When icicles hang by the wall...

..they drip onto the ground below and create a patch - and eventually a hummock - of ice.

I hadn't reckoned with this when I went out to shovel the snow off the back steps. It looked so loose and powdery, I thought it would be a straightforward task to dig a route through to the compost bin. But no, there is ice to be broken up first - and meanwhile the icicles were dripping down my neck. And then it started snowing again.

So I put out the crusts for the birds and came in again. Now the back door won't close properly.

Snow clearing: it's a lost art.