Cold, colder, jolly well freezing

The last few days have been incredibly cold, so much so that temperatures have stayed below zero degrees for the last three days. For the UK, this is unusual and makes allotment jobs and projects more difficult to do. Digging for example is completely out of the question, with the ground frozen solid. On the plus side, it isn’t flooded although I suspect that will come once the thaw arrives!

Today we picked up a gorgeous set of plant pots and a dismantled wooden cable reel from the local area. The cable reel is my project for next week and I plan to upcycle it into a table so we can have somewhere to eat comfortably when the weather improves. The plant pots are designated for the patio area with the other pots I collected last year. I want to have a relaxing sitting area on the patio and grow some nice flowers in the pots to soften the concrete surrounding the patio.

Feeding the chickens was interesting. Especially when I had to hack at the ice in the water bowl with a chisel. Eventually, I got the ice out of the drinking trough but I could tell there was lots of ice inside the feeder. Wrestling with it, I managed to remove the top and the water gushed out. Banging the top against the ground removed large chunks of ice. I kept hitting it until all the ice had gone before refilling it. All the girls immediately went for the water bowl when it was back in its place which shows they were thirsty. The thaw is likely to arrive tomorrow but I think I need to come up with a solution to keeping the water feeder unfrozen before the next frost!

Before we left, my husband spotted that the bucket I used for cleaning the nest box. It was frozen over. Even when he turned it upsidedown, only a small amount of water came out. The rest was frozen solid. It was rather impressive!

Tomorrow’s jobs include cleaning out the greenhouse and adding the wood chipping to the main coop provided the weather warms up!