A chill wind that blows no-one any good

How quickly things can change.

The Archdruid noted last night that the French are striking - and the knock-on effects this will have on the Beaker Folk as they wander about in the dark, freezing cold. The French strikers are not just burning sheep and blocking British ferries as  they try to bring Stella Artois and cheap Burgundy across the Channel - no, they are closing down power stations and impacting on the nuclear-powered electricity to which the French have become accustomed. No doubt, if they could succeed where King Cnut failed, they would have stopped in the tide in the mighty Rance. Although one has to guess that, if the Marseilles pastis manufactories were to close, the French government could fall in an hour.

This is all so different to the summer, when a grateful United Kingdom doubled its use of French electricity - a glut of which was being produced.

But if the cheap French electricity is not to be found, then the prices in Britain will, eventually, go up. Ask not for whom the meter goes round, as the poet said - it charges thee.

Maybe if the French continue to revolt we will have to revert to alternative sources - not the useless ones like the wind turbines at Petsoe, as they stand there - presumably, for you can't see Petsoe from here - still in the windless environment of a High Pressure area. Maybe we will have to revert to the old days of the real Beaker Folk, as the smoke from 1,000 wood fires fills the air above Husborne Crawley, blocking out the full moon. Standing here in my wood, with the hide of an elephant and the cold-proofing of a breeze block, I feel for you.

Weather Warning

The Met Office has issued a weather warning for the East of England.

Outbreaks of rain, sleet and snow during Wednesday have left roads and pavements wet in many areas. The temperature will fall below freezing, while our incompetent government and Met Office were convinced it would never be cold again so the local authorities didn't bother buying enough salt to cover a British winter.  This will lead to the formation of widespread ice on untreated roads and pavements during the evening, overnight and during Thursday morning.  If we're lucky we'll have some salt in about June time so we can more or less guarantee no icy roads then.  Not that it would matter.  There are now so many pot holes in them you won't be going anywhere.

The Beaker Folk of Husborne Crawley would like to welcome you back to the New Stone Age.

Delight in Frost Worship Workshop

Our foremothers and fathers, many of whom were of the Cockney persuasion, used to love a cold winter.
Back in the good olde days, a cold day meant the Thames freezing over and everbody enjoying a nice "frost fair".  They would put shops and fairground stalls, dancing bears, beer stalls freaks and people from Epsom out there and the Cockneys would have a great old knees up, singing "Knees up Muvver Brown" and such-like traditional ditties until the sun came out and they all drowned.
A short life, but a merry one, being a Cockernee in those days.

And given the stunning beauty of the frost we saw revealed this morning, it was with great delight that we replaced the traditional "Thawing out of Beakers" service with the "Delight in Frost Worship Workshop".  We studied the intricate detail of the spiders' webs, each strand individually frosted as if by a busy Frosting Imp.  We beheld the wonder of the hoar on the trees, amplifiying their delightful treefulness with its white, gently benison.

We held a Frost Blessing ceremony as we considered the beauty of our own footsteps, stretching across the lawn as a testimony to the paths we chose to take, and considered the future imprints of the paths we would take next.  Then Luna had to get inside quick for treatment to her frostbite.  Running barefoot across the lawn weren't so bright - she's not a little match girl, after all.
Taking advantage of my rapt attention to a beautifully frosted rose, a small bunch of wallies then went for the traditional Beaker Walk  Across the Pond.  We ended up up fishing Stacey Bushes out, as she made the mistake of enacting a traditional Sioux Frost Dance in the middle.  Health and Safety advice - do not walk across frozen ponds.  You can end up wet, cold and/or drowned.  We will in future have a traditional Beaker Walk Around the Pond.  Less exciting, but safer.

But all in all, a beautiful and bracing start to a new week.  Tomorrow we'll probably do it all again.  Except the falling in the pond bit.