"You'll not hang about there, will you?" said The Boss when I rang him from the market place yesterday morning to report on progress. "The snow's going to come late afternoon and you want to be home before then".
Much as I appreciated the concern there was no way I was going to hang around a minute longer than necessary. It had been -8 when I left home at dawn and despite the bright sun it felt little warmer by mid-morning and a great deal colder when the wind got up around mid-day. No amount of layering prevents the cold eventually permeating through to the marrow when movement is limited to the space behind and around the market stall. As the church clock struck 1.30pm we all decided to strike camp and head for home. The first flakes fell at 4.20, by which the wind was ferociously cold and gusty. It didn't let up and by the time the dogs and I went to check round the animals before bed it was magically white everywhere. And very, very, very cold. I checked on Ginger & Mangal and they were huddled closely together to keep warm. I'll bet the picture was the same in all the other arks!
There were icicles on the window when I went to bed.
This morning didn't look too magical either.... freezing fog managed to make the world look pretty unfriendly. Funnily enough, none of the pigs were worried about the lateness of their breakfast - and having eaten it, they all retreated to the warmth of their arks to carry on sleeping and dreaming .... or whatever pigs do when their eyes are shut. The Bestest Gundog was happy: he knows hares hide under snow so he spent a very pleasant hour or two rushing around the stubble and hedgerows looking for them. To no avail although he did manage to find a mixy rabbit. No Brownie points in that though. The fog's stayed with us all day so perhaps that'll keep temperatures up overnight and things will look a little brighter tomorrow. Thank you Siberia for sending the snow but we'd like to return to normal now.
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