The Celtic festival of Imbolc or St Brigid’s Day celebrating the early signs of Spring has this year been marked by several days of heavy snow on the lane. The soft reeds with their intense green to make the St Brigid’s cross were only just poking out above the snow cover.

It is a time to find some of the hidden dwellers on and around the lane and looking out for paw prints and tracks, in this case a hare. Getting to the fresh snow before Rosie, the dog has raced ahead is another thing.

Snow has made beautiful patterns on the bracken while the snow on trees and shrubs muffle sounds and open up a different world.