Frost, ice and now gales....

The week started off very frosty and yesterday there was such a thick frost I thought at first it had snowed! Above is Kirbuster Loch, in Orphir on the Orkney Mainland, photo kindly taken by J on a winter walk.

Now.... you can see why wool jumpers are so warm! This sheep is covered in frost but underneath he is nice and snug and warm.

And here he is keeping his feet (and other parts!) warm......

Meanwhile the hens did their best to keep their feet off the frosty ground. I really should put egg-flaps into the windows!

Now tonight a strong south-easterly gale is blowing. It is currently gusting to 58 miles per hour and set to get worse into the night. I hate it when it's so windy and it's dark. I'm hoping the power stays on. In recent years there have been very few power cuts and most only lasting a few hours. But this year there seem to have been lots of power fluctuations throughout Orkney.  So fingers crossed the power stays on so I can keep warm at least!  (No solid fuel fires, just oil fired boiler for heating and electric fires).  However, we get a bit of respite from the wind tomorrow (hopefully!).