My word this has been a truly awful start to winter.  We had a lovely summer, a very hot first week of wimbledon tennis, then rain.  More rain in August, but then really hot September and the driest October on record.  But inbeween all this were storms of great momentum, fuelled by Hurricane Harvey lashing the southern states of the US.  Since the start of November, we have had unbelievably cold blustery weather and snow has hit us well and truly between the eyes this weekend.  Of course, although we knew it was forecast, no one was ready – we ground to a halt again.  What doesn’t come across in all the news reports is how filthy everything gets with this weather.  The slushy side of snow is grim.  Black and brown tide marks ride up when splashes come off shoes and wellingtons after even a short walk.  This is where professional cleaning comes in. Thank heavens for the cleaning agency!