Wishing for snow / Envie de neige

melting-snow-green-shoots

Today the temperature has noticeably dipped, and there are but a few leaves left on the trees. With Christmas only a month away, the acorns have started wishing for snow.

The photos below were taken exactly a year ago in Gortin Glen Forest Park, Co Tyrone. In late November we were up north for Grandad’s birthday and it was the place to be to catch the only snow we got in Ireland last winter.

On hearing the weather forecast on the radio, I had secretly packed the acorns’ winter gear. When we woke up on the Saturday morning to a light sprinkling of snow on the hills, a plan was immediately hatched to head up to Gortin Glen, in the Sperrin Mountains.

The Sperrins looked like a winter wonderland. 

We parked near the exit of the forest park. In the mild conditions the snow melted fast but for two whole hours, the acorns played in the white stuff, starting with a snowball fight and moving on to making increasingly elaborate snow sculptures.

What a privilege to be at the right place at the right time!


family-snow-selfie

Aujourd’hui le mercure a soudain plongé et il ne reste guère de feuilles sur les arbres dénudés. Plus qu’un mois avant Noël, et les graines de chêne ont des envies de neige.

Les photos ci-dessous furent prises il y a un an tout juste au parc forestier de Gortin Glen, Co Tyrone. Nous étions en Irlande du Nord pour l’anniversaire de Grandad à la fin novembre, juste comme la seule neige de l’hiver dernier tombait sur le pays.

Ayant entendu la météo à la radio, j’avais préparé nos tenues de neige, en secret pour ne pas risquer de décevoir les graines de chêne.

Le samedi matin, une fine couche blanche recouvrait les collines, aussi fut-il immédiatement décidé d’aller à Gortin Glen, dans les monts Sperrin.

Sur les hauteurs, la neige était tombée en abondance. Sous le pâle soleil d’hiver, les monts Sperrin ressemblaient à une carte de Noël.

Nous avons garé la voiture sur le bas-côté près de la sortie de Gortin Glen. La neige fondait vite par ces températures douces, mais pendant deux heures entières, les graines de chêne ont joué dans la “poudre” blanche, commençant par une bataille de boules de neige avec Brian avant de poursuivre avec des sculptures sur neige de plus en plus élaborées. 

Quel bonheur de s’être trouvés au bon endroit juste au bon moment !

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8 Responses to “Wishing for snow / Envie de neige

  • Winter photos really don’t get any more stunning than this! Just wow, what an amazing time you had. We haven’t had snow for 10 years and my triplets can hardly remember what it is like. It would be my dream to find snow like this this winter and play in it just as you did, I know even my older teens wouldn’t be able to resist. What a privilege to have this early snow, fingers crossed there will be more to come for us all.
    I hope Grandad had a good birthday amidst all your fun.

    Thank you for sharing with me on #CountryKids

    • Thank you so much Fiona for your very kind words! Ten years without snow would do my head in, thankfully we often find some in France when we go in February/March. Fingers crossed, we’ll also get some in Ireland, and in Cornwall for you!
      Thanks for hosting #CountryKids

  • I saw the pictures of snow on the news but didn’t know where it was.

    How great that you managed to be there for it. My boys are hoping for a white Christmas too!

  • My children have been watching out for snow for the past month and are desperate for it to arrive!
    It looks like you had a wonderful time and you managed to capture it so beautifully. #countrykids

  • I know just what you mean, I love snow and I really hope Wales has a good flurry of it this year. Just smooch fun for kids (and adults)

    Just popping over from Countrykids

    Laura x

  • Oh your acorns look like they had a wonderful time in the snow. I love the snow animals. It has been a long time since we had any decent snow where we live. I’m hoping that we might get some this winter! #countrykids

  • By this time last year we’d already had our first snow dump of many. We are currently just hovering above freezing here and so have a lot of rain 🙁 just needs to drop 1 degree!!! #countrykids

  • You lucky lucky things to be in the right place at the right time! I’m four years old and never played in the snow 🙁 popping over from #CountryKids

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