I am trying hard to find a balance between how I feel about the weather at the moment.  As I look out of my window I see that there has been a hard frost again last night with fog.

Now I cannot deny that what I can see is beautiful - seed heads and grasses coated in a glimmering layer of ice, the evergreens ever so slightly bowing their branches with a the bit of added weight.  Everything is crisp white, white and heading towards a monochrome palette except the plants closest to the house.  The air is cold and sharp on the skin and I can feel it tracking down my lungs as I breath in.  All very refreshing and I am really looking forward to my daily walk with the dogs.  The ground is also blissfully hard after a good spell of soggy.  In the paddock it has gone so far beyond soggy it is not true.

I had never quite got why farmers, in general, are anti horse but I am learning.  Horses can trash a wet field in next to no time and for the last week or so we have all been puddling about, ankle deep, in mire.  We must have 1/4 acre that has no sign of grass on it and it is a huge leap of faith in Mother Nature to believe it will ever recover but I know by the end of spring it will look as though it has never happened.  So I should be happy with the frost?  Well, no.  I am also responsible for paying the vets bills and ground pitted with hoofprints and frozen in its full uneven glory is inviting the pulling of a tendon or similar.  I am on tenterhooks.  It is a case of "be careful what you ask for because you may get it" .

However if I was going out, well wrapped up, say to Aysgarth Falls or Thorpe Perrow for the day with a tea shop stop or a lovely pub lunch scheduled in then I would think everything was nothing less than perfect for a winter day out.  And there is the bonus that there are fewer people around at this time of year - the chance to have a chunk of fabulous North Yorkshire almost to yourself must be worth grabbing.

Remember that our winter rates and "3 for 2" offer run until the end of March so come and grab some of the Dales for a great value winter break.