Hanging in there

It was much colder last night than forecast, getting down to -9º C here, but the fire stayed in and we had no problems with the water this morning. After a trip to the village for a paper, we got two bags of Taybrite and 36 litres of diesel from the marina to keep us going.

Whilst at the main building, we were told about the Christmas do at lunchtime, and so when we'd done our stuff, we took some sandwiches across and joined in the merriment. Wandering back to the boat at half two, we've been snuggling down, stoking the fire and pottering about with stuff. There's another cold night in prospect, but there's a chance it will then start moderating a bit, so fingers crossed.

We used the strap on spikes again around the village; fastening them on certainly takes a bit of practice, but we seem to be getting the hang of it, and they certainly make things feel safer underfoot. The trick is to get them just behind the ball of the foot, almost into the instep; for horse riders, basically exactly where you don't want the stirrup iron, which makes sense if you think about it.