Colder than Greenland??

We arrived back in Newbridge last night to minus 13 and dropping. I have never known such cold in our country - and i am proud to say this week we live in the coldest place in britain...except it took HOURS for our coats to come off and the house to feel warm again. Our wonderful landlord had saved us from frozen water pipes while we were away, and our lovely neighbours had cleared the snow off our drive - what a welcome. I am SO glad our boiler was fixed last thursday before this hit. I think i would have had to stay in bed with a hot water bottle if we didn't have heating.

Here are some pics from my walk to Llysdinam with Barney this morning....

The river Wye was partly frozen over...

the snow formed crystals on everything....

this is Llysdinam house - often visited by the victorian curate Francis Kilvert for those who have read Kilverts Diaries

and the beautiful snowy welsh hills.

Please note I didn't take a picture of Ians reputedly-frozen nasal hairs.

I was sorely tempted to go with Ian up to Bangor today where he was hosting a business visit to the algae plant. But even from here it's still a 3 hour drive each way and even the prospect of seeing snowdonia in the snow couldn't outweigh the tiredness i feel at the moment from all the driving between somerset and wales. This weekend we made some good decisions on the house - and even bought some flooring for the lounge. Dad should be on commission. I love it - it's engineered oak boarding - with a very dark stain and distressed effect. Can't wait to see it down but sadly it'll probably be at least 6 months away as the walls have to be built first and the roof redone.

Some progress has been made however - Roger has been working faithfully on Ians shed. This is how it looks now..... unfortunately i've got to put in more plans for the minor changes from the planning permission. Shouldn't be a problem though. What do you think of our red cedar boarding? purchased here in wales.