The weather up here has been wild- not the weight of snow that has fallen in other parts of the UK (my mother had to dig herself out of the front door in Nottinghamshire) but we have had a cold east wind that has whipped the Clyde to white, stopped all the ferries, and made our house so cold that we have sat huddled under blankets. Old houses in high elevation tend towards the drafty in these conditions!

Michaela and I decided to go and look for spring- we took a walk through Benmore Gardens, searching for the lovely almost-completed Bhutanese pavilion.

We found that Spring was poised in the form of flower buds and the odd green leaf, but that it had regretted its early boldness and was in full retreat.

So we went for a hot chocolate.