Lazy Day, Tuesday 20th Jan, 2008

When it's so cold it's so good to snuggle back under the covers, isn't it? Well, we did so today.. Of course Stanley had died down in the night so I tried the super pressed something log Jim had purchased from Aldi. 'Light paper under the white line next to the arrows'. Were there any arrows? Of course not. Ah well, I persisted with the electric lighter, which promptly ran out, then found in the drawer a cigarette lighter K or Rachel had purchased for someone but then couldn't take back to the UK!! Thanks! That worked a treat and the 'log' burned happily for some time. In the meantime I lit the calor gas heater. Buster just loves this and I have to move his bed in front of it and there he bathes in the heat until it gets switched off.

Jim appeared not long after me and we sat around chatting for hours, still in our dressing gowns! What a pair of dossers. Eventually, Jim braved the cold of the bathroom and I followed. God it's cold in there. I stayed in the rest of the day. Having approached the bathroom, I realised what a mess it was in and spent the next hour or so cleaning and tidying. So at least I achieved something!

Jim headed out to the barn and chopped wood for the ever hungry Stanley. He then took my camera and Buster for a walk around the meadow. It snowed/hailed/rained on and off. Not enough to settle, sadly, just enough to be cold, wet and miserable!

We then sat in the kitchen/diner and watched the Inauguration of the new President, Barack Obama. How emotional it was too. I think it was fitting that we watched most of it on our black and white 6" portable television!! We did, however, decamp to the snug to watch the rest in colour. Fabulous speech and such an atmosphere of joy came across so clearly. I could almost have wished to be an American today.

I did then manage to do my ironing and watched Holby City, which seems to be getting a bit silly lately. Afterwards there was a frightening programme on knife crime in the UK. One of the stabbings had been caught on CCTV and it was just so shocking it made me gasp.

A selection of Jim's photos taken today:



Snowy hills through hazel catkins












Snow on the distant hills of Tipperary













The bottom of our meadow and snow on the hill called 'Maghera'








Gorse thinks it's Spring, the hills of Flagmount know it's Winter













Buster and what's left of our cottage!















These robin photos are my favourite. Well done Jim























'What'?











When you take Buster up to the meadow he charges about like a lunatic at times and it's quite hard to capture the movement, but I think Jim did well in the following:




























Flying Buster!







Maybe we'll achieve more tomorrow!