8th February from the West Cliff Green, Bournemouth
A hard frost. The pigeons wandering through the sparkling white grass, disconsolately pecking at the sharp little crystals. The wagtails seem to be enjoying the novelty bouncing up and down in the rime. The waves are regular without menace although they are quite high and curl over with a satisfying thump. Out in the channel a ship signals its presence with its fog horn that echoes eerily round the bay. The sun is strong and warm in a transparent blue sky but the air is still ice cold.
From 8th February 2021
We don't often get weather from the East but today it's providing an ear-bitingly sharp wind. Puddles are thick with glass clear ice. The dawn sky is in two halves. To the West, a pale blue with broken wisps of mauvey cloud. To the east there are great rolling masses of purple grey. But while they may be dumping snow on others it looks unlikely here because the cloud mass is breaking apart, one half drifting South over the Isle of Wight and the other further inland. The East wind carries a different set of sounds from what we are used to, traffic from the Ring Road and the roar of a jet taking off from the airport. Otherwise it is virtually silent apart from the sound of the breeze in the pine tops. Robins and wagtails shuffle about on on the path looking for breakfast. A wood pigeon hasn't quite grasped it isn't mid summer and coos with its usual warm reassurance.
