shewhomust | In the bleak midwinter...

Things are not, in fact, all that bleak. If this cold snap is the work of the Troll from Trondheim, it must be the troll who came in from the cold, the troll who couldn't handle the weather that is routine in Trondheim.

We had heavy frost on Friday: cold enough that I explored the winter clothes bagged up in the drawer under the bed - which have lain undisturbed for the last couple of winters - and I am now wearing the big fleecy sweatshirt which is usually just too warm for comfort.

We woke on Saturday to a blanket of snow; not the thickest of blankets, but quite enough. We had no plans to go anywhere over the weekend, and we didn't. We spent a quiet Sunday afternoon writing Christmas cards - I discovered a stash of cards left over from previous years, and those with the cards we bought at the Christmas Fair last weekend (was it really only last weekend? yes, if you count Friday) will suffice. We used up our supply of second-class stamps, and

durham_rambler walked out to take the stamped cards to the postbox.

The forecast threatened that last night would be colder than ever, but it didn't feel it. There was a dusting of snow on the doorstep when I brought the milk in, but cars were moving up and down the hill with no sign of nervousness.

durham_rambler drove out to a post office and posted more cards, including all the foreign ones - they will robably arrive late, but never mind.

This evening we are due at the Parish Council's festive event; and on Thursday we set off for London. Weather permitting, but the prospects are good.