Dazzlingly White

I feel like I have just walked through the wardrobe and found myself in Narnia! Everywhere is shimmering white, the temperature is an astonishing -11 degrees. The brilliant blue sky is an epic contrast to the ice crystals hanging off the trees and the feathery iced spider webs look like frozen lace on the gates and gate posts. Coco has sore paws after the walk due to salt getting in her paws on the icy lanes.  A warm bathe is perscribed but unfortunately we still have no water so a little bowl of luke warm Highland Spring Water is the only option!

Frozen Eggs

Oh Yum, I cannot wait for my delivery of organic, free range eggs from my dear friend over Clee Hill for my rather late breakfast this morning. My hands are freezing from typing and a hot, steaming cuppa of Yorkshire Gold, (just enough water in the kettle) is an essential hand warmer and hot fried eggs on hot toast to warm the rest of me up!  The eggs have just arrived via my lovely au pair who picks them up from the class room on the school run and I do not believe it - they are actually frozen! They do not ooze out the remain firmly in the shell, absolutely amazing!  Oh well - Porridge for breakfast!
The Mice have been at the Christmas Cake, that is The Pink Lovely Mouse, Mummy Mouse and Au Pair Mouse!  There are a few crumbs left but we feel this may be a bit embarrassing when we actually do get to Christmas and have none left! So, we are making another cake and with the oven on for 21/2 hrs or more, we shall be snug in the kitchen.  I think we shall be finding other jobs to be done in the kitchen this morning!
The fog has finally lifted after 4 days and I am going to drive over to Stourbridge and collect my new car which does have 4x4 and should consequently allow me to spend my entire time driving on the freezing lanes rather than my entire time in the ditch, hedge or at the bottom of the hill. This will undoubtedly improve the quality of my winter life on the Herefordshire and Shropshire borders and with any luck as it is bright blue instead of murky bamboo, the farmers will see me coming at some distance rather than when they are about 2 feet away!
The Pink Lovely is playing in a Rugby Tag match at school today against the boys, rather her than me, sounds exhausting!  Off to the kitchen to warm up.....

Global Warming, House Cooling & Lanes Freezing

Not being a scientist, not even a vulcanoligist like one of my dear neighbours, I have little understanding of global warming. So at a dinner party a few days ago I mentioned that it seemed a little unlikely, as we are currently struggling in-12degrees that England is going to turn into Club Med! This comment was pounced on as ridiculous because quite obviously Global warming means freezing winters and boiling hot summers! Well, first I have heard of it! Freezing winters I can believe but boiling hot summers that indeed would be remarkable.  During all the excitement of trying to get my car out of the driveway and keep it on the freezing lanes, rather than in the hedge and watching with fascination at the car temperature indicator dropping to -10 on the way to school I have completely forgotten to check the oil tank. Slightly alarmed at the 2 inches of oil now left in the bottom of the tank I ring the oil company, it must be global warming, everyone is so cold they have all ordered more oil! Sorry Mrs Lawrence it may be 2 weeks.  TWO WEEKS! Immediate action is called for; I dash around the house and turn down the heating by 4 degrees in every room and then go and make some hot soup.
The Pink Lovely is now delighted to go to school so that she can get warm! We try and find our log shed through pea soup fog which is so thick I cannot even see my hanging baskets! The logs are damp and need to be lugged into the house and  into rows of baskets in the sitting room to dry out for the next few days.  At least we do have a wood burning stove giving out heat and we are as snug as a bug in a rug up there.
Disaster this morning, NO WATER! the pump that brings our water up from the underground well has finally frozen.  We have been heating the pump shed with an little electric heater and so far so good but this morning in -11degrees it has given up! Luckily our dear friend and neighbour who is a retired civil engineer has it under control and is at this very moment on a quest to revive the pump.
I am off to feed the birds in the garden,  hang out more fat balls for them and check the water in the stream has not frozen so that they can stay alive. The Pink Lovely has built a wooden nesting box and we are going to nail that to a tree this morning for the little bird that is trying to nest in the hole in the gate post!

The dogs, Lucy and Coco don't seem madly keen on walks just at the moment and seem happy with 25 minutes of dashing around the woods to keep warm and let off a bit of steam.  The deer have come down to try and find some grass and so the dogs get rather excited and huff and  puff around on a quest to find one!