The whole week has been like a stroll through Narnia. I almost expect to see a lamppost and a faun if I stay out long enough and I’m almost sure there’s a wicked ice queen somewhere nearby! The snow on the branches is traced along all the contours to a depth of 2 inches and although it looks frozen on the limbs, a gentle prod cascades it airily down to the ground. We have had little wind and it is incredible to see all the trees looking like this. But boy, its cold...officially colder than the south pole on a couple of days! So don’t you worry about the Emperor penguins trying to keep their eggs warm think of us poor northerners trying desperately to keep our pies warm; not easy balancing them on your feet? Which brings me to that old southerners joke? “What is a Lancashire kebab?” the answer is “2 pies on a stick!”
Not that I’m eating many at the minute as I seem to have had a touch of food poisoning which is luckily getting much better now. Not sure what caused it though but suspecting a meat pie from the pie shop near work, but who knows what is floating around at the minute in this frozen ether? I took Thursday and Friday off work

If I could...in this weather I think I should live like a hobbit in a large dwelling cut into a sandy bank overlooking a rural scene. I’d sit by the fire on these freezing days of winter toasting crumpets by a roaring log fire till spring. Ah well; I’m toasting lots of crumpets anyway (hobbit hole or no!) and trowelling on slabs of the best butter in the world. It is Normandy Sea Salted Butter and it is a salted churned butter made from fresh creamy Normandy milk with the added tang of a little rock salt. To a Frenchman, Isigny in Normandy is synonymous with fine butter. It's held in such high regard that gourmets and gastronomes have been singing the praises of Isigny butter since the 15th Century. It isn’t very healthy though so go easy. Remember ‘a little of what you fancy does you good, but a lot will kill you!’ A 10g serving provides...cal 73, fat 8.0g, sat fat 5.4g, salt 0.2g, total sugars 0.1g.

Enjoy the pictures – 1 is of the garden from a distance and I circled the rough outline. Hope you have a good weekend.