These short daylight hours are a pain. Today I drove south and west to stay in a friend's house on the north Devon coast - everything was looking bleak in the frost with low cloud and occasional watery sun so the light wasn't good. Pulled into a motorway pit stop to answer the telephone and caught this starling beside the car. Have been down on the beach and collected three large plastic sacks of seaweed to put on the asparagus bed - got frozen hands, even in gloves, as it was full of ice. Hope the asparagus (or is it asparagae?) appreciate it!