Winter is here

There was a heavy frost this morning and the temperature was -2 degrees. My car was iced over and took time to defrost before I could go to Hexham for a few bits of shopping.

One of the men in Derek's Shoe Bar has mended my beloved camera front pouch. Very good news, but I must not try to use a long lens or it could easily split somewhere else.

Christmas is certainly upon us. There are trees for sale and the decorations and Christmas food are everywhere. I want to shout "It's not even December yet!" It could be worse, there could be World Cup banners everywhere!!

This afternoon I saw Jani, the physio, who manipulated and generally pulled about my back and hips. Very effective but left me feeling exhausted. I treated myself to an hour's sleep before cooking dinner and I've not really woken up yet.

The snowberries are growing on the roadside between here and Warden. They belong to the honeysuckle family and are also called waxberries or ghost berries. There are two seeds in each berry and they are so tough that they can take up to 10 years to germinate. (Interesting, and not very useful, fact of the day!)