Winter's icy grip has a hold on all of the still waters in the area after a night when the temperature fell to minus seven degrees.
Even the advance of the Quatermass-like algae has been halted and hopefully the advance of this strange, clogging growth, will be killed off by the low temperatures. A fine oily film has been frozen into the ice and enhanced the beauty of the icy dyke world with rainbows of colour.
So far today the temperature has remained stubbornly below freezing and an early reconnaissance of the lake where a Pike fishing expedition was planned revealed a glassy layer of ice across the entire surface.
Time for a cup of NAAFI strength tea I think.