...let it....

...and it did.

Woke up to a white world this morning. Since the Shetland has been confined to quarters in the orchard after his last escape attempt, T put him in the barn with plenty of hay and fresh water. This was treated with contempt and the appropriately named Snowy has now vanished against a backdrop of whiteness in his field, after we'd stopped up any likely gaps.

Having done this, and having a day off, we've had a cookathon: chilli oil, home made bread, colcannon, cauliflower cheese, game stew and a sponge cake. I'm intending to resist the temptation to do any work this afternoon and just read recipe books instead.

The Clarke reading is progressing steadily. We met up in London on Saturday for the first jury meeting, which took place in a restaurant in Chinatown. Because the train is now too expensive, I caught the bus - it's a longer trip, but leaves from the middle of Glastonbury and drops off at Victoria, so couldn't be more central for either. It's a pretty run through Bath and the little villages of the Mendips: I saw a big red dog fox in a snowy field, and someone had written 'Merry Xmas' in huge letters in the snow.

London was packed - when our meeting was over, I walked from Soho through Trafalger Square, stopping off at the National Gallery, and then down through London to Harrods, which was an absolute heaving mass of people. Lovely windows, though, and the food store is always fun even though I never buy anything in there. I love London at this time of year.