammed with a large part of an orchestra and chairs for the audience for a free afternoon concert.  We were treated to Mozart's requiem and violin concerto which was so professionally performed they received a standing ovation.  There are music and arts festivals held at different times of the year and there always seems to be something going on.  Next weekend we are going to see Chicago at Richmond's Altria theatre.

The forecast is looking better for the next week or two as we head to the middle of March, so hopefully no more snow.  We are expecting temperatures in the twenties in a few days, before a drop to below freezing - you can never tell what it will be like next.

We went to Wilmington, North Carolina for Thanksgiving as Malcolm had a few days off (the first since he started in June).  The “old” part of the town was lovely and we enjoyed several good meals in small local restaurants.  Just down the road is Wrightsville beach which has miles of golden sand and some fab properties all fronting the ocean.  On the Friday, it was thick coats, scarves, gloves and hats, and a warming bowl of fish gumbo soup for lunch.  By Sunday, the temperature was 27 degrees and after our walk we sat on the beach watching the dolphins leaping and the pelicans diving in great numbers for fish.










We spent a quiet Christmas in Virginia, with a lovely walk in the sunshine on Christmas Day (no coats) and roast beef for dinner.

New year's day saw us driving the 71/2 hour drive from Richmond to Charleston.  We treated ourselves to a 3 night stay in an old coaching inn with original furniture and 4 poster beds.  I can thoroughly recommend this town.  There have to be more original buildings here than almost anywhere else.  There are streets and streets of beautifully conserved houses and lots of restaurants and smart shops.  The typical food fayre you might see here is shrimp and grits.  Quite nice once you get used to eating porridge with prawns and brown gravy!  The weather was warm, the ambiance really great and everyone was really friendly.

Early in the New Year, we flew home for our Son, Alex's graduation.  A very special day and one where both we, Jessica and Alex were all very proud

Whilst back in England I hosted 3 Sticky Fingers parties and have some cookery tuition for when I return home in May.