White out in the Tarn!
Back…
and…
…front!
“Bird Sanctuary”
No “al fresco” dining today!
“Snow?–seen it before; no big deal” Queen mum cat; Pippa not impressed. The other three–“What IS THAT!?”
Our friend Valerie took her young son, Guilhaume, to school this morning before the snow started to fall.
“What are we going to do this afternoon? How can we fetch him home?” she asked her partner, Bernard, soon after she got home. “By tractor,” he replied, “the ancient one in the shed.”
Imagine four-year-old Guilhaume’s delight when Dad turns up at school on the tractor!
“You’ll have to take all the other kids home too,” we added. “We’ll have to start calling you, Saint Bernard,” joked Valérie.
No change in my walking programme…
…”Captain Intrepid…or silly old fool!”
Robin Ellis 
Wish I was there walking our Springer Spaniel, he just loves snow. None when we were there for Christmas unfortunately.
captain intrepid…forever!!!!!!!
Enjoy the snow! My area, (Washington DC) has yet to get a substantial snowfall this year.
WOW!!!!! Looks a lot like Rochester! Good for you that you are continuing to walk despite the weather. I have been house bound (partly due to a blizzard and partly due to a sore throat) for three days. I would attempt walking today but the wind chill is -10 F. Ah the wonders of winter.
Stay in the warm–guard your sore throat, Sandy!
I am inspired to walk.
Go for it!
I would happily walk, were there snow in parks nearby. Alas, none for The Valley of Heart’s Delight.
How lovely!! And what great thinking by Bernard!
Beautiful!
Sent from my iPhone
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Grazie Robin for the report! I love watch pics of your live with Meredith, cats friends and Family! Seems will show here too this night….I will told…. Take care, love Bea.
Nice. I will follow your tracks in the snow…
Hi Steven–snow must be a rare sight in SF…
It certainly is! When it does snow in the Santa Cruz mountains (south end of the SF Bay area, overlooking the Monterey Bay), finding a place on public property to play in the snow is difficult. I remember the first time it snowed enough to take my then toddler son to enjoy it for a short while, and I learned just how much weight snow on overhanging tree branches is! Glad I never had a branchful dropped on me!
Marina
Dear Mr. Ellis,
Thank you for sharing your life in France
with all of your fans. I loved you in
Poldark and now I can take delight in
Snow which we never get in San Francisco CA. Your cats are a joy!!!
Thanks, Linda–I have happy memories of a couple of book signings at The Booksmith on Haight street.
Brrr Robin, these are totally different photos from your last walk. Just come in & it is the coldest on the Isle of Wight for over a couple of years. We do not get a lot of snow, but it is cold enough today so we may get snow this week.
Doug & I toast you with a Remymartin to warm us – so cheers Captain Intrepid & be careful once the snow begins to turn to sludge. Diane 🌹
🍀Shawdiane
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Thanks, Diane.
Dear Robin,
Love reading your memos, and photographs of your lovely cats. You are so lucky to have snow, here in Sennen, (West Cornwall) we’ve had a scattering overnight, but only a few miles away, in Falmouth, there was quite an accumulation, lucky things! So looking forward to ‘Poldark’ in March, though would have been so happy if it could have been possible for the BBC to re run the original, but I suppose technology prevented them from doing so.
Looking forward to your next post
Kind Regards Beryl
Thanks Beryl–apart from clashing with the new version it would be prohibitively expensive to pay us all the repeats Sadly!
Looks beautiful!
Did you slip and slide on your walk?
I took a stick!
Differently captain intrepid, there is something special about virgin snow that makes you want to leave a foot print. But be careful when it turns to mush or freezes over night. I am walking tomorrow with the Wigan walkers about three
miles. We have no snow but I suspect we will be ankle deep in mud.
Take care, Elaine–mud can be treacherous too.
Oh! Beautiful snow. We only get to see it once in a very blue moon.
Such beautiful countryside!
I’m sure you could do an al fresco meal where food chilling in snow would be appropriate. Too bad that is usually desired in the heat of summer or autumn.
I have never had the occasion to bicycle in the snow–thunderstorm, yes, and glad it was only the once on that wretched stream of potholes, well after nightfall–because the years we were in Albuquerque (between bouts in sunny San Diego), the snowfall was the lightest in years, and my sister and I felt deprived of the fun. I didn’t get a driver’s license until I was 29, but eastern LA county in the flats does not get snow.
I had to show this column to my belle-mère (qui habite avec nous). She’s from Pittsburgh PA (eastern end of the state, above Kentucky), and snow days there (when schools are closed) are only called when the snow’s about a foot deep from overnight deposits. When they moved to Louisville KY, her sons said a snow day was called after maybe a quarter of that fell, and she didn’t believe them. She found the idea of much fuss over that little coat of snow to be amusing.
Did Valerie walk Guilhaume to school? Is the tractor their only vehicle? Is ‘Guilhaume’ an Occitan spelling for William?
Guillaume is French for William–and we don’t know how he got home from school!
Je sais bien que Guillaume est le français pour ‘William’, mais vous avais l’éppelé ‘Guilhaume’. Misspelling or another dialect’s spelling?
His mum spelt it that way in an email–I had written Guillaume originally. I like her way in fact.
Robin, Who manages the Ross Poldark page on FB, is it you? Diane
🍀Shawdiane
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Don’t know, Diane. Not me.
You’re not silly! Walking is good for the body and heart. As the planet gets warmer due to climate change, we might not see snow in the future so it’s good to enjoy these snow scenes now…
Some students I know from South China are nearly 20 years old and they’ve never seen snow. They would be happy to see some.
Robin thanks for caring, the mud was there but frozen and the ground hard has rock,it was a bitter cold wind though.right though you it went.
Stay warm and safe, Elaine.
Robin thanks for caring, the mud was there but frozen and the ground hard has rock,it was a bitter cold wind though.right through you it went.
Hi Robin,
We spent all day walking and watching the birds and waterfowl at Pensthorpe nature reserve in Norfolk, where we have come for our annual “get away for a few days peace and quiet” ! We’ve had four seasons in one day, sun, rain, snow and wind. We’ll certainly sleep well tonight after all the fresh air and exercise ! xx
Beautiful scenery to view while walking. You are a hardy soul! LOL
Ann
Looks heavenly !
Lovely! Here in the California mountains we’ve only had one snow this season – so far. I’m hoping for a couple more.
Marilyn Beardslee Stallion Springs Tehachapi, CA
Hi Robin. Thanks for sharing your beautiful pics of snowy white Lautrec. I love the pic of you walking in the snow, I’m very impressed with your commitment with your daily walks, no matter if the weather is summery warm or wintry snow! Well done and keep up the exercise! And I’m very impressed how you have managed your diabetes with healthy lifestyle and healthy food! I’m very passionate about healthy eating and lifestyle myself! I would love to come over to do one of your healthy cooking workshops! I’m a huge POLDARK fan and loved watching your Poldark when I was a teen and watch the POLDARK DVDs now! Would love for you and Meredith to come and visit us in New Zealand!! ☺️ xx
Hi Lisa, thank you.
We have someone coming from NZ to the next workshop in May–so…!
I’d love to visit–it’s the place to go now–with the Hobbit/L of the Rs film locations popular.
On ne sait jamais!
Hi Robin.
Yes please do come over to NZ soon!! ☺️☺️
I live in Auckland and when I drove down to Tauranga to visit my good friends Diane and Mo, I passed the Hobbiton/Middle-Earth (located in Matamata). Here’s the website to the Hobbiton Movie Set Tours http://www.hobbitontours.com/ I use to work with Diane and Mo at BP Oil Head Office, Wellington, and can’t believe we have been friends for 35 years!! Diane and Mo now have a Kiwifruit Orchard, it’s so nice to visit there and to get out of the city!
I grew up in Wellington and visit there often as my parents and brother still live in Wellington. I fly Air New Zealand and get to see the Middle-earth Air New Zealand safety video: http://youtu.be/qOw44VFNk8Y – it’s so cool! Here’s some images of Middle-earth Wellington Airport and Middle-earth Air New Zealand planes: https://www.google.co.nz/search?q=middle+earth+air+new+zealand+airport&hl=en-NZ&biw=1024&bih=671&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=riHVVKe1LqS3mwXylYIQ&sqi=2&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ
The Wellington airport is located in Miramar, as well as the Weta Workshop, probably only a 10 mins drive from the airport. Here’s the website to: Workshop Tours » Weta Workshop: http://wetaworkshop.com/visit-us/workshop-tours/tour/standard-tour
Ashame to say, I haven’t done the Hobbiton/Middle-earth Tour (Matamata) or the Weta Workshop tour (Wellington), but is on my bucket list to do!!
I would love to come over your way to do your healthy cooking workshop and venture round your beautiful Laurtec and farmers markets sooner than later! But unfortunately I have just started a new job and don’t have any leave yet. But will target for next year!! ☺️☺️
You never know, you may come over my way, before I come over your way???
Good luck with the new job, Lisa.
Thanks Robin.
I was very spoilt on my first day of work receiving welcome flowers from the company and was taken out to lunch. My bosses and colleagues are really nice, and enjoy working with them. Our office overlooks the Auckland waterfront, so I have a very beautiful view!
Your last picture reminds me of a song, if you look up Brandi Carlile the song is “Have you ever”. Its a lovely little song for walkers.
Thanks, Barb.
Your welcome 🙂 She’s on youtube
Hi, Robin & Meredith,
I won’t complain about our snow after seeing this from New Brunswick, Canada… Scroll down to see the cat’s escape! 🙂 http://www.grindtv.com/outdoor/outposts/post/rudiger-cat-digs-major-snowstorm/
Robin, I suppose you don’t get that much snow often in the South of France. The photos are great. You, (I wouldn’t admit this to my middle sister, as she is addicted to the newer version) are still my favorite Poldark, as that is how I was introduced to the series. Stay warm, cause spring is coming very soon!
Thank you, Cynthia!