Brrr!!!!!......Flowers still surprising me....

It's nice you have so many surviving flowers Sue.
I'm glad you're able to breathe better in cold weather. It always makes me feel depressed and full of aches.

It must be awful for you suffering asthma Sue!
My son suffers with it, but more through the summer months.
It's amazing how many of your plants are still flowering!
I still have the penstemon in flower as it is in a sheltered position , but the rest of mine have gone now!
We have a vision pond which is a raised one and luckily the waterfall is still going so hope the fish are still alive under the ice!

glad the cold is good for something Lincs. But take care, chests are vulnerable aren't they.

Jealous of your flowers, my Rudbeckia has totally succumbed and I don't think it will re-flower now. Winter clematis is also struggling to break bud. it is a waiting game. And I didn't get any of my dahlia's undercover but as the greenhouse was -4 this morning I don't suppose it matters!

Thanks for putting all the photos of the plants still surviving in your garden, Lincs. I won't be able to do the same as ALL my plants have frozen solid on the balcony!

I can understand why you just couldn't resist going outside to have a good look round!
Some lovely frosty photos here and I hope you went in and soon got warm again.
I think it is getting warmer again soon but probably wetter too.

Thankyou all for the lovely comments, BT working down the road and keep cutting us off, hoping to get back to you soon......We are not happy.....

Those persistent flowers Lincs gives the impression of as the saying goes ...spring in the lap of winter.... I always have my pond pumps going In the winter too since moving water never freezes and these pumps give out a tremendous amount of heat which keeps the water temperature a tad above the ambient air temperature. Yes the birds do learn how to use the netting for support to get their sips of water. Dec 21 will be the shortest day of the year and I look forward to the days getting longer, even if it will be minute by minute.

Good to hear you can breathe easier when the air is fresher and crisper, Sue. It must be awful having a respiratory condition.
Your hellebore are blooming!!! I'm envious, they look really colourful too. The first pic is very artistic! My garden looks a bit boring at the moment. I've not had much time to pop out, work has kept me very busy with visits and audits.
I'm doing my 3 evening yoga classes and may be starting Friday mornings too!
Thank heavens it nearly the 21st! I'm not keen on December or January. Apart from the festive week, I find it gloomy and I really dislike the weather, freezing fog or ice while out driving long distances is horrid, and the dark!!! Roll on spring!

I just noticed that my daffodils have just poked their way past the surface. That is very early.

Sue, your photos could be from different parts of the year, some blooming, others frosted, makes you wonder what's going on with the climate!

I have a tip for you, always wear a scarf over your mouth and nose when you go out in the cold. It really helped me when I was doing my cardiac rehab. some years ago.

Just make sure that you wrap your scarf so that it covers your nose and mouth. This helps to warm up the air before you breathe it in. For many people with asthma, cold air can trigger symptoms, but wearing a scarf wrapped loosely over the nose and mouth can help prevent this.

Shirley, what you say about wearing a scarf around your nose & mouth is exactly what I've been doing for the last couple of weeks every time I had to go out in the cold.

Apparently if you keep your nose a little warmer you won't be so prepense to catching a cold. In an article I read a short time ago researchers have discovered that we catch colds not so much from the cold, damp days of autumn/winter but from the last inch of so of our noses being cold. It seems there are more immune cells in that tiny area of our noses than anywhere else in our bodies & they don't work nearly as well as they should do when they are cold!

Sue, brilliant that you've been doing that and amazing what we learn on this site! Maybe I should invest in a nosebag ... :o)) Finally got rid of the awful cough I had for almost 3 weeks, yippee!!

Lucky you then, Shirley! I've had a cough for the last week or so & yesterday I went to see the pharmacist, because it is so difficult to see a doctor, (Doctors must be a species in vias of extinction, perhaps they should be on Red List for endangered species! Along with NHS nurses???), he examined me better than a doctor would & I spent 15 minutes with him while he questioned me & examined me. He told me I had a chest infection & then made out a prescription for an antibiotic which I have to take for 7 days.

The worst thing about it was it took the duty doctor an hour to sign it!!! 😱

David, I had no idea that Pharmacists were allowed to examine their customers! I hope the anti-biotics are healing to clear your chest infection ... :o)

Pharmacists have been allowed to treat 'minor' illnesses for years! Just that since the pandemic 'ended' that have been encouraged by the government to do more so as to alleviate the doctors' work load & so get more patients attended to quicker.

Before Covid lockdowns began my wife saw a pharmacist of several occasions for sinusitis.

We have found that we get much more attention + time to talk than we get with our doctor!

It seems they can't prescribe antibiotics without a doctor signing the prescription & probably other medicines that need a doctor's signature.

As for my chest infection, thanks for asking, it has now cleared up after 7 days of antibiotics. 👍😀

Good news all round ... well done!

Thank you, Sheila! 👍😀