Winter's return

This winter refuses to give up. Three days of thaw came to an end in the small hours of this morning, as temperatures fell below freezing again and a fresh snowfall covered the newly-frozen slush. Aesthetically this is more pleasing than the rubbish weather from yesterday. And more is expected - more snow is forecast for Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, and then from Sunday for the following week, right through to the 27th of February! 

Below: my house as seen from halfway down my orchard. Once again, my solar panels are covered in snow and producing zero energy.

During the thaw, all the snow on the Micra had melted away.  As it had become snow-free for the first time since late December, I tried starting the engine yesterday. There was still some juice left in the battery, but not enough to turn over the starter motor. Not surprising, given that the battery had endured a week of temperatures falling to below -20C and the car had not moved for seven weeks. So today, I removed the battery and brought it into the house to recharge. Now fully charged, I shall keep it inside in the warm and only return it to the Micra once the snow has well and truly gone, and the salt washed off the asphalt.

Below: Scrapper surveys the snow. He is now fully recovered after his run-in with a neighbouring poodle, although I can still feel the scars under his fur. Hopefully he's learnt his lesson and won't range that far again. Plus castration looms as soon as I can drive the boys to the vet.

Last night, all six cats stayed in. This morning all went outside to investigate the new snow, but Wenusia, Czester and Pacyfik came back in after a few minutes. The rest followed me down the drive and into the forest next door. 

Left: Arturus leads Céleste and Scrapper into the forest, following in my footsteps. After his poodle battle last week, Scrapper is content to act as rearguard rather than pushing himself to the front of the patrol. 

Once we reached our destination, the fallen tree stump, the three cats started playing, chasing each other and climbing up trees. After a while, they all dutifully followed me back into our garden and home for lunch.

Below: Céleste takes a look around. She remains so beautiful, petite and patient.

Below: tracks in the snow in the forest next door. ChatGPT swears blind that these are paw-prints of a stone marten (kuna domowa, Martes foina), whilst Google Gemini takes a contrary view, stating - without fear of contradiction - that these are the tracks of a red squirrel (Wiewiórka pospolita, Sciurus vulgaris). When I pointed out to ChatGPT that a squirrel has four toes on its front feet and five toes on its rear feet, it retracted the stone marten assertion and agreed with Gemini. Why it pays not to trust one AI but to play one off against another to ensure you're not fooled by hallucinations or confabulations.

A large pot of Ukrainian barszcz was put on the gas, sufficient for three days' worth of main meal. Lent starts on Wednesday.

This time six years ago:
Cooperate/Cooperate, Defect/Defect

This time eight years ago:
The Becoming and the Magic that'll Re-enchant Us

This time nine years ago
Short-haul musings 

This time 10 years ago:
Mind, matter and life

This time 11 years ago:
Compositions in blue and white

This time 14 years ago:
Waiting for the change to come

This time 14 years ago
A wetter Poland?
[Turns out now, Poland's facing long-term drought.]

This time 17 years ago:
Heavy overnight snow

This time 18 years ago:
Changing Jeziorki skyline