The Friday photo

It has been snowing. In November.


Not much, especially if you're reading this in Scotland or Northumbria - but enough to make footprints in the road and spangle the cobwebs in the hedgerows with suspended spray.

This is continuing for the next ten days, so they say: and it's the first time since 1993 it's snowed this early. At this rate we will lose all concept of what a 'normal' winter might be: can you remember the last one?

I interrupt this advent calendar to announce....

It's snowing! It's actually snowing!

In December! In softy-southerner Surrey!

Apologies for the unseemly excitement here but this is unheard of. I can't remember the last time it snowed before Christmas here or indeed anywhere south of about Oxford (which is the furthest north I've ever lived and where it did, while I was there in the 1980s, snow an awful lot from about October onwards).

This has to be the best chance of a real, bona fide, proper white Christmas in living memory. Right, that's it - I'm digging out the Frank Sinatra and the sleigh bells. Never mind all that pretending with robins perching on snowy fork'andles on Christmas cards and the like - we might, just, have the real thing just around the corner this year...

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow....

It's no good - I can't resist. Gotta show you my snow pictures.

Wisley up the road recorded 12" last night, and I think we're up to about 16-18" now. It's the most snow we've had in 18 years (which explains, to you Yanks who regularly hit the two-metre line, why we're getting so excited about it).

All the cardoon seedheads are wearing white bearskins.

Underneath here somewhere are my patio pots.

And Bob (our resident Roman Emperor) is wearing some very natty headgear.

The pond has stayed clear - just.

And as you can see, it's still snowing. Hard. Allotment Dog is not impressed, though he does keep trying to eat it (just in case, you understand) and has a good line in snow somersaults.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Excuse me for getting excited - but I just love the snow. It's powdering my garden to a depth of about 2" this morning - not much to hardened northerners but for us softy southerners here in Surrey it's unusually thick and a real novelty!

The only trouble is that it's the one weather condition (with the possible exception of gale-force winds accompanied by driving torrential rain) which will stop me gardening. I've had to cancel one garden this morning and it's probable I'll be having some forced holiday time tomorrow morning as well.

Not great for the bank balance - one of the rare disadvantages of life as a gardener is that you don't always choose when you take your (unpaid) holidays, and the weather is always awful. Or at least cold. Never mind - I can always look out of the window!