‘When the days are the shortest, the nights are the coldest,
The frost is the sharpest, the year is the oldest,
The sun is the weakest, the wind is the hardest,
The snow is the deepest, the skies are the darkest,
Then polish your whiskers and tidy your nest,
And dress in your richest and finest and best
For winter has brought you the worst it can bring,
and now it will give you the promise of Spring!’
(The secret Staircase (Brambly Hedge), Jill Barklem)