Ok so we are nearly half way through January (OMG half way through January already, where has the time gone?) and I haven't been by here for ages. Things have been chaotic here to say the least with the lead up to Christmas, School concerts, parties, birthdays, Hogmanay and the big day itself. Not to mention the fact that with snow being on the ground here since late November getting out and about has been a challenge at times.

The whole snow thing is a culture shock. It shouldn't be as I live in Scotland but the last time it lay like this for any length of time I was a child at primary school. We had to be dug out by a JCB and order our shopping by phone and have it delivered to a hotel several miles away to then be collected by the gamekeeper who had a snowtrack vehicle. In recent years we have had snow last only a day or two and the rest of the time it would be wet and miserable, not to mention cold.

Cold is another thing I haven't experienced like we have had of late. One day the temperature dropped to minus 16 (during the day). We were actually colder than some parts of Russia at times! The starange thing is that it was more pleasant going around in those conditions than when the mercury rose to nearer freezing but along with it came the damp and wind. That was when it felt uncomfortable! But we have thermals and ski clobber so bring on the cold.