Yawn!

It was the coldest night of the year for us, and I couldn't resist a morning trip out to Stanground Wash to take advantage of the glittering rime that covered every surface. For the first fifteen minutes or so my camera operating fingers were so cold (despite the excellent fingerless gloves with flaps that I'd been given for Christmas) that I had to put them into my mouth to restore some feeling. Somehow, after that, they acclimatised and were fine for the next couple of hours.

I had a great time wandering the site, which was remarkably beautiful, with the ditches and areas of shallow flooding  all frozen solid, and long ice crystals adorning the teasels, docks ad rushes. Lots and lots of photographic fodder! But on the way back I stopped to talk to the tinker's ponies that graze the Barrier Bank. I'm not sure how they survive, as the grass was all closely cropped and they don't seem to get any extra feed, but they have thick, waterproof coats and all seem in good condition. I focused on the soft, hairy muzzle of this pony, to show the ice on its whiskers, when it suddenly yawned. I'm not sure it's been taking sufficient interest in its oral hygiene though!!  

Oral hygiene is going to be quite important for me in the next week or so, as this afternoon I had my implant. All very relaxed, thanks to the lovely dentist who explained everything in detail. I was particularly fascinated by the 3D x-ray that they use to determine how much bone is present and what size of implant to insert. The procedure was quite painless, though it did feel rather odd having a hole drilled into my bone!! I now have a couple of stitches that will be taken out in a weeks time, but thankfully can eat and drink as normal.

In other news, the fan was replaced in my computer, so at last I can get back to editing and exporting my photographs without crashing the computer!