Almost 10am and it is still -7c outside. I have just come back from walking the dog. The sun is just coming over the hills and illuminating the hill tops opposite in brilliant white. The snow on the ground has a hard frozen crust and each step is like a small explosive charge as you break through the crust. When I took the dogs out last night there were obviously deer in the field beside the house. It was too dark to see them but you could hear every step as they hurried away.