Bubbles and Snowballs

 

There is a chance we might get some more snow overnight, which would be very exciting.  We had a fall of snow this time last week and it looked very pretty, though it was quite soft and soon started to melt.

When the sun came out, we put our woolly hats on and went out into the garden.  Hanley Bear wanted to try an experiment based on something he saw on 'Winterwatch', but first, we were going to have a game of snowballs!

We were very careful not to get any snow on little Waverley, who was tucked up in his thermal sock again, but Hanley, Endon and I got very snowy indeed!

Then it was time for Hanley to try his science project.  We climbed up onto the old garden table and Polar brought us out a straw and a plastic pot containing some soapy water.

Hanley had been fascinated by a film on Winterwatch where a bubble that landed on snow had turned into a little frosty globe.  So he tried blowing some bubbles onto the snow, hoping they would freeze.

But none of them did.  Some of them settled on the snow as domes until they burst.  Others sat on the snow for a little while, getting smaller and smaller as the air inside shrank as it got cold, until they disappeared.  Some just seemed to get absorbed into the snow, but none of them turned into icy globes.

Endon and Waverley were very sad for him, but Hanley said he didn't mind, as he had done some interesting science.

'I think it would work better if the air was freezing,' he said.  'And if we could fill the bubble with cold air too, rather than warm bear-breath.  I'm going to borrow Polar's camera-cleaning puffer blower to make cold-air bubbles.'  

'I don't think that's a good idea, Hanley,' said Endon.  'Polar will be really cross if she puffs it and soapy water squirts all over the mirror in her camera!' 

Just then, we saw Polar coming down the path to collect us.  'Goodness me, bears!' she cried.  'Your back paws have got ice on them.  You had better come in and sit by the radiator, to get them warm and dry, then stay indoors for the rest of today as it's getting very cold now.'

She picked us all up and carried us back to the living room, to thaw our paws out and enjoy some hot chocolate, and we had home-made rice pudding for our tea.  But Hanley kept looking at Polar's camera bag, so I think he's keen to retry his bubble experiment as soon as it's cold enough.