We had our first frost last week and there’s another heavy frost this morning. I went outside to take some photographs. It’s very pretty. I used to miss frosty mornings like this when we lived in Auckland.
Here are my cyclamen surrounded by frozen leaves. Can you see the pink flowers?
Despite the frost in our backyard things are looking bad for ice globally. This turned up in my Twitter feed yesterday:
It’s hard not to despair when very little seems to be happening on the political front with addressing global warming. But we must not lose hope. There is much individuals can do.
- Use renewable energy if you can. In the UK, and I suspect the same is true in other countries, you can choose your energy supplier. We use Good Energy but there are several other companies to choose from.
- Reduce the food products you buy that come from livestock farming. Livestock farming accounts for more greenhouse gas emissions than the entire transport sector put together – that’s all the bus, trains, planes, cars, and ships on the planet. I have been vegan (mostly) for more than 10 years and it’s a very healthy and much cheaper way to live. I wonder how much money I’ve saved on groceries in that time?
- Don’t use a car if you can walk or cycle or scooter instead. It’s a hard habit to shake but if you replace trips by car with active travel then you’ll feel better for it. Active travel improves our well-being and reduces pollution in our towns and cities.
- Take local holidays rather than flying to far-flung places. I’m a bit of hypocrite with this one and I’m sorry for that. I do fly but it’s mostly work-related travel these days. However I love having my family come to visit so I hope my family will ignore this suggestion. As far as I’m aware there’s no solution for air travel at this point in time. I’m hoping Elon Musk will come up with something.
rachel.blog 
Nice photos, especially the one of the cyclamen. 🙂
I’ll let you know if they survive. They look ok so far.
I switched to Octopus Energy recently – https://octopus.energy/
50 – 100% renewable energy (depending on tariff), and way cheaper than npower too!
Wow! Octopus is cheaper than Good. We might have to switch.
Beautiful photos Rachel. I missed the frost too when I lived in California. The past three days though, we’ve had nothing but torrential rainfall. Very worrying about the ice levels… it helps knowing we can each take steps, no matter how small, to help…
Nice to see you Sherri! The ice has gone here today and we’ve got rain too but nothing heavy. Not yet anyway.
Thanks Rachel, nice to see you too! Today it’s sunny here, hope with you too, but cold…brrrrrr! Have a wonderful weekend! xx
Thank you! You have a great weekend too and keep warm.
Thanks Rachel…will do, and you too!
Photographed some water lilies up near East Saltoun, East Lothian on Sunday, still there despite the frozeness
I’m amazed by how much life can survive in freezing temperatures. I guess the water lilies were frozen solid?
The pond seemed to be unfrozen somehow, though maybe not after last night’s frost.
Sometimes ice can form a protective coating I think. After a bit of investigating I found out there’s an energy company called Bulb that offers all-green electricity – may be worth checking out.
Bulb look pretty good too. I hadn’t heard of them. I’m thinking of switching to Octopus Energy which was suggested above as their tariffs are really low.
You’re a pretty good photographer. Good tips on helping the planet too. I enjoy taking local holidays and save the flying for special occasions these days – and as airport congestion is such a big issue in the South East, I feel glad to be well out of it.
I don’t really like flying and only do it if I really have to. There are so many amazing places to go in the UK without getting on a plane and airports are tiresome places with long queues and lots of waiting.
When Eli was in CA for a while he talked with a friend who pointed out that in CA and most of the world there are two seasons, rainy and not rainy, and rainy is green and not rainy is yellow.
Brisbane is a bit like that. There’s not really a winter – instead there’s a wet and a dry season.
Love the idea of “active travel”. Gorgeous photos! 🙂