I've not been entirely well this week. I have laryngitis and my voice is out of action. Blooming frustrating for me having to keep quiet (not that i chatter a lot), it's just hard not being able to communicate in the usual way. And i'm bored, as i don't feel ill as such- i just can't do my job and it's catching so i've been banished!

So, there is only so much housework i can do (without going insane), before i rail against my mothers advice to 'keep warm or you'll end up with pneumonia' and get out into my favorite places despite the subzero temperatures.

It does look incredibly beautiful.

I am that weirdo walking the fields with my nose as close as possible to the tree branches to see the different types of crystals on them. Mental note not to get too close in case i stick to it!

Going walking is the closest thing i manage to get to meditation. My mind is not still, but it is focused on the land, and the thoughts it inspires in me.

In these temperatures i'm reminded that out here nothing matters apart from survival at the moment. Lucky for me, my home is warm and dry, and i can come and go as i choose, but like the some of those gone before there are those for whom it still remains a matter of survival even now-like my elderly neighbour.

Winter is no where near as devastating to communities as it once was, but for some it will still take it's toll.

What if I got stuck out here? How would i fare? Would i be able to make a shelter and light a fire? Am i so comfortable in my modern home with my TV and central heating that i have forgotten what to do to just survive? Hopefully not....but it's a worrying thought. It has to be a thought as i can't speak it.

There's a rustling in the place where the Elder, Holly, and Hawthorn grow together...likely a magpie or something but for the life of me it sounded like a chuckle........