Cold.

It's been very cold today making us grateful for the increase in warmth simply from having new windows, no draughts and a door to the conservatory. It was a good windy morning so I got my washing out on the line. I stayed outside clearing wood and junk from the inside of the shed so that I was ready to fetch in the washing in when the rain began. Later in the afternoon the rain became much heavier and was accompanied by hailstones. 

Today Wayne did most of the finishing off of the ceiling, just a final skim to do when the filler has dried. He also made a start on sorting out the hill in the wooden floor of the conservatory. He was almost upset about such good quality oak flooring being installed so poorly by the previous owner. Apparently you are supposed to leave a gap all around the edges of the room to allow for natural expansion of the wood and this hadn't been done. It also looks like the floors haven't been sealed which is why the kitchen counters always seem dusty. He's cut away a strip from one side and immediately the floor began to level out though Wayne says the patio doors shouldn't have been fixed to the wood floor but to a separate piece of timber. He'll check it again in a month's time to see if any more wood needs to be trimmed off.

I've just returned from my Pilates lesson walking home through rain and bitter winds. There were drifts of hailstones along the edges of the pavements and the earlier forecast was for more wintry showers through to tomorrow along with snow on the high ground, something we don't have to worry about now.