The train that went through last night around 8ish sounded very odd as it passed. I rarely notice the trains but this one, as it approached was making a weird noise, and it sustained it as it went by. Apparently it derailed this side of Andover (the next stop, and not that far away). They really should pay more attention to what they are doing, methinks.

Our day in the garden was non-stop kids as Brady had his team working away remodelling the chook sheds, and then the usual class descended on us. Arrgh. I was ready to kill by the end of the day. There is one particular sly young miss who has a serious attitude problem with adults and it something of a trouble maker. I try to avoid having anything to do with her as she really makes me very angry.

The bank cleaning went smoothly, but the shop had run out of its Friday fresh pizzas, so it is leftovers for dinner tonight. I think I added too much salt to the pasta last night as I have had a nasty salty taste in my mouth all day. I won't add any tonight and see if that helps.

Back to warmer weather (or at least sunnier) with eight degrees today and sunshine and a breeze. An icy breeze, but sufficient to dry the clothes that I washed - all bar the waistbands etc. So a few pairs of pants are hanging over the backs of bits of furniture and the rest will be put away shortly.

Heather has just dropped off the new paint for the outside of the bookshelves, which looks a if it was a good choice (phew) and will be applied over the weekend (tomorrow is community garden day).

I have an osso bucco chugging away in the oven at present - will serve it in a couple of hours with buttered noodles I think.

This morning's snow was a dry, thin coating like someone had shaken icing sugar all over the place. So dry that passing cars were throwing it up like dust from the road surface, but with the subsequent freeze it was also quite slippery.

I had a cottage to clean so instead of a nice ay at home, I went into sewing, but did not stay all that long as I was finding it next to impossible to count stitches on the cross stitch, so I came home, re-lit the fire and have settled down once more.

Light snow showers this afternoon which may lead to something more exciting, but I am not holding my breath. As long as they keep off until I get home from cleaning the bank I will be happy.

I contemplated having a snow day yesterday but concluded that the Bank really did have to be cleaned, even if there was a (slight) risk of ice on the road into town. So you can imagine how I felt, having driven in there in the dark, only to discover they had had a snow day of their own and there was nothing to be done. Sigh. Still, at least I was soon back home and tucked in front of the fire with a packet of clinkers to cheer me up.

They are forecasting a reprise for tomorrow, so I was out early with the chainsaw cutting a barrow load of wood. Having stacked that indoors I concluded that another barrow load would not go astray so I cut and stacked that as well, so now I am good for at least three days.

I also popped into town to get some supplies in case of being snowed in once more (if we do get a reprise it will result in significant problems falling as it will, on ground still frozen from yesterday), and am prepared for the worst. At least I won't run out of reading material as I still have quite a few novels to go.

The Memory Palace was rather fun, if a little dark at times, and Winter Rose (which I fully expected to be a bit trashy) turned out to be a good story, if unlikely. Neanderthal has gone into the auction box for selling at the white elephant stall. I am currently onto my third Ngaio Marsh in a row, which is about my limit, to my next novel will be Toss of a Lemon, or something along those lines (sorry, the bookshelf is just out of reading distance). I will probably also undercoat a bit of wood I cut years back now, to finish off the window in the loungeroom, along with the pieces I cut to finish off the front door which have also never been done.

Last night when I took the boys out for their last run of the evening, I spotted a sparse sprinkling of frozen snowflakes in the base of the wheelbarrow. Well, thinks me, so much for our snowfalls.

By the time i went to bed (somewhat delayed due to a rivetting book), there was a thin coating on the ground, but spotting it actually falling was a bit of a challenge.

This morning, as you can see, the entire State had declared a 'snow day' and, despite it being past time for the school bus, the road out the front has not been used.

 Approaches to the house were a little hazardous as lurking under the snow was a concrete path covered in moss. Lucky no-one around here uses the front door!

And when we took our mid-day stroll, things had not improved that much down the back of the oval. In fact it was still snowing.

Four degrees was apparently too much to ask for today, and 2.3 saw us top out at around 11 this morning. The rest of the day was subzero. Despite this, much of the snow has disappeared, a mystery to me, the more so as it has been snowing on and off pretty persistently all day.

The pile of wood I cut last night does not seem so reassuringly large as it did at the time, but I will see me through till mid-morning tomorrow which is all it needs to do.

Meantime, all of us are staying indoors, apart from a quick run out to clean the bank tonight!

The forecast is for snowfalls in the late evening and overnight. So you can imagine my surprise when the walk with the dogs resulted in us making a dash for home at two in the afternoon, in the middle of a blizzard. Fortunately the fire is warm and the wood is in, and cut so no harm done.

I spent the morning installing the coat hooks and their new back board. Well, that was the plan. As it is only one hook is installed as I seem to have put the other two in a 'safe place' so I don't lose them, with the result I have no idea where they are. You can see the intended result in the photo below and will just have to imagine the other two hooks in place in due course.

You should note it is the not the board that is sloping, but the ceiling.

Here is the set of new bookshelves, also with their bright lime green interior. The exterior will be painted with Dulux Squirrel as it seems the people at Bunnings are quite right and I had chosen a colour from the UK colour chart. Squirrel is a warm dark brown.

Tonight I am having beef stroganoff having been inspired by a pack of beef strips when I was at the shop yesterday. I also bought some sour cream as I remembered that is a vital ingredient. Unfortunately I forgot that mushrooms are also a vital ingredient. Fortunately my well-stocked pantry turned up some dried porcini mushrooms bought in a fit of enthusiasm, so they were soaked and the stock they created was added to the mix. A small tin of button mushrooms seems to have finished the job off nicely. I am just waiting for the rice to cook and I will be serving it up for dinner.

I just finished cutting a barrow of wood when snow flurries started to pour around me. How exciting. But they soon cleared to a sunny day, albeit downright chilly. Since it was hardly outdoor weather I took to the paintbrushes and painted the interior of the bookshelves in my newly acquired Lime Zest. It's certainly bright. It would be a nice colour for a kitchen wall, though I am afraid I am not inspired to rush out and start painting a feature wall just now. I think I will use it as the trim instead. So architraves and skirting boards when I install such luxuries.

The temperature in the kitchen is 14.2 so I hope to have the shelves dry enough to shift by around sixish tonight which will let me start shelving tomorrow. I have also painted the piece of board I routed some months ago with a view to attaching hooks for hanging jackets and dog leads off. One more coat for that as i had to wait for the primer to dry before I could add colour. That will go in the laundry when it is done.

The lounge is once again devoid of laundry but one of the airers is still up as I am using it to dry the paintbrush between coats. And the fire is chugging away with gay abandon to keep us all warm.