"This is getting serious..."

Well, as I said yesterday, the forecasters got it absolutely spot on. It snowed heavily all day from 8am and then stopped at 6pm, after which time my Sky satellite signal was lost for the evening. No, they didn't forecast that!

The thermometer had risen to 2' as I took my breakfast so we didn't dally and set off for the hills fairly promptly. Once more my car is snowed in and the road is impassable anyway so it was a no brainer to walk. It was hard going as it is all uphill and the snow was very deep, but we made it. There were different sounds again today as I walked through the wooded hills. Birdsong was everywhere as a salute to the sun which was shining tentatively and as I walked I could still hear the creak of new snow, but also a crunch every now and then when I trod on the underlying layer. Then, under the trees, the snow was really soft and I had to be careful not to get a load of of damp snow on my head as it fell to the ground with a soft da - dop. It was so soft that even a bird landing on a branch was dislodging a load and many of the trees were looking more brown than white in contrast to recent days.

Cara was very good at following in tracks of folk who had been up and about earlier than me and Bruce, for the most part, kept in behind her. Every now and then, however, he decided to go off piste after some enticing smell or other and landed himself into all sorts of problems as the snow was far too deep for him. I actually had to stop laughing at his attempts to plough through the heavy drifts as he was not amused as you can see here. For the most part, though, we all had a super walk and met horses, someone who was using cross country skis which seemed an excellent way to travel and several folk with their plastic sledges. It was good to see so many enjoying the snow as I think it will thaw quite quickly if the temperature rises much more as is forecast.

As usual I have a number of photos to choose from and they are here if you are interested.

This was the view I took recently of the three logs and the hills in the distance.
Cara and Bruce enjoying the same view.
Horses
Skiier
Cara and Bruce managing without a sledge.
Bruce doing his disappearing act.
Bruce, with snowball legs, and Cara at the top of the Knock

As you can see from all of these shots the snow was wonderful and very deep and I will be sad to see it go although it will be easier to get around.