Overnight on Christmas Eve the thaw began to set in.  We woke up to green grass springing up through patches of snow, so the hens were a lot happier when we let them out of their hutch on Christmas morning.

We set off for a walk, but it is still fairly treacherous with sheet ice on top of solid ground, and I'm terrified of slipping and falling, and I'm so clumsy that if anyone is going to slip it will be me!  So we didn't go too far, but we made it as far as the small waterfall near our house.   It had changed from a waterfall into an icefall:

[caption id="attachment_3660" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Photograph courtesy Stevan Lockhart"][/caption]


Please note that Monday and Tuesday are both holidays in the UK, so the post office remains closed until Wednesday when I will dispatch all the orders that have come in over the Christmas period in the shop.