A thin blanket of snow has fallen, a fresh canvas to record last night's garden manoeuvres. Fallow deer are now regular visitors, leaving a bigger more splayed print than the very neat little heart shape of the roe. Between these two the vegetable garden is more or less stripped bare now. I am haunted by the words of Geoffrey Dutton, the scientist, poet and gardener, who remarked that sooner or later every gardener admits defeat and puts up a deer fence. I am fast approaching that time, though of course the deer can be a valuable harvest in their own right, one being equal to much winter cabbage or kale, however sweet this becomes with the frost.
This winter will likely be remembered for many years, so harsh has it already been. Who knows what the next three months will bring? We are all tiring of the snow already, and the greatest falls may well be yet to come. Another good year for the skiing - Hannah and I enjoyed a great day up at Glen Shee after Christmas, reminding ourselves what excitement is to be had so close at hand! Many lochs and ponds look like their ice would hold - I may yet regret passing on my skates. I found myself thinking into the underwater world of the rainbow trout at Butterstone Loch yesterday, still being active, feeding on overwintering insect larvae, snails and perhaps each other. Ice fishing anyone? How entertaining to drill a hole and lower down a line!
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