Sunrise 9:03 Sunset 15:43

But the snow makes everything glow in even in the half moon light. Really it is lovely - and not in the least bit slushy which is the only reason I hate snow.

Yesterday I managed to free the car and the van from the croft. I charged the van battery using jump leads from the car - something that only worked when I ignored the instructions to earth the black cable to the van body, and connected it directly to the van battery instead. Someone will no doubt tell me that I was oooooh that close to cataclysmic explosion but as far as I'm concerned it worked.

And there is something very joyful about driving through virgin snow, trying to remember where the track is. I thought about taking the vehicles for a spin up the lane, but when I checked the road a bit more carefully I decided the likelihood of spinning was way too great. I parked the car in the usual place, on the grass in front of the cottage and then parked the van on the edge of the turning area, facing south to capture those battery charging rays.

But the van was instantly stuck - and it took me an hour of scraping and hacking to free it. It will be stuck next time I try to move it - but hopefully, relatively easy to free.