Freezing

It’s five years since I last tried freezing soap bubbles, largely because it’s rarely cold enough here in the Shire. Today wasn’t ideal either, to be honest – when R came back from a trip to Evesham he said that the car thermometer was registering -3°C, but it didn’t feel that cold in the back garden. So this bubble froze rather reluctantly, the crystal patterns spreading up from the snowy base so slowly that I had time to go in the kitchen and make a cup of tea while it was doing its stuff. The light was also very flat this morning, and with hindsight I wish that I’d set up one of our little battery-powered studio lights, to give extra contrast to the scene.

The cold snap is forecast to last through to the weekend, but with our Christmas preparations now ramping up I was worried that if I didn’t do this today, I might not get the chance at all this winter. And I did enjoy myself – well, who doesn’t like blowing bubbles? – so I’m glad I decided to search out my five-year old tub of soap mixture this morning. I hope that one day I’ll be able to introduce B to the delights of the frozen soap bubble.

I’ve posted a little sequence to Facebook, if you’d care to take a look, showing crystal patterns spreading across the surface of a different bubble.