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Despite the thaw, which has improved road conditions throughout much of the rest of the country, the road/track down to Craiglea (situated at 170m on the Black Isle) is still in pretty bad shape. It's been impassable to normal cars for weeks now (which means we collect our mail from the local post office) and even with a 4WD the trip out to the main road can be pretty dicey. In fact, it's worse than ever as the compacted snow turns to water-covered ice. It's not much better to run on either. After a mornining spent clearing horse muck from the field Lesley and I took the opportunity for some exercise, running back to the house while Annie and the girls drove. It turned out to be twice as long as expected, though this is nothing new when going out with Lesley, who tempts her running partners with "fancy a short jog?" The snack bars and torch should be a give-away by now. We had to take a round-about route as the direct way through the forest was closed due to forestry operations. This last 3/4-mile stretch on snow and ice was much more fun than the preceding 4 miles on tarmac. When the going gets tough...

 
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In Aberdeen Ali, Freda and Edie paid a visit to the nearest steep snow-covered slope to Fountainhall Road and had great fun sledging down the hill. Not something we do or see much in China. Later we headed down to the train station with a multitude of bags and hopped on the 1525 to Inverness. Because of the weather we left Aberdeen an hour late, but by half six we were in Inverness. This morning's local radio is inviting listeners to call in with their news and views regarding icy pavements, slushy roads and school closures due to frozen car parks and playgrounds. It seems that we live in a nation of grumblers. If I'm wearing adequate footwear (thick-soled with a reasonable tread) then I have no difficulty walking along a snowy track or pavement. Maybe I'm just lucky not to be bothered by fashion. Mum and I sat in the cinema a few evenings ago with our old ski salopettes and welly boots having dug our way out of Craiglea and into town. I wasn't going to risk getting stuck in a snowdrift with jeans and trainers on!

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Freda demonstrating her adventurous spirit.
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Well over a foot of snow up at Craiglea. Edie takes a well earned rest from sledging, snowball throwing and grovelling in the white stuff. It seems that Edie is a bit of a hot-house flower though she will drag herself out when she sees others having fun. She then gets incredibly wet and incredibly cold in a short period of time - rolling around in drifts and taking her jacket and gloves off - before retreating back indoors to curl up by the fire.

 
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Working out with a snow shovel.
My new year got off to a good start with a snow-shoveling workout this morning. Not only did I have to dig out the car, the garage and the porch but I cleared twenty-five metres of road so that we could get the car up the slope. My whole body was like jelly afterwards, including my fingers. I did, however develop some excellent techniques, that saved twisting my back and put all dormant muscles into use. By the time I was finished it seemed we had a strange traffic island of snow left in the parking area. Before heading in for a mince pie and tipple we added some special features.

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The snowgirls feeling satisfied after a morning's work.
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The snow might be a tad inconvenient at times but it's not hard to find beauty in such wintery scenes.