Welsh Adventure

We've been incredibly busy and jetlagged, so have been remiss in updating you all promptly about our happy landings here in Wales - first of all, the closing and handover of our home took place as planned on Jan 22, without a hitch. We bought champagne to celebrate with my brother John and Michelle.

Of note is the fact that we have NO snow on the ground, just lots of puddles. Here is a view of sheep grazing on the hill outside my front window.

We bought a large amount of 'stuff' with us, to equip our empty kitchen during our first week here. This is everything we packed into our luggage, all of which arrived safely, with no breakages.

After landing in Birmingham and collecting out rental car, we headed to the retail appliance store to order a fridge that will fit into our 60cm (close to 2 feet) kitchen space. It will only arrive on Tuesday, so for now we're using our unheated garage as a cooler.

What a lovely view from my kitchen window as I wash dishes (note: no snow).

Post Snowfall Sights

 

Such a delightful sight - poor cold and hungry squirrel!

Fresh snow shadows - so intense

Sublimation

 

Vaporizing snow

Beautiful, mysterious

Process, like dry ice.

More on Cryoprotection

Cryoprotection intrigues me still ... I can't let it go ... I don't think I've quite wrapped my head around it entirely, as reflected in this post ...

Diatoms (single celled algae with silicate cell walls) in the ocean release ice-binding proteins to prevent ice crystals forming (their own antifreeze molecules), which would restrict their growth and motility. Diatom abundance and composition in the ocean therefore also affects the structure, melt (light penetration) and formation of sea ice. Massive blooms of diatomic algae in the ocean make for thinner ice sheets, as well as more abundant biomass for the base of our planet's food chain. (Good and bad at the same time? Ooh, maybe we mistakenly exercise 'judgement' on what IS without any need to - it just IS, it has no inherent quality.)

And lakes too, of course! Excess algal growth can inhibit the formation of ice cover ... and thereby alter/influence what happens to other life forms in other habitats ... that's how ecosystems are!

It's interesting contemplating how such small, single celled organisms can alter major environmental systems! I'm ever-wowed by the complexity of nature, and the way we 'judge'  or name it.