Sun, Wind, and Ice

A sunny day but windy; Storm Jan arrived this morning. Out in the wider world it closed bridges, railways, and even a road or two, getting frequent mentions on both the news and weather programs. So we decided our daily walk should stay away from the forest.
Lots of snow has melted in the last few days and the wind blew any remaining loose snow away so the roads were very icy. In the end we walked on the edge of the fields and eventually went down onto the lake and walked there.
The ice has been there for at least two months and ice gets stressed as temperatures, or the lake level, rises or falls. This leads to booming noises as the ice cracks, and that's where cracks like these come from. They are nothing to worry about but are obviously a potential shot for a blipper. Normally the lakes are snow-covered by now but this is no normal year.
As we walked the wind blew, and now and again we had to just stop and brace ourselves (see my flickr image), even hold onto one another. It was very invigorating, and if anyone else had been out they'd have heard us whooping with delight!
Once we got home we were inside for the rest of the day but my plans were altered when Jan opened a drawer and found the mice had been there! The offending mice had been trapped a couple of days earlier but obviously I hadn't caught them quickly enough.  Once I started the clean up the job grew and grew, and in the end we have some very clean kitchen drawers, the space under the floor under the sink is spotless, and the defences that keep the mice out  out of "our" bit of the house are replaced and reinforced. So we'll be OK for another two or three years.
Life in the country is such fun!