Snow, Thaw, Freeze, Ice, Rain, Sleet, Slush, Sun....

I think we're being punished for something as the weather is throwing everything at us. Tuesday's 3" of snow became yesterday's ice and slush, which then froze again before further snow arrived yesterday early evening, after which, overnight, we enjoyed sleet and rain and clear, frosty intervals - but not enough warm rain to melt the underlying ice. So slushy surfaces this morning often conceal a sheet of slick ice, ideal walking for the elderly. In fact, the safest place to walk....

....is along the beach where the sea has done what the rain cannot yet manage - melt the snow and ice.

The UK and, despite its position so far north, Scotland, is very bad at dealing with cold weather. We do have gritters - trucks which spray salt and grit across the roads - but there are too few to cope with our road network. So highways like the A9, above, get gritted, which means the slush collects in the gutters from where it's sprayed across pedestrians by the traffic which won't slow down, even when passing through a wee village like this one.

Off the main roads the surfaces are like ice rinks, and the pavements even worse. I wear metals studs in the soles of a pair of walking boots but I still slipped, and some of the people I spoke to who are far more infirm that I were not enjoying having to brave the conditions.

Wildlife is having to adapt too. The rooks are clearing snow from the rugby field then turning over the moss in a search for bugs to eat. They're so intent on their work that it's possible to approach quite close before they, grudgingly, move.

Somebody else doing some gardening was this redwing. They're usually out in the grassy fields probing for food but the snow and ice cover has driven them to try other things - like a bit of leaf-moving in our flowerbeds.

The rain and snow is forecast to clear overnight after which, just to add to the fun, we're promised a clear night with a frost.