In the Bleak Midwinter

Last Saturday evening a few hours' worth of snow fell on Oxford, blanketing most of the town, which doesn't happen too often here.  Temps have been fairly cold over the past week or two, hovering around freezing, so most of the snow stuck around long enough for Fi & me to take a walk around & see the wintry sights on Sunday.

Our walk took us past the office first, then back through Jericho to the canal. Looking out onto the water from the bridge, you can see the top's frozen over.

The sheet of ice can't have been thicker than an inch, but that was plenty to support the weight of the neighborhood ducks, who were waddling up and down the canal like business as usual.

From there we rambled on to Port Meadow, hoping to get a glimpse of some pristine snow before half of Oxford had trodden all over it.
 

The English do love a good walk, though, so there were footprints everywhere by the time we arrived.

I once heard someone say that all walks in the country end up at the pub, so that's where we headed. 

By then, most of the well-traveled paths had become pretty sloshy, so our feet were all but soaked.  Luckily, we knew of someplace nearby with a fire..

As luck would have it, they also served delicious beer.

Not a bad way to spend a Sunday in February.