It just keeps coming

Since my last posting, we have had a week with very heavy frosts and a lot of wet snow again on Thursday. Almost all the snow is gone now, but we have floods.

Last week-end we toured Paxton Pits and Fermyn Woods on our x-country skis. Dan loved walking in the snow and he can beak ice or eat snow for hours.

The schools remained open all this week, despite a couple of dodgy mornings and so we decided to celebrate Hanna's birthday on Wednesday by taking a trip to Titchwell RSPB reserve in Norfolk. The forecast was for a very cold wind, and the odd shower, so we didn't rush out of the door, having a leisurely breakfast before setting out. We encountered trouble almost immediately when we came upon a road-block. A vehicle had taken out a pylon near Chatteris, and so the power company were busy all day. An hour after leaving home, we were still in site of Huntingdon. Then it rained, a lot until we reached the coast at King's Lynn.

By the time we arrived at Titchwell, things had brightened up and so we headed out with a hot pasty and a hot sausage roll in each of our pockets. The plan was to walk on the beach in the warmest and brightest part of the day, then work our way back through the hides which overlook the lagoons and reed-beds. It was freezing. But it was beautiful too. The tide was out revealing a huge expanse of sand which had several strand lines composed of shells. The most prolific were mussels and razor shells; there must have been millions of them, and amongst them were the more robust waders such as curlews and oyster-catchers.

We didn't last long out there as, after our eye-balls froze, it was difficult to see much. Back behind the dunes it was a different world. Skeins of brent geese were coming in for a freshwater drink, joining columns of godwits and other waders, including a few avocets which I think of as summer birds here as most of them move off south for the winter. There was also a lot of ducks around, especially shovellers, very close to the hides. Further away there were pintails.

Looking at all this splendour, we almost missed a snipe that was feeding right under the window. He seemed to love being photographed. Later we had a water rail up-close but, by then, the light had gone and the cafe was closed. Obviously, it was time to go home. Then it started snowing, a lot.

By the time we left the coast the wet snow was piling in, with visibility reduced to a couple of cars. We wanted tea but thought we should keep moving so we kept going until Cambridge where we stopped for a stroll in search of supper. Put off by prices, we did a lot of strolling and not a lot of eating until we settled on the Spanish place where we once ordered food during the Manana holiday. It never came. This time it was better and we really enjoyed our tapas. It was still only nine-ish so we then went for coffees and deserts at a really smart Italian place; part of a chain owned by Antonio Carluccio http://www.carluccios.com/ There was a mini-deli and book shop in the entrance and we came away with some delicious coarse pasta that Hanna remembered from her early years near Naples.

'Another really memorable day. Last year we were in Paris; this year Norfolk; next year what???