Chilly.

Dry and cold today though we've just had a light shower which is not good for driving. This morning somebody posted that the Clarach road, the back road I use to go to town, was like an ice rink and I see that there was a crash last night just outside the village on the bigger road (can't call it a main road) which needed the air ambulance.

We had a yellow warning for ice and snow a couple of days ago for tomorrow but the temperature is already plummeting again. Peter went up the hill to the barn where the camper is stored to run the engine and the snow was already visible on the verges. 

This morning I spent a couple of hours at the zoo clearing weeds, just a few of them and lots of tiny cones from the gravel area by the wolf dogs. Blue, one of the silver foxes isn't well at the moment. Something is making him dizzy, he's had it before and he is going to the vet tomorrow. The local vets won't treat non-domestic animals not even a fox so Blue will be taken to Carmarthen to a specialist vet. The large aviary where  Keith the kookaburra used to live (not allowed because he isn't a domestic animal) has been refurbished and now has plants and branches in. I inquired as to the new inhabitants and was taken into the welcomingly warm reptile house, also not allowed to be open to the public apart from 6 days a year, where I was shown a box of quail eggs which are due to go in an incubator and eventually into the aviary. I also found out that it wasn't the goats that had escaped and made hoof prints in the grass but the pigs. One of the owners fell while chasing the pigs and after being taken by ambulance to the hospital was found to have fractured her lower spine. She's back home recuperating. After being at the zoo my fingers and toes were pretty cold so I had a quick warm up at home before going out to work on the lawn. 

For once I threw caution to the wind and used the garden fork to dig up the turf. Digging with a fork or spade is something I generally avoid as I know it strains my back but I'm hoping that Pilates tonight will iron out some of the kinks. With any luck I'll be able to have a decent digging session tomorrow.

Late in the afternoon the lower temperature and a flash of sun gave a clear view of Tywyn which is 9 miles away across the water.