Earth stood hard as iron

So sang I as I stomped down the croft hill this morning to feed the pigs and birds. Yes that's right stomped. Not because I was in a bad mood - far from it, my first cup of tea of the morning had been made for me, the woodburner had already been lit when I got up and I'd left cosy sleepy children still tucked up slumbering in bed having whispered in their ears and roused them before them mumbled 'love you too' and went back to sleep. It was another gorgeous sunrise morning and winkle picking lay ahead. I stomped because the ground was hard as iron and stomping was possible, as opposed to the usual splashing, squelching and squodging of mud underfoot.

Yes thanks to another heavy frost the earth stood hard as iron and the water was like a stone. So I sang, and I stomped and I fed the animals and smashed the stoney water so they could have a drink.

And I took a few photos so you can all see just how it looked too.

looking southeast out over the sea

looking north west

looking south towards Hallival

hoar frost on the grass

the colour has been washed out of the land, the chickens and ducks and geese are still in full colour though!

Ady joined me and we headed down to the village, parked up and set off with buckets in hand. Those winkles won't pick themselves!

waiting for Ady at the croft gate

arriving at the beach, looking out over Loch Scresort

a successful mornings pickings, earth still hard as iron!

Another good days picking. Fingers numb, nail varnish chipped but buckets decanted twice into bags making my bag too heavy for me to carry which can only be a good thing when I have a lovely husband to carry it for me and we're getting paid by weight!

The cold is all well and good - I'll take it over the rain any day, it's beautiful with clear skies meaning amazing sunrise, sunset and starry, starry nights. The sun shines and best of all the ground is hard to walk on but it means our water pipes are freezing and our bottle gas is playing up so the boiler, fridge and cooker are all being tricky. We've been shaking the bottles, lagged the valve and covered the bottles with blankets and so far today it's been fine. It makes us grateful we're not relying on the gas for heating any more. We can make do with boiling water on the wood burner and when it's this cold we don't even need a fridge. We have a wee stove we could bring in to cook on if needs be but it makes me realise when you live this close to nature every season and weather condition brings it's highs and lows. If it's not midges it's wind, if it's not cold then it is wet. On balance I am happy with what we have just now - I'd gotten bored of singing in the rain, there are five whole verses of In the Bleak Midwinter to keep me going!