Skid Pan Alley

 A delivery truck arrived early yesterday morning and dropped off some wine. That was the good news.

The bad news?  He then got stuck. Tried to dig himself out but an hour later he was still stuck. Eventually his boss agreed that he should ring RAC Rescue. An hour later, the rescue truck arrived. Another hour - delivery truck left. But now the rescue truck was stuck. It took him another hour to get away. Net result of all that manoeuvring is that our driveway, bad enough in any snowy conditions due to its incline, is now solid ice. So much so that we've roped off the top end by the road and hung a notice warning anybody to 'proceed at their peril'! How we are going to get up the drive is a problem for another day; we exhausted our rock salt supplies trying to get Willie the veggie truck up the track on Wednesday! He's now well stuck till the thaw.

 Holbeach in Lincolnshire was the coldest place in England last night recording -16C: nonetheless we remain optimistic that the Siberian snap will soon pass!
Oblivious to our little worries, the Hagi were out yesterday sucking snow in the late afternoon sunshine. Precious has been busy modifying the pen in anticipation of her little ones going further afield: large holes are being dug around the perimeter fence. Naturally she would  claim to be just aimlessly rootling but we know different! They'll be 3 weeks old next Wednesday and that's the magic age for piglets to go a-wandering........
Gunner'll have his paws full then - with any luck! He needs something to occupy his mind....  he knows
that hares hide under the snow so he's spent the

best part of the past week -the exercise part - loping across the snow fields hunting for them - to no avail. Not a hare anywhere. Where are they all? is the question. Sometimes he hunts and sometimes he just stands and looks..... and looks... and probably thinks      But he's like that. Thinks a lot... looks away into the sunset and wonders what tomorow will bring......