Fresh snow, brief thaw

A lovely sunny day yesterday, with temperatures touching +5°C. Overnight, clouds rolled in and this morning – a lovely surprise; heaps of fresh snow. The old snow was getting grubby, so the new stuff was aesthetically pleasing even though there was not a single beam of sunshine today. As soon as they'd eaten the cats (with the exception of Céleste) were all eager to go out and experience the fresh powder. However, they were back within the hour. With all the cats in the house, I could check how far they range by checking paw-prints in the virgin snow...

Below: Moni's Micra hasn't moved since 27 December, between it and the salty road lie about 45 cubic metres of snow (120m by 2m by 20cm). And so it waits for the thaw. Hope the battery holds out!

Below: house from the back. Note the snow cover on the terrace. I've not been up there in a while. 

Below: view of the house in the distance (about halfway from the road to the back of my działka). Snow-covered fir trees make it look like it's still Christmas,

Below: I come across multiple sets of paw-prints from my front door, over the fence and across the forest. They are obviously criss-crossing this land, but not going any further east than the boundary of the next house along.

Below: Flippin' Nora! (nora = burrow, hole.) I followed my cats' paw-prints (can't tell which one) from my garden, over the fence and through the wood. Looks like they smelt some prey down below, sniffed around and went back.

Below: from feline prints to those left by my new Lowa boots. I must say, that after today's two-hour-long walk, some over slushy asphalt, my socks were slightly damp, though not sopping wet as they had been in my old boots. For most of the day, temperatures hovered just above freezing.

Below: juvenile male roe deer foraging for food in deep snow, between orchard and forest. Here and there, I come across patches of turned-over snow where deer and elk have scratching around for mosses and lichens to eat.

Below: You were on the inside, I was on the outside... Céleste, after a taking a peek outside, decides it's preferable in the kitchen on days like this. Not as cold, but damp.

The forthcoming week promises to be much, much colder, with double-digit frosts at night, and some sunshine towards the end of the week. More (wet) snow forecast for next Wednesday,along with another brief thaw, and then back to frost for the foreseeable future in the 15-day prognostication.

Update, Thursday 29 January. Scrapper joins me in the forest next door. Here he is, sizing up a sapling.

This time seven years ago:

The Ten-Year Challenge (Pt. I)
[This year's equivalent, says Moni, is '#2016']

This time nine years ago:
Getting my act together - or not!

This time ten years ago:
The Polish Individualist

This time 12 years ago:
The Holocaust and the banality of evil

This time 13 years ago:
Snow scene into the sun

This time 14 years ago:
More winter gorgeousness

This time 15 years ago:
New winter wear – my M65 Parka

[Still going strong, though replaced by my N3B Parka]

This time 16 years ago:
Winter and broken-down trains

This time 17 years ago:
General Mud claims ul. Poloneza

This time 18 years ago:
Just when I thought winter was over...