That mild spell of weather over the first few days of the new year is behind us now. The temperature in the early hours of Thursday morning fell down to -4.4°C (21.0°F) which could easily be the coldest we will have this year.

Rain was forecast for Thursday afternoon so we decided on a morning walk around Nostell Priory. It was the first time this year that the ground had been frozen solid for our walk. One benefit was that there were no muddy patches to try to negotiate Ruby around. Large areas of the lake were iced over with the ducks congregating on a small patch of very thin ice.

The afternoon rain never materialised as all we got were a few very light showers which didn’t amount to much at all. However, I think we chose the better part of the day for our walk.