A Baltic Saturday

I am dedicating today's blip to his Lordship, who out of a sense of devotion, loyalty and intrinsic good nature (attributes to which anyone who knows him will testify) agreed to make a diversion of 2 miles from our calorie intake stop at the local garden centre to allow me to capture this wintry scene of the Pentlands.
If the forecasters have got it correct, they will be even more wintry tomorrow, though I doubt if it can get any colder.
As I stood in the field to take this blip, the north wind which whistled through my hair and threatened to knock me off my feet, must have come straight from the Siberian plains or the frozen wastes of the Arctic. As cold comes, this must be the worst yet for our little neck of the woods.

The castle feels Baltic even though the central heating is going full blast and I'm wearing a padded jacket. I can understand why mature people of a certain age go and sit in Public Libraries of a day just to keep warm!

How I miss the open fires of yesteryear - messy, dirty and hard work to clean and use, but oh so comforting and warming..... I know that sitting close to them gave you tartan legs, but that seemed a small price to pay for the glow of warmth inside.
The gas stoves in the castle are bad substitutes, I'm afraid.

Unfortunately later on this evening, we will have to shed several layers of clothing in order to go out to a party. I'm shivering already at the thought and wishing I were a man and able to wear warm clothes under a tweed jacket instead of being a woman (and even a Lady) and having to be distinctly underdressed with unattractive goosebumps teetering about on the slippery pavements in unsuitable shoes, especially since I've just looked out of the window to see we have a heavy snow shower and no visibility.

But perhaps there will be an open fire that I can sidle up to - that would be good!

Edit: The image looks better in big although the electricity wires rather spoil the scene.