Cold.

A crisp cold day. From sunrise (below) to sunset (at the end) the view could only be described as serene with misty pinks and blues. But clear skies mean an drop in temperature so we can expect icy conditions tomorrow morning.

With bills needing to be paid I drove into town today going by the main road to avoid any possible icy patches. First stop was at Lidl's where I did a big shop and returned the saucepan with the lid that couldn't be used in the oven. That done I set off for the bank rather glad for the warmth of the new larger face mask. Imagine my dismay on finding the bank closed. Peter had warned me that the bank might shut earlier as it's Saturday but I thought that would mean 3.00, not 1.00! So now I'll have to go back on Monday. I called in at Tesco's too and was very pleased by the low numbers of shoppers. Often I was the only person in the aisle. Not much in the way of reductions but I was able to stock up on gift tags at 12p down from 50p. Last year I got lots of wrapping paper but I was getting low on tags even though I make some from old cards.

Coming home I saw that north facing fields, like the front garden at 3.00 were still covered by heavy frost.

Yesterday, when I'd walked down to the shop I'd noticed that a small panel was missing from the lamp post next to our house. I looked around but the 4inch by 2 inch panel was nowhere to be seen. At home I found a national website for reporting any 'highways' issues and duly typed in the number on the lamp post, address etc. Less than two hours later as we sat eating our supper along came a repair vehicle with flashing lights. How prompt a response is that? I'd been concerned that if water got into the wiring it could affect all the lights and much as that one on the cliff annoys me I wouldn't like anyone to drive over the cliff. Mind you so far all that's been done is some black tape stuck over the hole.

The vegetable soup makes its last appearance tonight. Yesterday I'd added the remaining parsnips, cauliflower and some potatoes but held back on the cabbage because the saucepan was looking full enough. Tonight's more meaty variation has lots of extra cabbage and a Polish sausage bought instead of the Bratwurst I'd been hoping for. I'm not so keen on the preservatives but Peter still likes (some) meat with his meals.