Mud. I loathe you.

[Toddy]

Damp. Living at highish altitude we're up in the clouds a lot more at this time of year and on top of the rain things just don't dry out. Everything turns green or goes mouldy, we can't dry clothes outside. Windows drip, the car is always steamed up. I just wait for a dryish day and open all the windows to air the place out. No wonder people love a spring clean after a wet winter.

I love the really cold days that freeze all this mud solid and you can get out to places that have been off limits from being too muddy. Hopefully we'll get some of those again soon.

Sounds like here. I don't even try to dry clothes indoors now and just use the tumble drier. On dry breezy days I hang stuff out on the line and finish them off in the tumble drier.

We also bought two Meaco dehumidifiers. One for upstairs and one down. It's astonishing just how much moisture they pull out of the house. 67% humidity is the figure at which mildew can grow. I'm not living in a damp house ever again.
It's not cheap using the tumbler and dehumidifiers, but it's a blooming sight cheaper than dealing with damp, mould, and ill health.

Even the street signs and lampposts here are green with mould. The garden fences look lush even in the middle of Winter.

When everything freezes up, it's a pleasure going for a walk. The constant mud, even on gravel paths, gets tedious.

M

 

[Broch]

Sussex is dominated by The Downs. Chalk clay and mud plus steep hills make for a miserable and hairy walk. It's only the flood plains to the coast that are flat. Both Wayne and spend most of our days either going up or coming down hills that are almost ice slick with clay. I've taken to using the trekking poles all the time now.

I did say relatively flat . I have walked the Sussex Downs - if I remember rightly the highest point (Black something) is less than 300m; we live at 285m! My wood is literally 45 degrees for the greater part of it and it's clay on Ordovician mudstone - not quite as 'claggy' as chalk clay mind. But I'm sure my mud is muddier than your mud

 

[daveO]

I did say relatively flat . I have walked the Sussex Downs - if I remember rightly the highest point (Black something) is less than 300m; we live at 285m! My wood is literally 45 degrees for the greater part of it and it's clay on Ordovician mudstone - not quite as 'claggy' as chalk clay mind. But I'm sure my mud is muddier than your mud

Random fact but I always thought living at 1000ft above sea level was high up (we're almost bang on 1000ft according to my gps). It feels like living on top of the world up here some days especially when we're right on the snow line and it's white above us and green below. But then someone remarked that we're still 17ft lower than the tallest building in London. Doesnt seem so high now

 

[Nice65]

I did say relatively flat . I have walked the Sussex Downs - if I remember rightly the highest point (Black something) is less than 300m; we live at 285m! My wood is literally 45 degrees for the greater part of it and it's clay on Ordovician mudstone - not quite as 'claggy' as chalk clay mind. But I'm sure my mud is muddier than your mud

Madness, my mucky mud is much muddier than your mucky mud, you just have muddy mucky mud, we have muddier mucky mud.

Blackdown. It's about 25 mins north of here by car. A very pretty hill, heathland not chalk.

 

[Wayne]

After today’s rain I’m going to change venue for this weekends courses as the approach paths are just grim. Wading through mud and water is fine for me I have good gear but clients are less likely to wear quality outdoor gear.

The planned tree work I had for Friday I have cancelled as just too dangerous. Felling trees on a 45 degree slope of mud and chalk, it’s an exposed heritage site so cannot get in heavy vehicles. Ash die back will have to wait. The volunteers cannot be expected to man handle trees up or down the slopes safely.

Beginning is March is the latest we can cut. Now looking for alternate sources for Ash Bow Staves.

 

[santaman2000]

I guess my winters (both here in Florida and back home in Mississippi) are a bit different. I don't mean just the temperature, but Our mud isn't really related to any particular season.

Back home it was either a slick clay mud or a deep gumbo mud. The problems with the slick clay are obvious; the problems with the gumbo mud are twofold:
1) If walking your feet will sink in anywhere from ankle deep to knee deep; and the suction pulling it back out would be great enough to pull your boots from your feet.
2) If trying to drive on a road with gumbo mud the tires would sink deep enough to high center the vehicle.

Here in Florida either of those can be encountered but not as often as our soil (in this part of Florida at least) is much, much sandier.temperatures.

While I was still working I suppose my biggest gripe about winter was our vacillating temperatures. We can get a deep, penetrating cold but it's usually the overnight lows and not for long enough periods that most people buy cold weather clothing for (kinda like the thread Paul_B has going about a good winter car and most commenters say your winter roadways aren't enough to justify winter tires) Why do I mention the fact that it was while I was still working? Because I worked midnight shift and often outdoors in all three jobs:
1) I was still an aircraft mechanic in the Air Force when I arrived and much of my time here was on the flightline on night shift.
2) After retiring from the Air Force I worked as a patrol deputy (again, often on night shift) and finally,
3) As a correctional officer at the State Prison I spent many night shifts in Internal Security patrolling the fence or the yard.

Now that I'm retired I enjoy winter much, much more. I can venture out to enjoy it when I choose or I can sit with a cup of hot chocolate and watch winter through the window waving at the poor mailman.