What a morning! Last night I looked at metcheck and the lowest temperature was 1C at 6.00. Being a worrier I thought about leaving the car up the hill but was assured that it would be fine to leave the cars down in the yard. Imagine my horror when creeping out feed the hens in the dark at 7.00 this morning I find the valley road iced over. The fields were covered in clumps of hailstones which had fallen overnight. TOTAL PANIC, how was I going to get to work? We'd used up the last of the road salt so we tramped up and down the hill with buckets of hot water and the last of our table salt. Our neighbour came out on his quad bike which drove over the ice with no problems, and put down salt on the road, ( he was expecting horse boxes later in the morning). I phoned my headteacher at 8.00 to say what had happened and eventually got in just after 9.00. The back roads were icy but the main road was clear and in Barnstaple there was not a hint of ice. Tonight I'm taking no chances and the car is at the top of the hill. Our neighbour gloomily told us that 'significant' snowfall is expected in February. So long as it is in the half-term holiday.
Tonight there was a very pretty pink and grey sunset. I love being able to see the see the sea every day even if it is just a glimpse in the distance.
On the way in this morning I could see that the hills of Exmoor were white with snow / hail but I was so late I didn't stop to take any photos. I managed to catch these photos on my way home as I had left earlier than usual so that I didn't have to walk down the hill in the dark.
