Blizzard

This was this morning's view from the kitchen sink, with the snow a good 5" deep where it hadn't drifted and considerably deeper where it had.

We decided that an expedition to collect the paper from the village would be foolhardy so....

....we walked a short distance up the track towards the forestry in what were, at times, blizzard conditions, noticing that....

....the farmer had already been out to feed the cattle and sheep in the fields near the houses.

We didn't walk far, the purpose of the exercise being to burn off a little energy rather than punish ourselves, so we retuned to the house to find, with some pleasure, that....

....the latest bird table design had successfully created a snow-free platform on which to feed the small birds. And the birds are out in quantities, desperate for food. An estimate of the numbers visiting us at the moment is four blackbirds, two dunnocks, two robins, a bluetit and a coal tit - most of the tits are on the feeders at the front of the house - two goldfinches, a siskin, and at least twenty chaffinches.

The forecast is for a continuation of this weather for several days.

Snow

We have a choice of routes for our walks down to the village, the shortest and quickest of which involves  a section of the A9, something we don't enjoy, particularly on a snowy day like today when the more thoughtless drivers splash salty slush over us as they pass.

We took this route today as the paths through the woods were likely to be slippery, to find the A9 almost deserted and....

....the village centre empty of pedestrians.

Shopping, which consisted of buying some milk and the day's paper, took minutes as there were almost as many staff as customers in the shop, but as we headed back up the hill more snow arrived to add to the inch or so that has already accumulated.

So, with the small birds fed, we can batten down the hatches and....

....dream of warmer climes.

New Year's Day

We woke to find that there was no sign of snow overnight and that a ship had anchored off Golspie, a sure sign that the weather would deteriorate.

On checking the Marine Traffic website we saw that no less than three ships had taken refuge. 1 is an old friend, the Esvagt Alba, while 2 is the FS Aquarius and 3 the Vestland Artemis.

Despite increasing snow showers, most of them wet enough not to leave any settled snow, we walked down to the village to buy a paper from the Co-Op, finding a trickle of traffic on the A9 and....

....Main Street deserted of humans.

We wish all our readers a happy, healthy and prosperous 2026.

....and thank you for your support through 2025.