Hero by another name

I always think Flash looks so similar to Emmy's Hero and I'm sure in his younger days he would have relished joining in the games with her boys.

At 5:30 am got up as Angie was "fussing" about the house, clearing up my mess in the kitchen. I realised something not quite right but she simply hadn't left enough time for the station dash with the roads being somewhat slippery. So she had decided to take the next train 30 mins later. In the meantime I checked the outdoor thermometer and say -10°C and dropping! Half dressed dashed across the yard and woke the horses up so as to switch on the waterpipe heating. Luckily nothing burst. Then as Angie set off, saw she couldn't get out the gate - the electro/hydraulic mechanism wasn't reacting. Again (still only half dressed) set off down the drive expecting to fight with nuts & bolts so as to open the gates. Tried the switch one last time and bingo, it worked. I guess the hydaulic oil needs renewing and possibly has some water mixed in which on a cold day doesn't help. Needless to say she had timed her second attempt to the millisecond and had now missed train#2. So back indoors to wash up more pots & pans.

It must have been the coldest night we have had here this winter and has done a power of good to the wet snow. The ground underneath is though not frozen and I would quite like to drive over the fields to retrieve the logs from a few recently felled trees. We now have about 40cm of good compacted snow but my thin tractor tyres rip it away as soon as I turn the steering wheel.

After horses and chicken duties, set off to the knife sharpener who was doing the remaining 3 (of 4) kitchen knife sets - yes the mega expensive ones. The roads were surprisingly white and covered with ice but for some reason not at all slippery.

Stayed in the village and walked over to a neighbouring hamlet called "Knaus" along the ploughed road. Off track is no longer an option without cross country skis or snow shoes. Luckily salt is not used on roads we take and indeed is hardly ever used in towns (grit) so dogs don't suffer. In fact as it was midday and the sun was up, the snow on the roads melted very quickly despite -4°C air temperature.

Lovely walk and even Flash enjoyed it with the odd minute of acting his old self which I managed to catch on video. We sawlots of snow,  beehives and sheep but no Belted Galloways at the spot they were last year

Flash is our very special hero.