Before Sunrise

The Rubicon Peak catching the first rays. The fuzzy appearance is due to snow blowing off the mountain. It's been fuzzy all day. Yesterday it was well coated. This image was straight out of the camera, apart from size reduction. Nice large.

This morning was a surprise. With snow still deep on the ground and the sky clear there was no frost. It was a relatively mild 4ºC at 6.30 am. A light nor'wester was blowing down from the mountains. There was no chill in it. As soon as it was light I walked a little way along the road, but the traffic was almost back to normal today. I didn't feel safe as there is nowhere but the carriageway cleared as yet.

I feel very frustrated that I can't drive to a good vantage point to see the mountains. Here there are too many trees and power poles. My usual back lawn places were deep in snow and I was not going to climb on garden furniture.

The third day after a snowfall is is when the charm wears off. The snow is muddy where paths have been cleared, and the surface is covered with windblown debris and bird droppings. I still had to wade through knee deep snow to get anything done.

This afternoon I managed a tour of the garden. It was all rather disheartening. Many branches of trees are broken, some shrubs have bent over and even when the snow is cleared from them they don't stand up again. Some bushes are still completely buried.

The cold has also been devastating. Plants not normally affected by frost have been damaged. The plants that have flourished on my veranda for many years are looking very sick.

On top of all this my washing machine, that has given me long and faithful service, decided now was a good time to cease. I had to do the washing by hand and wade in the deepest area of snow to hang it out to drip dry. I do my son's laundry as well as my own, so there was plenty to do. He will pay half of a new machine, which is great, but it could be a week or more before I can buy one in Christchurch and have it delivered.

Thank you again for all the hearts and lovely comments.