Waking in a Winter Wonderland

I was at a friends Christmas party last night, and after one mulled cider too many, decided that driving home was no longer an option. So I stayed put and my friends revved up the electric blanket, so I was so toasty and warm that I didn't notice the fresh snow that came down during the night. It fell on top of that which we already had - it hadn't been especially deep, but it was prevalent, extremely icy and dangerous. Last nights snow compounded this, to the point where I got stuck in a hedge on my way to do the morning surf report. This morning the boughs weighed heavy with snow and icicles. Hedgerows were blanched and blanketed and the whole landscape North of Bude was white. Completely beautiful.
These last few days have been Winter-tastic. In a mission to take provisions to my stranded friends and their newborn, myself and a close friend ditched our car on a dangerous back road and walked the several miles further, with shopping bags, to get to their landlocked, snowbound house. Would have all felt quite heroic if we hadn't been passed en route by about ten cars, none of which was a 4x4. They all waved.
I've driven over a moonlit, glowing Bodmin moor, encountering only one car in twenty or so miles. I've been out collecting wood for my voracious woodburner. I've donned some Gul check and chopped said wood. I've had a small Christmas party for my neighbours and eaten my own bodyweight in Mince Pies.
There is no question that Summer is missed, intensely. I miss everything about it. But I'd be lying if I didn't say there are times that, even on sweltering, swell-jammed mid-August days, I didn't miss the romantic allure of a deep mid-Winter.
Here are a few shots from the last week.
C