Ice.

I could see a bit more snow on the hills today. It has been a dry but very cold day today.

I was quite concerned about my journey to the stables as the forecast had the temperature (actual, not feels like) dropping down to minus 5C in the night and would still be minus 1C at 9.00. Looking outside first thing the terrace looked dry and free of ice which it was apart from some icy patches and an icy table top. As I sat outside with my coffee I watched the lights of a few cars driving down the High st and wondered if they were being slow because they were observing the 20mph speed limit we have here in Wales or because the road was icy? I threw out an enquiry on FB and was told that the side roads were very icy. It's a good thing I didn't see one answer until I got home as the person told me there was black ice on the road up to Bow Street. That would have really worried me. As it was the main roads were sort of clear and I drove much more slowly than usual. Then I got to the roundabout where I join the main A road to find that the road was closed. There were lots of road workers to direct all the confused drivers (there is no other way east) but when I said I was going to a village just a few miles up they let me through. I found out later that the road was closed because a lorry had gone off the road by the red kite centre yesterday and this morning they were retrieving it. When I got to where I had to turn off on to the side road my concerns about the very steep downwards slope were allayed as there was lots of grit and no ice. (I'd had visions of me launching off the slope like a skier on a ski ramp.) But at the bottom of the slope the road was all ice. I drove the half mile to the track that leads to the stables as slowly as possible. The track was a little less icy but is full of potholes that you have to drive around so my slow progress continued. I managed to creep over the second railway crossing without sliding into the wooden fence but still avoiding the very deep hole there. A couple of my fellow riders dropped their cars into the pothole, it's not a nice feeling when you hear your car go 'bang' on the road.

 

There were only four of us riding today as some of the other regular riders couldn't get out because of the ice. My horse for today was Hazel, the relatively new horse. I could tell she was in quite a 'fizzy' mood as I led her carefully to the indoor school. Her ears were up and she was getting distracted by everything. That continued and wasn't helped by a cat sitting on the arena wall, a dog wandering about in the seating area, new noises from the looseboxes built on the other side of the school and even seeing herself in the mirrors at the end of the school. It will be a while before she gets used to all those distractions. We began with walking in a straight line (away from the wall) something Hazel found quite hard, before going on to leg yielding in walk and trot which she was better at. I had one iffy moment when Hazel decided she didn't want to go forward and tried to spin and rear at the same time but I got her sorted before our instructor noticed. She's still throwing her head about probably because in the past someone had been yanking on her mouth to get her to go on the bit rather than using their legs to create more energy.

The road back to the main road was still quite icy but from there the roads were clear. I shopped at Morrisons which was noticeably emptier as people stayed safely at home and then went on to Charlies. I'm still waiting for the Christmas decorations to drop to 70% off. I needed to buy some new riding gloves too as the cotton ones I bought last year are full of holes even though I've been darning them with wool. I have large hands and was checking through all the different riding gloves when I came across a XL pair that not only were navy blue but had been reduced from £21 to £8.50. They were the only pair of that style left and I double checked the price at the till before buying them. I didn't bother going around the town shops, just did a quick shop at Lidl and then came home by the main road.

Once home I got on with the kitchen. All the top cupboards and the cooker hood have been done and there was still time to do the big window sill which is filled with glass and ceramic treasures, bowls of fruit and pebbles from Marazion beach. Not to forget the tubs of ferns hanging from above.

The view below is for Wendy.