Sueded ballet shoes

This weather is saving me a lot in petrol money, burning away lots of calories and - so far - keeping the bugs at bay. What is probably most important is that the dogs and I are having a ball! Having completely voided her stomach yesterday - I will spare you the details - Cara had just a light supper of scrambled egg and having kept that down I was able to give her a slightly reduced breakfast. So we were all fit for action again.

As it was blizzard conditions this morning I put everything on to combat the combination of driving snow and freezing wind! If I had any street cred before today then I definitely don't have any now! Once I reached the woods and could let the dogs run free I was able to stop and savour the moment . The patterns made by the snow were fabulous and intricate and where I was walking the snow was quite deep so I relished taking my time and the crunch of the other day when it had been icy underfoot was replaced by a gentle creak as I walked this morning. Rather than falling gently from the sky and covering everything in a uniform dusting as on previous days, today's snow was being blasted sideways by the gusting wind and all the trees and bushes were two dimensional, brown down one side and white the other.

As the beech tree persists in hanging on to its leaves until new shoots finally push them away in early spring, it provides a small bit of colour interest to an otherwise black and white winter scene, especially on a day like today. My eye was particularly caught this morning by the soft auburn leaves now highlighted by their white coating of snow. I especially liked this cameo of a beech leaf curled up against the elements with its new white duvet.

The conditions were not really conducive to photography so much of the winter wonderland has had to be committed to memory, however I had to take a couple of shots of my chums as they gambolled freely in the snow. For the most part Bruce had his head pushed under snow covered tussocks, only to emerge occasionally to check if Cara and I were still around. For her part Cara contented herself with running up and over the bushes without getting completely covered with snowballs like poor Bruce.

The snow was still falling as darkness fell so I shall see what tomorrow brings. I hope your day was a good one too.