On the Fence

Our route up to the snowy northlands yesterday was actually snow free until we reached Aboyne, when there was evidence at the side of the road of the huge fall they had had last week, and now in Ballater there is quite an amount of cleared snow in driveways and roadsides.

We have been waiting all morning for the forecast of a fresh dump of snow but all we've got so far is a 'fell dreich day' with small balletic snow flakes dancing hither and thither on the wind eddies, and none lying.

We walked into Ballater on cleared and gritted pavements, but it was really bitter and we were glad to escape indoors and sit beside the fire in a cafe, read the papers and with nothing more to eat than a corner of His Lordship's cake to accompany my skinny latte.
The scones looked lovely!

The downside of this highland break is the complete lack of a working WiFi connection in the house or even a signal on the phone. I am trying to deal with this in a rational way, but it is very hard. There is a timed limited access in the adjoining hotel, which means that I am at least able to post a blip, but do little else.
Bear with me on the comments front.