Today brought the first and who knows possibly the only fall of snow in 2009 . Not very much but enough to give thing a dusting and make the place look pretty . As you might expect the canals been frozen for a few days now and a light dusting of snow made the ice very photogenic . I think the local ducks must have been working three shifts a day to prevent a hole in the ice from closing up . Those that aren't busy paddling about stand around on the ice offering encouragemount to the paddlers and dabblers or practise iceskating . I notice they are receiving plenty of bread from passing walkers , more than the seem to be able to eat as it's still lying on the ice , so they'll be ok if the freeze continues. One benefit of the cold spell , is the grounds hard ! Obvious I know but at this time of year if the weathers mild we get mud . It's been a long and on going battle to get British Waterways to honour the commitment they made and put the site in good order but all we seem to achieve is a string of broken promises , but I don't want to get started on that today . Suffice to say hard mud is a lot better than soft mud ! It's not just lovely weather for ducks!

         Well, all the Christmas decorations are down , and put away back in the loft although Santa's red chair won't go through the loft hatch , so at the moment it's in the van pending a good idea ! So to all intense and purposes Christmas is done , dusted and put away for another year !