I saw a gritter going down our street a couple of days ago but it didn't leave any grit behind. In the past it would have done. Is this a sign of austerity measures beginning to bite? I shared this thought with the postmaster. He wasn't having any of it. "No," he said. "They've got plenty of money. Look at all the drunks they're sending on foreign holidays." I saw this chap in a neighbour's front yard. I had to venture out. The rabbits were running short of Wagg's Bunny Brunch. There's a layer of soft crunchy snow over a layer of ice and you have to be careful- especially in places where the crunchy stuff has been kicked away or trodden down into the ice- outside our front gate for example. The postmaster and I were agreed that there's a fortune to be out made out of a machine for clearing pavements. "You design it," he said. "And I'll drive it."