Snow Again (Has winter finally really arrived :-)

After the last day or two of rain we were SO happy to waken to snow and temperatures just below zero this morning.  A quick cup of tea and a festive first breakfast and we were out to walk in the white world. We went down the hill to the big lake and found the rain had once more raised lake levels. Normally I can walk through these small trees to the lake edge. Today the lake had come to me instead!
When we got home I emptied our two water butts, one bucket at a time. Usually I siphon them empty but the siphon pipe froze up as the water ran through it! Then a second breakfast of porrige before darkness crept in and we started feeling lethargic.
Jan broke out of lethargy by baking another batch of mince-pies while I took our recycling to the bin, emptied the kitchen compost into that big outside bin, and fetched a little more wood for the stove.
We've planned a small party for tomorrow with Rose (our bubble sharer) at her place. That's a pretty small party but it was touch and go whether even that would work!  Now to prepare some dough so tomorrow I can bake some rye/spelt crisp bread, following one of Annika's recipes...
The extra is entitled; "Redundant Sign"
Signs can quickly disappear when it snows.  This particular sign warns off the level crossing, 300 m away down the hill. The fact no-one can see the sign doesn't really matter because the railway closed 10 years ago, and the level crossing was removed about 7 years ago.