Still cold ...

 This week's been as cold as last week, but I've felt somewhat calmer about things.

The days have been cold, rarely reaching double figures, and dipping below zero most nights. Our cats have refused to go out even on sunny afternoons preferring to huddle inside in a carefully chosen spot in the sun on the rug in the lounge room.

Some days have been bright and clear, like Tuesday, when I managed a productive, if cold, day working down in Lake View house, while others have been overcast and miserable.

We'd been warned of an outside chance of snow last night, but all we got was a patter of sleety rain, and when I drove up to the Athenaeum this morning there was still frost on the ground and chunky ice in the puddles in the parking area.

We've been living in fleece and thermals, to which I add a woollen beanie and some excellent Swedish army surplus wool socks on my days out cataloguing, as well as a puffer jacket - certainly required in Lake View which is simply cold. The Athenaeum is a bit better heated but still definitely cold round the edges.

As today's the solstice, we've decided to mark it by cooking ourselves a rich Italian style casserole with fennel and chicken, and then perhaps a foreign language movie on SBS's streaming service ...