January 8th, 2010
OMG, we got 'hate' e-mail this week. Yep, true. The thing about 'hate' emails are they are typically blunt, dogmatic, and conceited with regard to the merit of the sender's own opinions. Some people advised us to simply hit the delete button on these emails but we have decided to take the comments on-board...

..our blog will continue.

Got ya, there, didn't we? :-) (the 'hate' mail was in response to us suggesting we cancel our blog)

We've had a bit of snow over here in Wales. Now snow in Wales during the winter is not that extraordinary but what is a bit new is the air temperature. Normally we'd get wet and sloppy snow that sits heavily on the tree branches until the branches snap. Not this snowfall. With the cold temperatures, we've got the crispy, crunchy, sparkley kind of snow that's darned useless for making snow sculptures. Trust us, we tried. Snow angels, on the other hand, are no problem.

The dogs sure are enjoying all this snow and sometimes we can get them to stop long enough to pose for the camera.

But these are fleeting moments. ...and a few of them did not make it into the frame.

I'm a little worried about Jamie's parentage after seeing the above photo. He reminds me of the red foxes we used to see playing in a piece of 'waste land' in Calgary (Alberta, Canada) by the University - ground on which the new Children's Hospital sits. Oh, I can still see those foxes playing...

The cold temperatures have frozen our water pipes both indoors and out. We are having to fill buckets of water from the stream coming off the hill for water for the dogs and cooking. It's OK, this is our water source anyway...it's just a heck of a lot more work compared to turning on a tap. The swimming pool has come in useful...a huge store of water from which to fill toilet cisterns! Our dishes and washing are piling up, but the worst thing is no showers. Perhaps we will have to break the ice on the pond... shudder the thought.

One of the 'joys' of owning a home that someone else has renovated is having to fix all the things the previous 'do-it-yourselfers' made a mess off. We have already rewired a lot of the electricals when we found indoor wiring had been used for outdoor jobs and fixed both of the oil fireplaces which weren't working and, in fact, one was quite dangerous. Now we face a big plumbing job. Groan. None of these are a big deal in and of themselves but you try getting tradespeople in Wales to provide service. Ha! We waited months for someone to come fix our fireplaces... We need our friend, Bill, to come visit us from New Zealand. He was a plumber before he retired. Bill...get off that beach and come back to see us! We need you!

Thank goodness we got the kennel doors on. Thank you a million times, Scott and Bridget, for helping on Christmas Day. The dogs are quite warm in there although their waterbowls did freeze last night. We have turned a couple of heat lamps on to keep the young ones from getting cold, and Cian, Steffi and Zoe are indoors. Pampered pooches.

It's not THAT cold by Canadian standards so we are quite accustomed that these temperatures. But still, it was darned cold when we were out pruning the hawthorns the other day. These thorny hedge trees are evil to prune. They are - well, thorny - and the work is slow and painful. We need one of those fancy hedge trimmers that the farmers put on their tractors but we have neither a tractor nor the hedge trimmer so the job continues to be done by hand... we'd rather cut gorse than prune hawthorns.

No dog training is possible at the moment. There is far too much ice and snow about, and it really wouldn't be good for the sheep. They are liking us walking out fresh hay to them everyday and eating fancy sheep blocks. The only work anyone is getting is when the ewes on the hill need to be moved. Ah well, a rest will keep them fresh.

Stay warm!