By Monymusk

I paid a visit to my Banchory office this morning - the first trip I have made there in over a week. I found the town blanketed in a carpet of deep snow, which council workmen were busy shovelling by hand into the bucket of a wheeled loading shovel, which in turn loaded it into a haulage truck for bulk disposal in some out of the way place.

I returned around midday, hoping not to get caught in the blizzards that continued to sweep the town.

Amazingly, once I rounded the eastern edge of the Hill of Fare, the snow showers stopped and the sky was starting to turn a clear blue. Just north of Monymusk I overtook a neighbour making his way home from the village on skis. I stopped for a chat, and as we were talking, the sun came out and lit up the snow-covered landscape, including the spectacular mist shrouding the River Don.